Author's Note:
Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, prepare to be astounded, bedazzled, and otherwise stupefied! It is I, D-A-X, lord and ruler of all I survey.
Er... I mean, welcome to a new chapter of Teen Titans: The Bonds We Share, which is a fanfiction that, in my opinion, has the best looking audience around. Can someone prove me wrong?
I want to start out with apologizing for the long update times. I know I tell everyone that I'll be getting these chapters out faster than I do, but it's just things and stuff happen that we don't really anticipate and it gets in the way of my writing time, and... I'm just making up excuses at this point.
I want to welcome everyone new who is just joining us on this fantastic voyage, and to all of my returning readers, thank you so much for sticking with me for so long. I know I may not be the best writer with the most creative ideas, but all of your support makes the whole thing worth it.
Anyway, just take a guess who's back! I can't believe I finally got to this chapter. I am so happy, and hopefully you all are as well.
But enough with the introduction, on to the chapter!
What do you enjoy doing to cut back and relax? Do you like reading books? Playing video games by yourself or with others? Or do you perhaps enjoy getting together with friends and throwing together an intense volleyball match?
At Titans Tower, the team decided to unwind with a fun and friendly game of volleyball. Lately, the criminal activity in the city had been on the low end of the spectrum, and honestly, the team couldn't be happier about that. But, that isn't to say that they spent their days lazing about more than normal. They still kept up with their daily training and continued their patrols around Jump City, making sure everything was safe for the citizens. So after another easy day, the Titans decided to take it easy and play a fun sport.
On the roof, Robin released a fierce growl as he pulled back his right fist. Leaping into the air, he swung his fist forward and nailed a flying volleyball over the net. On the other side, Cyborg and Starfire stood ready to deliver the spike right back to their leader. Before the ball could touch the ground, a metal-handed bump sent the ball into the air, back over the net. Once the volleyball was back on their side, the masked teen set the ball for Beast Boy to spike. As the two teams continued volleying the ball, Kylar watched the game from the sideline, dressed in a black-and-white striped shirt with a matching hat, and a whistle around his neck; the attire a referee would have. It looked like everyone had a role in the game... well, almost everyone. One Titan member was missing from the high-adrenaline inducing game.
The remaining teammate floated by the edge of the roof, facing the sun as it set over the horizon. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos... Azarath Metrion Zinthos... Azarath Metrion Zinthos..." The mage chanted, paying absolutely no mind to the fun and sounds of grunts coming from behind her.
Back on the court, the ball sailed across the net again, but Beast Boy hopped up as a kangaroo and kicked it back hard. Starfire then flew up to deliver a killer spike, but Robin jumped up for a counter-move. Back on the defensive, the Tamaranean slid across the ground to bump, leaving her metallic teammate to rush in for a follow-up. As the ball descended towards the net, the big man got ready to spike, but suddenly found himself facing an even bigger green gorilla with the same idea in mind.
Beast Boy smashed the ball past both members of the opposition, causing it to hurtle straight towards the back of Raven's head. An instant after he landed from his jump, he resumed human form and panicked. "Raven, heads up!" The worried greenling warned as he flailed his arms in the air.
The ball continued its flight, but stopped dead an inch short of her cranium thanks to an annoyed glance and a bit of telekinesis. Facing forward to resume meditation, the resident ice queen sent the ball rocketing back toward the five participants. The ball was headed straight for the brunette referee, but at the last possible second, he leaned out of the way. This left the ball to slam right into Beast Boy, who happened to be standing right behind Kylar.
"Yow!... Thanks, uh..." The changeling coughed weakly before collapsing, "...good save." The spiky-haired and brown-haired Titan looked worriedly at their injured friend before Robin turned to face the gray-skinned girl.
"Are you sure you don't want to play, Raven?" He asked, having some reservations on asking the powerful mage.
"Yes, please, you must volley the ball with us!" Starfire gleefully agreed as she jumped in the air.
"If you join, we can finally have a three-on-three game!" Kylar added as he tossed the ball in the air and caught it, having taken the ball from his fallen friend.
"Come on!" Cyborg beckoned as he removed his left arm, "I'll even play with one hand behind my back."
"I can't. I have to meditate." The Gothic girl replied bluntly.
Well, they tried. With each of the other five Titans shrugging, after which Cyborg latched back on his arm, they resumed the game.
"Five-five, BB serves." Kylar announced as he tossed the ball to the shape-shifter.
Once everyone was in position, Beast Boy transformed back into a green gorilla. Raising the ball to serve, he threw the ball high into the air. On its way down, the massive beast jumped towards it and smashed his fist against the ball. Unfortunately, the green Titan hit the ball too hard, and sent it sailing on a collision course for the meditating mage once again.
After landing back on the court, Beast Boy returned to human form and screamed towards his violet-haired friend, "Heads up, again!"
Just like before, the ball zoomed towards Raven; this time, though, she didn't stop it. Instead she floated off easily to the left, letting the ball continue toward the edge of the roof.
"OH, NO!" The four players and referee all panicked as they watched the ball sail past the edge and down the length of the Tower. With the ball gone, the game had to be put on hold and the Titans soon gave way to resignation.
"I'll get it." The changeling sighed as the others groaned. He trudged towards the edge, but was brought up short by the reappearance of the ball, which sailed back up from below and rolled across the concrete of the roof. Watching the ball stop at his feet, Beast Boy looked up towards the ledge, a puzzled expression gracing his face as he tried figuring out how the ball came back.
His answer came when a slender silhouette rose into view, long hair blowing in the breeze, hands planted on hips, standing on a levitating rock. Despite the entire appearance being hidden by the setting sun, when the silhouette spoke, Beast Boy, along with the rest of the Titans immediately recognized who just arrived.
"So, which team am I on?" Terra asked, leaving the team to stare in awe at their lost friends' return. Though something was different in her tone of voice, as though something had fundamentally changed in her nature: not an ounce of panic or fear or trepidation that she had when they last saw her was there.
Floating her ride closer to the roof, the geokinetic hopped off and tossed her hair back. No longer silhouetted against the sun, the team was able to fully discern her appearance; she still wore her old brown hiking boots, leather gloves, and belt, but now sported a black crop-top turtleneck with long sleeves and a yellow-orange T on the chest, with no second shirt underneath. She wore a new set of goggles around her neck, and she also traded in her denim shorts for yellow-orange ones.
Once Terra got her hair out of her face, she gave the awestruck team a smirk, finding their wonderment amusing.
Starfire was the first to break out of her trance, "Terra!"
Beast Boy was the second, "Terra!" He called out happily.
"Terra!" Both enthusiastic teens called out as they raced to greet their friend. Noticing each others presence, they shot dirty looks at each other.
Beast Boy swerved in front of his orange-skinned rival, but soon found himself elbowed to the ground.
"Terra!" The eager alien yelled.
However, she was soon rammed out of the way by a large green gorilla. "Terra!" The gorilla cheered as it continued its' path towards the blonde.
The fighting didn't stop, though, as starbolts from the Tamaranean's direction made him jump away, leaving room for Starfire to come back and win the race.
"Terra!" The auburn-haired Titan cried as she swept the returning guest into a monster hug, just like she did when they first met. This time, however, each squeeze made Terra's head bulge more and more, as if air was being forced into one end of a balloon. "Oh, hello, long-lost friend! You remember me, yes?"
Straining to speak, the victim... er, long-lost friend, replied, "Of course, Starfire." She sounded as though she was being strangled, "I still have bruises from the last time you hugged me."
Releasing her death grip on the petite blonde, Starfire stepped away, letting Terra's head deflate as the air rushed out of her mouth. Once her head was back to normal size, Beast Boy, in human form again, ran to her eagerly. "Terra! You're... I mean, I..." He slowly began losing his nerve as the pretty girl smiled at him, "...how's it... heh, wassup?" He held his hand out to shake, but the young blonde hugged him, causing a flood of hearts to appear behind the green teen. A pinch on the cheek left his entire face hanging slack as he moaned happily before keeling over.
Cyborg was the next to join the greeting committee, "Well, if it isn't my favorite little rock-and-roller!" He greeted as he held his hand up for a high-five.
Returning the gesture, Terra smiled, "Cyborg! Oh man, it's so good to see you!" Before she could say anything else, a stern clearing of the throat caught her attention.
"Ahem." A cold sweat ran down the back of the short blond girls' head.
Turning around, she saw Kylar standing with his arms crossed and looking down at her with a very stoic expression. "Big Bro! I'm so happy to see you!" She cheered as she approached him with open arms, "You have no idea how much I-"
She stopped herself when she saw the taller brunette hold up his hand. "Where have you been?" Kylar asked sternly as he took a step to meet her. "First you leave without saying goodbye, and now you show up unannounced?" He loomed over her imposingly, making her feel small as sweat fell down her face. Everyone else shot him worried looks, confused at his sudden change in attitude.
"Uh... well... I-" Terra muttered nervously, but was quickly cut off again.
Beast Boy tried defending their returning guest, "Dude, what are you-"
"Do you know how worried we all were?" The angry aura manipulator asked as he approached the girl. Despite his anger, he never raised his voice, "Not knowing where you went or how you were doing?" Terra closed her eyes tightly as she braced herself for the chewing she was receiving. "But now that you're back, I have just one thing to say to you," He raised his hand to reach out to the girl. His teammates looked surprised at what they thought he was going to do and moved to stop him, but quickly found themselves worrying needlessly as he pulled the girl to him for a gentle hug, "I'm glad you're okay." Kylar admitted softly with a sincere smile.
The other Titans smiled happily as well at the reunion, Beast Boy letting out a relieved sigh as he thanked the powers that be that his taller friend wasn't angry at the blonde.
With a smile, Terra returned the hug, wrapping her arms tightly around her adoptive brother as though she never wanted to let go. "I missed you too." She said, happily, into his chest.
After finally breaking the hug, Terra turned to see the leader of the Titans approaching her. Standing in front of the blonde, Robin held out his hand to shake as he greeted her, "Good to see you again, Terra."
Starfire approached to speak to the returned friend again, but the bemused green teen popped up in front of her. "Good?! Is he kidding?" Beast Boy asked in disbelief before turning to face his crush again, "It's great to see you again! I didn't think I'd ever see you again!" He fawned over the young teen, causing her to blush a bit. Grabbing Terra's wrist, the energetic changeling dragged the guest over to the roof's edge to address the final Titan of the team, "Raven, wake up! Terra's back! Isn't that awesome?"
Raven hadn't budged an inch from her meditation, "I heard." She answered flatly, not even turning around to acknowledge the group. "Just help yourself to anything in the fridge and don't forget to lock the door when you leave."
The last comment caused the blonde to raise an eyebrow, "Actually, I kinda wasn't planning on leaving this time." She stated as she turned to face the other five Titans, "I'm ready to take you guys up on your offer. I want to be a Teen Titan!" She declared with a big smile on her face. But that happiness soon faded into uneasiness when she saw the reaction from the five; all of whom stared confusedly at her as Cyborg scratched his head.
Glancing over to his friends, Beast Boy was the first to speak up, "Uh..." He began, but struggled to find the right words.
With a shocked look, the blonde geokinetic raised her hands in surrender as she back away, "Got it. Sorry. Didn't realize the offer had an expiration date." She said dejectedly as she turned and walked away.
Before she got too far, Kylar's hand landed on her shoulder, stopping her exit. "Terra, wait." He begged as he heard her sniffle a bit.
Turning around to face the team again, the spiky-haired Boy Wonder began explaining, "The offer didn't expire, we're just concerned."
"Yeah, it's 'cause, well, um, last time when you kind of freaked out and ran away, you didn't exactly... uh..." Beast Boy tried finding the right words to break the truth to the blonde, "You weren't completely, uh-"
"You couldn't control your powers." Raven flat out told her as she approached the group. She never was one for dancing around a subject.
The bluntness of her words caused the nervous shape-shifter to yelp in surprise as he prayed that Terra wouldn't take offense to the mage's words.
After pinching the bridge of his nose, the messy brown-haired brother spoke up, "We just don't want to put you in any risk." He summarized, though it was a half-truth. While it was true the team didn't want to put the young girl in any dangerous situations, they also didn't want to place any innocent bystanders in danger as well.
Shooting every Titan a raised eyebrow, Terra quickly smiled broadly as the rock she rode in on floated behind her, "Hel-lo? That's why I left!" She confidently admitted. "Robin said I needed practice, so I've been practicing. Check it out." She beckoned as she snapped her goggles over her eyes.
With a quick leap backwards, the lithe blonde landed on her boulder and quickly summoned her powers, bringing up four more same sized rocks. Bounding nimbly onto one of them, she rode it to a higher elevation and took the three spares with her. Soaring through the air, Terra manipulated the stones through a loop-the-loop like a roller coaster; she dropped from the leading rock and landed at the end of the line.
Back on the roof, Robin, Beast Boy, Kylar, Cyborg, and Starfire all watched thunderstruck as their blonde friend zipped past overhead.
"Glorious!"
"Whoo-yeah!"
"Awesome!" Starfire, Cyborg, and Kylar all cheered.
"Dude! She really has gotten better!" Beast Boy exclaimed happily as he turned to watch her fly.
Raven watched cautiously as she replied to the green teens outburst, "She learned a few tricks. Doesn't mean she's any less dangerous."
Back among the clouds, Terra was right at the top of her game. The four rocks sailed on, in a diamond formation, with her in the lead. Bringing the rocks low over Jump City Bay, the geokinetic circled the Tower as her passing threw up walls of waves. Continuing on, she flew away from the Tower, the rocks in a four-abreast line, and she began a steep climb that sent them veering away from each other. After a couple quick barrel rolls, the lithe girl went into a headlong charge straight towards the building as the Titans simply stared in wonderment. A moment later, the four terran missiles hurtled straight for a collision above the roof. Once they were within mere feet of crashing, though, they all turned into a sharp climb to the heavens.
Back on the roof, all six Titans braced for an impact that never came, and instead watched as Terra landed neatly before them in a crouch. Standing erect and groaning with the effort, the blonde Earth-shifter sent the rocks high in a tight spiral, causing them to explode in a mighty display of pyrotechnics. As the grand light show flashed overhead, all but one Titan gaped open-mouthed at the spectacle.
"Ahhh..."
"Ohhh..."
"Simply stunning."
"Fantastic." The resident superheroes marveled as their short friend approached them, gaining their attention.
"See?" Terra asked happily as she propped her goggles on her forehead, "I've got everything under control." Before anyone could compliment the trained geokinetic on her new control of her powers, a tremor shook everyone out of their mood. When the shaking stopped, six very annoyed pairs of eyes found their way towards her. "Wasn't me." The blonde defended, a slight blush of embarrassment settling across her face.
0-0
To get to the bottom of the massive rumbling that shook not only Titans Tower, but the entirety of Jump City as well, the team made their way off the roof and into the Ops Center. Once there, Cyborg went to work on the computer and brought it up on the window screen of the room. Four pulsating dots were marked on a map of Jump City once he discovered the cause.
"Earthquakes." The metallic Titan confirmed. The other five Titans and one guest studied the map intensely as he continued typing on a panel. Among the group, Kylar had changed out of the referee attire and put back on his gray shirt and black jacket.
"Do you think they're natural?" The brunette mused as he rubbed his chin.
"No, that's too many for it to be." His younger, adoptive sister told him as she shook her head.
"That's because they're not earthquakes." The Boy Wonder spoke up, gaining the teams' attention, "They're a trail." On the map, two more dots appeared and looked as thought they were making more quakes. "Something is moving under the city. We need to find out what. Titans! GO!" With a nod from the others, Starfire, Beast Boy, Kylar, and Cyborg charged out of the room. Robin and Raven moved to follow, but stopped well short of the door and turned back. "Are you coming or not?" The masked teen asked their blond-haired guest.
Terra raised an eyebrow at the pair, "Does this mean I'm on the team?" She asked hopefully.
"It means we could use your help." Robin clarified. The eager young blonde gave him a satisfied nod and ran for the door, brushing against the violet-haired mage as she passed.
However, with that slight touch, images from the past flooded Ravens' mind as though an unsettling premonition came to her, leaving her badly unnerved as the vision faded. The only thing that knocked her out of her nervous state was when Robin placed his hand on her shoulder.
"Everything okay?" He asked.
"Can't tell." The psychic replied uncertainly, "Are you sure it's safe to have her around?"
The spiky-haired leader shook his head, "Not entirely. But everyone deserves a second chance." He said before running out, leaving the distrusting mage alone for a second before she too ran out of the room.
0-0
The best thing about the night life in the city is that it is usually quiet with nothing too hectic going on to rush the denizens. The same could be said for Jump as well as on this particular night since nothing terrible was happening. Traffic flowed normally in the streets while citizens were enjoying nightly strolls on the sidewalks. Unfortunately, this peace was disrupted very abruptly when something very tall and broad erupted from beneath the roadway, throwing drivers and pedestrians into chaos.
The thing's shadow extended down the block, and it reared up to reveal itself in full detail in the moonlight-a long, wormlike machine with an enormous drill bit on the front end, which it had used to break through the pavement. As the machine rose to full height, the drill head retracted into the body and was replaced by a head with a small, screeching mouth.
From the sudden appearance of the monstrous being, a bus had gotten stuck at the edge of the crater. Inside the shaking vehicle, the driver and passengers looked up alarmingly, seeing the worm rear back and knife toward the street, sending people running for their lives.
Before the machine could crush the bus, though, it was placed under the influence of magical powers and pulled to safety, leaving the worm to bite into the pavement and throw up a cloud of dust. When the dust cleared, the worm pulled its' head out of the ground and saw Robin, Beast Boy, Starfire, Kylar, and Terra a few yards down the street. Raven soon floated down to join them and set the bus down safely behind.
"You missed the bus." The Boy Wonder quipped in a serious tone.
"Looks like you'll just have to take a cab!" Cyborg added as the worm finally noticed him holding up a taxi. With a powerful yell, the bionic threw the automobile and scored a bulls-eye on the worm's head, causing an explosion. Once it cleared, the invertebrate reared up and roared anew before dive-bombing towards the group.
On the ground, the blue-cloaked Goth landed in front of her green friend and began chanting, "Azarath Metrion-"
"I got it!" Terra cut her off by shoving her aside. With a powerful grunt, the geokinetic raised a large stone spike into the worm's path; it plowed into it and was flung backwards. The force of the blow caused the giant to slowly overbalance as gravity gained the upper hand. Coming back down, it smashed to the asphalt, shaking the entire block and ruining a car or two. Once it was down, Beast Boy thundered in as a woolly mammoth and rammed the head end into a nearby building.
The extinct mammal trumpeted as best it could and looked at the thick curtain of dust that had risen. After a moment, though, an infernal red light shined from within the cloud and gazed upon the changeling. Without a moments notice, a beam shot forth and nailed the mammoth, driving him to the opposite side of the street in human form, and bouncing him off the pavement and a building.
"Beast Boy!" The worried Earth mover cried.
Out of the smoke plumes, the worm rose once more, revealing a red spot on the head glowing, indicating where the blast came from.
After regaining his bearing, Beast Boy sat up as he rubbed his head as a yellow flare encircled him and turned into a pavement fracture. The green teen could see the worm fire its' laser down at him, but Terra ran in front of him, got on the chunk of pavement she broke, and carried him and herself to safety.
As they continued their ascent, the beam of red energy tore into the surrounding architecture as it followed them. Once they rose past the rooftops, Kylar flew in and primed a few spheres. "Oh, no you don't!" He growled before hurling his powers at the machine. Catching the monsters' attention, the worm let loose another laser beam and swiveled to sweep it after him. However, the worm then found itself getting a full barrage of starbolts to the face as well, causing it to swivel its' head back and forth, trying to hit both of its' airborne attackers.
Back on the ground, Cyborg had his sonic cannon going full tilt, while Robin stood by him and watched. His gaze was soon drawn to behind him as he noticed the floating rock carrying Terra and Beast Boy touch down.
"Good work, Terra!" The masked Titan complimented, "Now help me get in his face!"
With a determined nod, the rock mover swept one gloved hand through the air with a yell. With the motion, a large hunk of pavement broke loosed and started to rise, followed by a dozen more identical pieces of pavement, creating a floating staircase.
Once his route was ready, Robin bounded from one step to the next, dodging laser blasts that blew the steps into dust behind him, and went into a long leap accompanied by a handful of grenades that he flung forward.
The projectiles sailed toward the open mouth until they disappeared into the dark abyss that led down the worm's throat. The Boy Wonder dropped out of his leap and was caught and carried away by Starfire just in time as a string of internal explosions bulged out the monster's sides and sent smoke belching from its' mouth. The attack look like it had done some damage.
As soon as the Tamaranean fighter towed her companion a safe distance, a green pterodactyl flew through the skies with the bionic bruiser in its' grip. Cyborg unloaded a salvo of cannon fire that left the worm reeling, but the worm recovered quickly and shot back, causing the two Titans to swerve out of the way.
Starfire carried Robin in again, so low that his chest barely cleared a rooftop; she let go and peeled out, leaving him to drop into a dead run toward the worm. As another sphere of aura blew into the metal body and distracted its attention, the sprinting masked leader pulled out a grappling hook, leaped over the edge of the building, and fired it at the machine. The line wrapped around its' body, allowing the Dark Knight's sidekick to swing down and stay just ahead of a laser beam that slashed through the pavement behind him.
Robin's momentum carried him to the upper surface, where he landed behind the head of the worm and brought his fighting staff out for a quick twirl. Extending it to full length, he jammed one end under the edge of a panel and leaned with all his weight to try and lever it up, only to have the shaft break in his hands. The worm reared up and thrashed about in an attempt to buck him off.
As the spiky-haired Titan participated in the rodeo of his life, the brown-haired teen of the group floated a distance away from the fight, looking at the worm as he thought of a way to hurt it. "If we can't take it apart from the outside," A wicked grin stretched across his face, "Then let's see what we can do from the inside." Bracing himself for what he was about to do, Kylar summoned a ball of energy in his hand and chucked it at the worm. He then dove after it in a headlong rush.
Robin wasn't fairing too well with holding onto the mechanical bull and leapt off, just in time as the aura sphere collided with the back of the worms' head. Turning in the direction of the attack, the worm saw the brunette diving towards it and unleashed another beam from its' head. Kylar quickly swerved around the beam and continued his dive. No one knew what the black-jacketed Titan had in mind, but what he did was probably the last thing they thought: He dove right into the mouth of the worm, disappearing into the darkness inside.
"NO!" Terra cried as she watched her adoptive brother disappear inside the monster. Starfire and Raven gasped incredulously at the sight.
"Ky!" Cyborg yelled from atop a charging triceratops on the street. Firing his sonic cannon at the machine, the green dinosaur slammed into the hide of the worm. Though, the attack actually hurt the green triceratops more than the machine since the dinosaur staggered backwards, stunned by the collision.
As the cybernetic Titan continued firing his cannon, Terra came in behind them and started to lift a piece of pavement. Before the blonde could chuck the giant rock at the worm, Raven threw her powers over the mass.
"No!" The gray-skinned girl shouted as she struggled to keep the rock from moving.
"What are you doing?" Terra yelled.
"I should ask you that. It's too dangerous." Raven shot back as she pulled the rock closer to herself.
"I know what I'm doing! Trust me!" The geokinetic shouted as she caused the stone bulk to move toward her again. But the mage wouldn't let her do anything and continued pulling the piece of pavement away. "Let go!"
"No! Kylar's inside that thing! What if you hurt him?" The blue-cloaked Titan asked angrily.
It looked like that question worked as Terra's resolve to use the rock began to give way until she completely powered down. With her influence now the only one over the boulder, Raven placed it on the ground.
The victorious mage didn't have any time to gloat, though, as the worm reared up and prepared a laser shot.
Robin saw the blast coming and noticed it was aimed at the two girl, "Look out!" He warned. The blast ripped into the pavement and made its' way toward the duo, throwing them in opposite directions, and left them skidding on the ground.
The other Titans continued their assault on the giant worm, not only to protect the city from the danger it posed, but now to free their friend that was trapped inside. Sadly, the combination of the sonic cannon blasts and starbolt barrage wasn't enough to leave any lasting damage on their opponent. Another powerful beam from the machine caused the team to scatter.
Once the beam died down, something strange caused the team to stop their attacks; the worm began jerking its' body to the sides as small explosions from within knocked it around the street. The monster released several pained screeches as its' body bulged again and again.
Back on the ground, the Titans gathered and watched curiously as they tried figuring out what was happening. Beast Boy was back in his human form, and Starfire had floated from the sky to join as well. "Uh, what's wrong with him?" The green teen asked.
As if to answer the short Titan, the worm drill released one more roar as its' midsection bulged incredibly until it couldn't contain what was inside it any longer. The worm exploded into two halves and crashed into the ground, throwing up a giant cloud of dust. Silhouetted by the dust, the group was able to discern a giant orb of energy that slowly began dissipating. Once the energy and dust was gone, the rest of the team stood in awe as they saw their brown-haired comrade walking away from the lower half of the worm.
"Big Bro!" Terra yelled as she ran to him and threw herself at him for a hug.
Kylar chuckled as he placed a comforting hand on her head, "What'd I miss?" He smirked as the other Titans soon joined them.
"Friend Kylar, you are without harm, yes?" The orange-skinned alien asked worriedly.
"Dude, you had us all worried there!" The changeling added as he flailed his arms.
"What were you thinking?" The mage asked, a hint of anger in her voice. He knew she wouldn't admit it, but Kylar could tell she was very worried about him.
He let go of his little sister and rubbed the back of his head, "I'm fine. I figured since nothing outside hurt it, it must have been vulnerable on the inside." He explained. The other Titans stared at him for a moment, but were shaken from their thoughts when another tremor moved through the city. To the Titans' surprise, the two halves of the mechanical worm rose off the ground, the bottom half regrowing another head, and dove into the ground, drilling through the pavement and making their escape.
"Come on! They're getting away!" Robin shouted as he, Cyborg, and Starfire rushed after their opponents. As they stood at the lips of the newly made escape burrows and stared into the blackness, the other three Titans and Terra moved up to join them while a beeping drew the leader's attention. He pulled out his communicator and flipped it open, where he saw the face of someone he hadn't see in a while.
"Slade." Robin stated icily as he gazed upon the man's visage.
"Robin. Good to see you again." The villainous commando greeted from the other end of the line, "I do hope I haven't called at a bad time." He teased.
The brightly dressed hero wasn't in the mood for games, "The worm! What are you planning?" He demanded from the villain.
"Well, now, Robin. If you're so very curious, why don't you come down here and find out?" Slade asked imposingly. On his final word, the screen went dark, leaving all seven teens to stare, absolutely stunned, at the silent communicator in their leader's hand.
0-0
The criminal masterminds' message held one of impending doom. So knowing that time wasn't on their side, the team steeled themselves and made their way down one of the tunnels that the robotic worms created. However, as they walked, each Titan noticed something very important about the tunnel: It just kept going... and going... and going...
As the team continued their descent into the dark depths far below the city, Cyborg had to use his built-in flashlight on his left shoulder to light the path for them. During their search, the Titans found themselves falling into an impromptu formation; Cyborg and Robin leading the pack, Kylar, Beast Boy, and Starfire in the middle, and Raven and Terra bringing up the rear.
"Those evil worms left a very long trail." Starfire spoke as they kept pace through the tunnel, her voice echoing in the emptiness. "This tunnel continues for at least two more plinthorgs."
"And we're more than three hundred meters below sea level." The cybernetic member of the team added. "What's it doing down here?"
"Whatever Slade tells it to." The wary leader replied.
The group kept walking in silence for a few minutes, which left the blonde recruit a little nervous since she was walking next to the resident ice queen. To ease the tension, she tried thinking of something to say. "So, sorry about our little tug-of-war back there." She apologized, finally breaking the ice. "You know I wouldn't have let anybody get hurt. Least of all, Big Bro."
"Whatever." Raven deadpanned, clearly not persuaded by the girls' assurance.
Her attitude irked Terra a bit, "Okay, look. I don't know what your problem is, but get over it." The geokinetic shot back, "If I'm gonna be a part of this team, we have to get along."
That statement caused the violet-haired mage to stop walking, causing the blonde to stop as well, "You're not part of this team-not yet! And if you endanger my friends again, you never will be!" She stated matter-of-factly. "The next time I tell you something's too dangerous, TAKE MY WORD FOR IT!" On her last five words, Raven's head grew three sizes as she glowered at her counterpart, causing a cold sweat to drop down Terra's temple.
As the angered Goth deflated and stalked away, Beast Boy and Kylar stepped up to her on opposite sides. "Um, why does she hate me?" Terra asked, a little scared at the ferocity shown by the gray-skinned girl.
"She doesn't hate you." The aura manipulator reassured as he placed a hand on his little sisters' shoulder, causing her to look over to him, "Raven may not show it, but she does care a lot about everyone's safety." He said with a smile.
"Yeah, Terra, it'll be fine." The shape-shifting Titan stated confident, "She just needs time to get used to you. I think she's still getting used to me." He said a little quieter to his two friends, causing them both to smile.
The scenic walk through the underground burrow was absolutely riveting. Complete silence filled the tunnel, and only the smell of wet dirt assaulted the senses, giving the team a truly pleasant rest from the fight that had transpired above ground... I am, of course, being entirely sarcastic. The walk was incredibly mundane, but it didn't last that much longer as they soon proceeded cautiously into a large open underground cavern.
Once every hero and heroine made their way into the enclosure, they scanned their surroundings for any sign of the mechanical drillers or Slade.
"Dead end." Raven was the first to speak once she had finished looking over the area.
Robin wasn't entirely convinced, however, as his communicator continued beeping. "Not necessarily." He said as he crossed the room. He approached the wall and was rewarded with faster beeps. "I'm picking up a signal from deep inside the rock."
Cyborg then walked up next to him and adjusted his eye implant, "Way deep. Electronics- and one... no, two heartbeats."
"Slade." The Boy Wonder deduced.
Wanting to be of more use to the team, Terra stepped up, "How about we dig down there and see what's up?" She warmed up her hands and prepared to start moving bits of rock, but stopped with a gasp when the whole place began shaking.
Rock fragments fell from the ceiling as each teen braced themselves for what was to come; Terra and Raven backed into each other as the tremor died down, after which the Titan fired a very nasty glare at the wannabe.
"Are you gonna give me that look every time there's an earthquake?" The Earth mover asked, making her annoyance clear to the Goth.
Elsewhere, Starfire eased cautiously away, ready to throw a starbolt, but stopped and gasped as another drilling worm broke the surface behind her. Following suite, two more worms came up for air and then aimed themselves at the seven fighters.
"Titans! Ready!" The spiky-haired leader announced as his teammates gathered around him, each ready for a fight.
Just as the heroes got into position, the metal monsters took off in a heartbeat-but instead of attacking, they charged at an empty patch of wall and dug through it to clear out. Once they were gone, Beast Boy walked over to the newly made tunnels.
"Hel-lo?" The young changeling called into the burrows as he waved his arms. "The good guys are over here!" His words echoed in the broad path as he turned around to face his friends, "Dude, we got snubbed!"
"Because we are not their target." The Tamaranean Titan pointed out as the green teen walked back to the group.
"One of those worms destroyed an entire block." Kylar stated.
"Three of 'em together could wreck anything in the city." The bionic warned as he rubbed the back of his head.
"We have to stop them!" Terra asserted with a determined look on her face.
"We have to stop Slade." Raven argued, earning her a dirty look from the blonde.
"Then we split up." Robin declared, "Cyborg, Starfire, Beast Boy, go after the worms." The Titans just named all nodded in response, "Kylar, Terra, and Raven, we're going after Slade." He finished, earning more nods from the other trio.
With their orders given, the first group readied themselves for the chase. "Star, BB, let's move!" The bulky African Titan exclaimed, taking them no time at all to set off in pursuit.
With half the team gone, Robin stared intently at the wall he and Cyborg checked out while Kylar scanned it with his communicator.
"I can make a tunnel on my own." Terra stated as she narrowed her eyes at the cloaked girl. "Shouldn't she go with-"
"That wouldn't be the best idea." The brunette called back as he continued examining the rock with his T-Comm, "Raven's just as good at using her powers for moving earth as you are."
"He's right. We're digging through solid rock." The masked teen agreed as he turned to face the two girls. "We're going to need you both."
With the boys' explanation, Raven shot the blond-haired teen a hard glance. "Nice try." She said as Terra returned the glare with equal intensity.
A beeping from Kylar's direction drew everyone's attention as he backed away from the wall. "I got a track on the signal." He said as he showed the communicator to his spiky-haired friend, "Forty degrees down, six hundred meters deep."
"Right." Robin nodded as the geokinetic and psychic moved in front of them, "Terra, Raven, got that?"
"No problem." Both super-powered females stated confidently as they warmed their powers up. Their combined powers struck the stone face and sent up masses of dust and fragments.
"Is that as fast as you can go?" The blonde rock mover challenged.
"Not even close." Raven shot back with equal determination. With the challenge accepted by the violet-haired beauty, both teens increased their power output, digging quicker and deeper into the Earth.
"Careful. It looks like this rock isn't stable." The Boy Wonder explained as he pulled out his own communicator and looked at the screen, "Just take it a little..."
He was cut off when he felt a nudge on his side. Looking over, he saw Kylar pointing in front of them.
Confused by his actions, Robin turned his head to see for himself just what he was pointing at and saw both girls already at least a hundred yards downrange without breaking pace. "...slow." He stared incredulously for a moment at the speed the girls were moving before following his taller teammate into the bore.
0-0
As Robin, Kylar, Raven, and Terra made their way deeper underground in the hopes of finding their archenemy, Cyborg, Starfire, and Beast Boy, in the form of a green leopard, all continued their ongoing pursuit of the three metal diggers. The worms proceeded steadily through the dirt and rocks until one of the three turned upwards, leaving a thick haze that disrupted the each Titans' view. When the dust cloud cleared, the trio found themselves staring at three separate tunnels, two level courses diverging from the upturned center.
After examining the scene in the light from his sweeping shoulder beam for a moment, Cyborg decided to pick his own target. "I'll take the ugly one." He said as he moved to the left tunnel, "Teen Titans! GO!" With a quick nod, each Titan headed into a different tunnel.
While barreling after his own worm, Cyborg raised his left arm with a yell. A panel flipped open and exposed a small launcher loaded with a clamp/suction cup device. It was then fired ahead, trailing a long line, and hooked the worm's rear end. The big man hauled in with all his strength, feet striking sparks from the tunnel floor as he was dragged along. Suddenly, his face registered great surprise when the leviathan angled sharply downward and dragged him screaming into the depths.
The sudden change in momentum threw the cybernetic Titan off balance and dumped him onto his chest. More sparks flew up from the contact, and he ended up spitting out a mouthful of gravel. Unfortunately for the bulky bionic, the worm kept dragging him through the dirt as it continued drilling through the Earth.
Just as Cyborg's worm disappeared further into the Earth, another digger broke through the tunnel floor and continued ascending while Starfire flew after it. She chucked a couple of starbolts to destroy falling rocks before unloading an eye blast. The neon green beam melted a ring of stone around her prey's back end, welding the body to the tunnel walls to stop it could. The auburn-haired beauty stared and giggled at her work; however, the worm quickly broke loose and bore its way upward. Once the debris cleared, she charged off after it again.
The final Titan chased his target as it shattered rock after rock. Once Beast Boy caught up, he launched himself at the worm, turning into a wolverine on the way down and digging his long claws into the metal hide. Unable to get a firm grip, he slid back and was dumped to the tunnel floor as the prey thundered into the distance. After a surprised look at his claws that had been ground down to nubs, he resumed human form.
"Guess I won't need to cut my fingernails for a few years." The greenling whimpered before picking himself up to sprint after the worm.
0-0
Deep beneath the surface, far below sea level, the three remaining Titans and Terra finally excavated through the Earth and found themselves in a huge underground expanse whose walls were lined with steel framework. The sight that greeted them left all four teens speechless as Robin shouldered his way past the two female digging crew. Sitting at the center of the room was a cylindrical computer console, with keyboards spaced at regular intervals around its perimeter. A broad beam of green light emanated upward from the middle of the rig and generated a holographic image. But that wasn't the best part; the computer stood on a platform that had walkways connecting it to the walls, and the hologram was an image of Titans Tower and its island.
As the four made their way to the center of the platform, they looked up and saw three worms, identical to the drill worms from earlier, joined to form a circle, oriented horizontally and spinning near the center. Once they reached the computer console, each teen could only stare in awe as they deciphered the plans before them.
0-0
Back with the busily digging worms, Cyborg managed to reel himself in and crawled along the side of his worm, working his way toward the head. Before he could reach the top, though, he looked up in alarm and saw a large chunk of stone break away from the tunnel. It plowed into his face, throwing him off his perch and leaving him to watch the monster continue its headlong rush.
Standing up, he checked his forearm panel and saw an image of one worm tunneling straight up, while the other two joined it on converging paths that all headed above ground.
"BB! Star! We're getting close to the surface!" The metallic teen shouted into his communicator feed. "Whatever their target is, they're about to hit it with everything they've got."
0-0
One by one, the three worms broke through the surface and rose into the air with the help of small rocket thrusters mounted along the body lengths. As the three airborne metal monsters flew in different directions, Cyborg, Starfire, and Beast Boy, in the form of a green gopher, emerged from the underground and watched as the giant drill bits retracted into the segmented bodies. The free ends of the worms hooked up while red emitters on the sides opened up. Once fully combined, the three worms resembled the same spinning ring that was found in the underground chamber.
Beast Boy returned to his human form and stood frozen in shock with Starfire, while Cyborg moved closer and stared popeyed. Without a moments notice, the red emitters from the worms came to life and fired three laser beams, one from each worm, straight down to cut a circular incision into the Earth. At ground level, the three Titans were forced to make a run for it as one of the beams ripped toward them. Once the dust cleared, the bionic African stood up and addressed his arm-mounted communicator.
"Robin! It's the Tower!" He shouted in a panic, "They're attacking Titans Tower!"
0-0
Inside the underground shaft, the worms circling overhead started firing beams of their own, but up toward the ceiling instead of down to chew through the Earth.
The holographic Tower image now had a cylinder marked around it and a flashing red arrow pointed downward from the bottom end showed the structure's intended movement.
"It's not just under attack." Robin replied solemnly as he stared at the image, "It's about to be underground."
0-0
Time was truly against the Titans now. With two lasers working their way around the Tower, it didn't take a mathematical genius to figure out that it would take no time at all to submerge the structure.
"Our home!"
"Slade's trying to sink it." Starfire and Beast Boy cried in worry as they watched helplessly as the aerial worms continued the siege on their home.
"One drill going up and another going down." Cyborg stated after learning of Slade's plan from their team leader. "If either of 'em break through, we're gonna need a new place to live!"
With renewed determination, the Tamaranean Titan's eyes light up like beacons, "I like where we live!" She stated icily before taking off into the air to defend her home.
Following his alien teammates' example, Beast Boy transformed into a pterodactyl and hoisted his robotic friend up. Starbolts and sonic cannon blasts were brought into play against the wreckers, but failed to do any noticeable damage to the machines.
0-0
On the opposite side of the drill, Robin whipped out a few birdarangs and tossed them at the worms while Kylar and Raven fired shots of their powers. As the latter two kept shooting, Terra primed her powers and looked toward the wall, bringing two large boulders out and projecting them at the worms. Even with the combined strength of the super-powered teenagers, nothing proved to be effective enough to even slow down the drilling process.
"Not even a scratch!" The spiky-haired Titan concluded before he and the other three ran to the center console. "If we can't break the drill, hacking this computer is our only shot at shutting it down!" He explained as he quickly typed away on the keyboard.
As his gloved fingers flew across the keys, the sound of a weapon being primed caught the team's attention. Before anyone could react, a brilliant blue ball of energy blew past the Boy Wonder and two girls, finding its' mark on the aura manipulator. The result of the blast sent him tumbling along one of the walkways before coming to a stop, leaving his body in a heap.
"Kylar!" The trio called out in unison.
Completely caught off-guard by the assault, Robin didn't have any time to prepare himself for the next attack that came. Hearing the sound of clanking on one of the other metal walkways, the masked Titan turned his head and saw Slade charging straight at him from the other side of the console. With a furious roar, he launched into a flying kick.
The blow drove the Boy Wonder past Raven and Terra and dumped him on the walkway behind them. The masked criminal rushed at him, and as Robin sat up to rub his shoulder, another steel boot zeroed in on his head. He rolled away just in the nick of time, but found himself on the defensive as he continued dodging strike after strike as they worked their way toward the shaft wall and into a service elevator at the outer end of the walkway.
"Robin!"
"Hang on!" The mage and geokinetic called out as they ran to help their friend.
"Forget about me!" The fighter shouted back as he continued trading blows with the super villain, "Help Kylar and shut down the drill!"
"Good, Robin." Slade titillated as he slammed his fist against the elevator button, bringing up a waist-high gate, "Now I have you all to myself." He threatened before lunging toward the teen to continue their fight.
With the elevator scaling the shaft wall, Terra and Raven were left alone before finding their attention caught by the sound of groaning. Looking toward the source, they saw the black-jacketed Titan slowly pick himself up. After running to him, both girls grabbed one of his arms and helped stand him up.
"What happened?" Kylar groaned as he tried shaking the grogginess from his head.
"Slade." Raven answered him. "He attacked us and now he's fighting Robin. We have to shut down the drills." She explained as they made their way toward the console again.
"But wait, if Slade's here, then that means..." The brunette's eyes widened as he saw a familiar white-haired commando fly at him with a kick. "Gah!" The force of the kick sent him back away from the girls before coming to a sliding stop... again. Picking himself off the ground and clearing his vision, he saw a one-eyed female dressed in tight-fitted mesh and armor running toward him. Kylar immediately recognized who it was. But before he could move out of the way, the villainess tackled him off the walkway, plunging both of them into the depths below.
"Kylar!"
"Bro!" The violet-haired and blond-haired teens shouted as they ran to the edge, scared that they just lost one of their friends. Much to their relief, they saw the black-jacketed Titan dodging swipes from the white-haired females' swords on a platform below.
"I'm fine!" Kylar shouted back as he dodged some more attacks that were just a bit too close for comfort. "Just save our home!"
Looking up toward the ceiling to see the laser beams cutting more of the bedrock, Terra and Raven didn't argue with their brown-haired companion and ran toward the computer.
"We have to hack in." The blue-cloaked mage stated as she approached the console keyboard.
Thinking of something completely different, the blonde rock mover readied her powers and pulled a boulder from the wall, "Why hack when you can smash?" She smirked as she propelled the massive rock toward the hardware.
Before it could come into contact with the hardware and reduce it to nothing but scrap metal, Raven exerted her powers, stopping the projectile in midair. "No!" She shouted defiantly, "We don't know how this thing works. Destroy the controls and we might never be able to stop it."
This statement only annoyed the geokinetic more, "Or we might stop it sooner and save our home!" Terra sighed angrily as she put more effort into trying to move the weight, but Raven only increased her resistance, not letting the boulder budge at all. "I don't understand! Big Bro trusts me, why can't you?"
"'Cause you don't deserve it!" The normally stoic Goth shouted angrily, causing the blonde to stare in surprise. "I have to meditate every day to keep my powers under control. And I'm supposed to believe that you can just suddenly control yours?" Raven explained as she struggled to keep the rock from moving, "Trust is something you have to earn!"
"How? How do I earn it?" The sullen blonde asked, desperation apparent in her voice.
"You can start by trusting me." The mage stated simply.
For the second time that day, Raven was able to bring the hardy geokinetic's resolve down, causing her to relax her hold on the stone. With Terra's influence now no longer on the boulder, Raven was able to easily place it on the platform. With their second tug-of-war finished, both teens turned their attention to the console and got to work. However, fate had other plans as the rock ceiling finally began giving way to the constant slicing of the laser beams.
The two heroines looked up from the keyboard in sudden alarm and quickly jumped out of the way as a gigantic piece of stone fell from above and crushed the system to scrap. Sparks flew everywhere as the two girls picked themselves up.
On the mechanical worms, the red emitters started glowing much more intensely as a wider beam shot out, breaking away the ceiling at a greatly accelerated rate.
"Okay." Terra smiled nervously as she rubbed the back of her head, "Maybe smashing the computer was a bad idea."
0-0
Up above and down below a Titan faced off against a villainous commando. On both ends, neither teen looked to be getting the upper hand as they traded blows with their adversary.
Down below the main platform, the young, female commando didn't leave the aura manipulator any room to breath or counterattack as she continued slashing at him with her swords. However, she got just a little too hasty with her attacks as she went in for a lunge.
Thinking quickly, Kylar sidestepped to the left of the white-haired teen. Using her momentum against her, the brunette placed his left hand on her wrist and flipped the girl, where she did a flip in midair and landed on her back.
Ravager was completely surprised by the move and looked up at the smirking male. His expression, however, irked her to no end and she brought up her left arm, where a small blaster popped out of her gauntlet. She fired a blue blast from the weapon, but the attack just missed as it brushed past the Titans' head and exploded against the wall.
The sapphire-eyed Titan looked back at the destruction behind him quickly with wide-eyed shock before turning to face his opponent again, who had picked herself back off the ground. "Careful with that!" The super-powered Titan called out angrily. However, he was repaid with the commando girl pointing the blaster at him again. "Uh oh." But before Ravager could fire another shot, another tremor shook the platform they were on and caused both to lose their balance.
When the shaking stopped, Kylar quickly looked up toward the top platform just in time to see the ceiling start breaking as a massive boulder fell from it. "Raven! Terra! Wah!" He cried as he dodged more incoming blasts from his enemy. "Okay, I am so sick of you!" The angered teen scowled as he engulfed his arms and legs with his aura. With his powers ready, he was off in a hot second as he rushed the masked female.
0-0
Inside the elevator, Robin wasn't faring any better against his opponent. In fact, he had received a punch to the chest from Slade that knocked him back to the lifts' wall, but he quickly collected himself and continued throwing more punches and kicks at the hulking mastermind. The spiky-haired Titan didn't gain any leverage on his opponent, but he finally started landing a few blows. His momentum, though, was cut off when the elevator jolted sharply and threw him to the floor. Looking up, he found that they had nearly reached the ceiling and the drilling worms.
"The Tower!" Robin cried as the lasers cut deeper into the stone ceiling, causing the interior section to tremble and break apart. Upon closer inspection, the masked teen noticed that the circle the worms cut began sliding down into the cavern.
"Going down." Slade stated menacingly as he looked down at his opponent. With a nimble leap over the back half-wall, the dual-colored villain jumped through the scaffolding around the enclosure and made his escape.
Robin rushed to the guardrail to follow, but was too late as his archenemy had already disappeared. Looking up, he saw the ceiling approaching fast and, without a second thought, jumped from the lift just before it crashed into the rocks above. He fired off a grapple, caught it on a neighboring set of guide rails, and perched himself safely on one of the horizontal bracing members.
0-0
Back at the Tower, Starfire carried Cyborg up toward the rotating wreckers as a green hawk flew up alongside them. Once the two boys dropped onto the upper surface, Beast Boy transformed into an octopus while Cyborg converted his hand into a drill and put it to work on the metal exterior of the worm.
Blinding sparks flashed over the two for a moment before dying down. "Beast Boy! Go!" The bionic African in charge shouted once he finished drilling through the skin.
The octopus flipped him a salute with one tentacle before morphing into a mouse and scampering into the newly bored hole. Once inside, the tiny rodent found bundles of wiring running along the interior and started chewing on what it could. As a result of the damage, crackling arcs of electricity flashed inside as the mouse made its' way through.
On the outside, the worms' bodies bulged from a series of internal explosions before blowing apart. One blast threw the shape-shifter clear, who had taken the form of a turtle to protect himself from the damage, but soon morphed back into a hawk and cleared the scene.
Now completely separated, the three worms fell out of the sky in three different directions toward the bay before splashing in. On the shore, Cyborg and Starfire cheered wildly as the changeling landed and resumed human form.
"Robin, we did it!" The cybernetic teen exclaimed happily as he activated his communicator, "We took out the drill!" However, his enthusiasm didn't seem to reach the leader since he didn't receive a response. "Robin?"
A split second later, a laser beam erupted from below the water and started to trace around the shore. All three Titans were thrown down with a yell due to the accompanying tremor. Sure enough, all three lasers pierced the bedrock, and after a long moment, the entire island began sinking into Jump City Bay.
Inside the newly made hole, the three teens stood up and stared in despair as the realization hit them. "No!" Cyborg cried as his two teammates gasped in horror.
With nothing left to do to save their home, the orange-skinned alien flew off, carrying her non-flying friend with her, while the green teen became a hawk once again and followed them.
0-0
"Ah!" Ravager grunted as she slid across the catwalk. During her fight with the aura manipulator, she quickly found herself on the defensive, but still couldn't keep up with her opponent's movements. With one well placed punch, the white-haired apprentice found herself launched through the air. With a groan, she picked herself up just as her vision refocused. In front of her, Ravager saw the brunette stalking towards her, an enraged look on his face.
"You can't win." Kylar hissed without breaking stride, "No matter what your plan is, my friends and I will always stop you!"
The downed girl spat to her right, "I'd be careful of who to trust." She warned threateningly. This statement surprised the black-jacketed male, not because of the threatening tone, but because that was the first time he heard her speak. Unfortunately, he couldn't think too much on that since yet another earthquake vibrated throughout the cavern. "Besides, our plans have already succeeded." Ravager grinned before pulling out some pellets from her belt and throwing them at the Titan.
The tiny projectiles exploded right in front of Kylar, creating a thick smokescreen that hindered his sight. When the cloud dissipated, the brunette found that the female commando had, yet again, disappeared without a trace. As much as he wanted to find the girl, he had a much more important matter to deal with as his eyes turned to the ceiling. There, he saw the sliding monolith smash the mechanical drill apart.
Determination quickly found its way onto the brown-haired teens' face as he quickly flew up toward the falling slab. Once there, he engulfed his arms in his signature power and pushed with all the strength he could muster. The result of his effort stopped the monoliths' descent, but he was now stuck holding an entire island by himself.
"Kylar! We have to go!" He heard his beautiful Gothic teammate call out to him, "There's nothing we can do now!"
"I'm... not... giving... UP!" The aura manipulator strained to shout. On his last word, his eyes disappeared into a pure white light as he struggled to keep his strength, but eventually the entire weight of the island slowly began sliding down again.
"Bro!" Terra shouted as she summoned her powers to help. Raising her hands, the younger sister fired two wide-angled beams with a savage yell. The energy struck the lower face of the monolith just to the right of her big brother and kept it from falling again. But even the combined strength of the adoptive siblings proved too much for them to handle alone. As the blonde buckled her knees from the weight, Raven stepped up next to her with both hands primed with her powers.
"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" The mage chanted as she fired her own magic at the massive piece of Earth that hit just to the left of the brunette.
With the added help, Terra was able to straighten up and push her powers further. Ever so slowly, the combined force of the trio began pushing the collapsed rock back up the way it came.
0-0
On the surface, Cyborg, Starfire, and Beast Boy stood on the shore of the bay, sadly regarding the site of their lost home. The Tamaranean had become so saddened by the loss that she couldn't even bring herself to look at the sight. But their sorrow only lasted for a brief moment as a loud rumbling caught their attention.
"No way." The changeling awed as he stared dumbfounded.
"Starfire, look!" The metallic teen beckoned as he also stared in disbelief.
"I cannot. Our home is..." The auburn-haired warrior princess cut herself off when she rose her eyes a bit just in time to see the Tower emerge from the water until it finally stood as tall as it did when they all played volleyball on the roof. "...saved!"
"But how?"
Beast Boy already knew the answer as a smirk grew on his face, "Terra." He replied smugly as he folded his arms to admire the work.
A beeping from Cyborgs' forearm caused him to raise it and open the panel for his communicator. On the screen, Robin's face could be seen with a smirk of his own. "And Kylar and Raven. All working together." The leader stated proudly. With triumphant smiles, the three heroes watched as the island and structure were pushed up the last few feet, back into proper position.
0-0
It looked as though the Titans had yet another run-in with their arch nemesis and once again came out on top. The sudden threat of losing their home as it fell into the Earth was quite nerve wracking, but with their combined effort, and with the added help of a certain guest, the team managed to pull through. Even if Slade and his young apprentice managed to escape, they didn't care. One day, he would slip up, and on that day the Teen Titans would be there to put an end to him.
After saving the Tower and making sure the island wouldn't budge ever again, the four Titans underground made their way back home where they were greeted by the trio on the surface. Once there, everyone made their way back inside their home for some major relaxation.
But even though everything ended up alright in the end, there was still one very, very important issue that needed to be resolved...
0-0
A few days had passed since their long lost friends' arrival and Terra and Raven found themselves walking along the top floor hallway side by side.
"So... friends?" Terra asked the Goth.
"Close enough." The mage smiled as she stopped walking, finding herself in front of a door.
"Sorry we kinda got off to a rocky start." The nervous geokinetic apologized. She didn't want to admit it, but she did some very rash things without thinking that weren't exactly what you'd call 'safe.' Had it not been for the violet-haired Titan, someone, even her big brother, could have seriously been injured.
"Actually, I thought things went pretty well." Raven replied with a smile, calming the blondes' nerves. "It took me a year to stop hating Beast Boy." She jokingly admitted.
The two shared a laugh before a thought crossed Terra's mind, "And what about Big Bro?" She asked teasingly, cocking her eyebrow with a smirk.
The question caught her companion off-guard as a faint blush crept onto her face. "Not... as long." Raven replied, a little embarrassed at having answered her question. Terra giggled at the mage's embarrassment as she opened the door to reveal a pitch black room.
The young rock mover advanced through the threshold of the doorway and looked around the area, trying to adjust to the lack of light in the room. "Um... where are we?" She asked, puzzled by the new location.
"Your room." Raven replied simply. With a flip of the switch, the room lit up with a brilliant light to show the inside in all its' glory. The walls were painted to show a mountain landscape under a starry night sky with a ceiling painted in the same format as the sky portion of the walls, a big green bed at the far wall with a cactus next to it, bookshelves along the end wall, and a large couch and coffee table facing the window.
But more importantly than all the interior decorations, the other five Titans were there as well. "SURPRISE!" They all cheered, leaving the blond-haired girl flabbergasted.
"You guys did all this... for me?" Terra asked as she looked around the room. The emotions that filled her at that moment were too much for her to handle. Still, she held herself together well as she approached the welcoming committee.
"Yeah, since you helped save our home and all," Beast Boy began as he slid over to the young beauty, blushing and cocking his eyebrows, "we thought you deserved your own room."
"And I think you've done more than enough to have this." Kylar approached the girl and placed something in her hand. When she looked down to see what it was, she couldn't help but smile as she looked wonderingly down at the communicator in her palm.
"So I'm-"
"-a Teen Titan." Robin finished her sentence, confirming her apparent suspicions. "Glad to have you on the team." He said as he held out his hand to shake.
The new member of the team eagerly returned the gesture as the other Titans spoke their thoughts.
"Aw, yeah! Very nice!" The bionic cheered.
"This is the best thing that's ever happened to me." The changeling awed with hearts in his eyes.
"I promised myself I wouldn't cry." The aura manipulator struggled to keep his tears of joy from flowing from his eyes.
"Welcome, new Titan!" The Tamaranean finished as she raised her arms gleefully above her head.
"Congratulations, Terra." Raven was the last to welcome their new teammate as she walked over to join the group, "You earned it."
All Terra could do was give her friends a gratified smile.
"All right. There's only one way to commemorate such a momentous occasion." Cyborg stated with a huge grin plastered across his face, "Waffles!" He said as he headed for the door.
"Mmm!"
"Perfect!"
"Can they be non-dairy waffles?" Robin, Starfire, Beast Boy, and Raven all followed their taller friend out of the room.
Kylar was about to head out as well, but when he noticed his adoptive younger sibling still looking down at her communicator, he walked back over to her. "You coming?" He asked as he placed a hand on her shoulder, gaining her attention.
"Yeah,I'm coming. I'll catch up in a minute, okay?" Terra replied to her big brother. The brunette gave the girl a gentle smile and a nod while he tussled her hair, causing her to laugh softly.
Once he left the room and the door shut behind him, the newest Titan looked back down at the black-and-yellow device. "I don't believe it." She whispered, "They actually trust me."
Author's Note:
Everyone say it with me: TERRA'S BACK!
Victory Screech!
So that everyone brings this chapter to a close, and I can't tell you how I enjoy writing Terra with the OC. She sure does show a lot of affection for her adoptive older sibling, doesn't she? And it doesn't seem like she has any ulterior motives for coming back at all! None whatsoever.
Anyway, I wanted to pose a question to you all about the Tournament of Heroes, I was thinking of adding more heroes to it, like Kid Flash and maybe Blue Beetle, but I don't really know. If any of you have any suggestions, please let me know either in the review section or just PM me, either way is fine. Just please keep it from the DC universe, or if you have an OC you want me to put in, I'll probably accept maybe one or two if I think they're really interesting.
SO! Now that that's all out of the way, thank you all again for reading and I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Remember to leave a review if you want to, and to follow and favorite for more updates. If you have any questions or suggestions for the story, PM me, that would be the best way to reach me, and I just love hearing your thoughts.
Once again, it saddens me to say goodbye, but the time has come again. Just remember that someone is thinking about you.
Until next time, See You Space Cowboys.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the DC Universe, nor do I own anything from Teen Titans. Any references made in the chapter all belong to their respective owners.