Chapter 5 – Choices
Terra was feeling proud of herself. After some minutes searching, she found the person: a woman in a white coat, frightened for not being able to go anywhere, since the elevators, the only way out, were off, and neither talk to other people, since all the phones were mute.
Terra calmed her down and was now taking her to the surface through the tunnel she had made on her way down. As soon as they got to Jump City's streets, the woman hugged her and thanked her as much as she could. Police men and ambulances were ready to receive her. They informed her that Raven had already gone there, but had only brought one civilian. Terra thought it was weird, and that maybe Raven needed her help. She tried to reach the friend over the communicator, but she didn't answer. Without really thinking about it, she ran off down again.
When she got there, at the same spot she and Raven met the first time, she didn't see anyone. She ran in the direction Raven had gone, but didn't find her colleague or the civilian. Then her communicator rang.
"Raven" she yelled, answering "Raven?"
"Terra!" said Raven, looking pissed off "Where are you? They told me you came and went back"
"They told me the same about you, so I came down to help you" replied Terra, scratching her head. She could sense she was gonna get a reprimand "What a mismatch, huh"
"Terra, we agreed on meeting up here! I came back because, since they were both really nervous, I decided to bring one at a time"
"Why didn't you answer your communicator then?"
"Probably because I was teleporting, at the inter dimensional space there's no sign" said Raven without patience "How long did you wait until going down to 'help me'?"
"Hmm…" muttered Terra, biting her bottom lip. She really wasn't that patient. Actually, she didn't wait for Raven. After two missing calls, she came back to the underground without a plan.
"Thought so" said Raven in a blaming tone "You're too impatient and impulsive, Terra. I'm going down. I hope you can wait five minutes without panicking"
The screen went dark. Terra got angry. Raven didn't need to scold her like that for such a little mistake. Afterall, she did save the civilian, didn't she? She didn't even lose control.
Suddenly, Terra heard a loud noise and a cry. Not too far away. She wanted to run in that direction, but thought about Raven. She would get furious if Terra didn't wait for her. She heard the noise again. Terra didn't think twice and ran in its direction.
Oo0Oo0Oo0Oo0Oo0Oo0
Raven got to the place where she had last felt Terra's presence when she was at the surface. She wasn't there. Raven's violet hair lifted on a wave and she put her hands on her head to control herself. What an irresponsible, impulsive girl… She muttered her mantra (Azarath Metrion Zinthos) and sighed. Then she tried to concentrated and look for her telepathically.
She found her not too far from there… Why is she—She suddenly opened her eyes. Very close to Terra, she felt somebody else's presence. A cold, evil presence.
Oo0Oo0Oo0Oo0Oo0Oo0Oo0Oo0
The more Terra ran, the louder the screams got. They were acute screams… The blonde ran even faster at the thought that it might be a child. At last, she got to a metallic door. There was a sign on it saying 'Restricted Area – Entry Forbidden' and next to the door, on the wall, there was a little panel with numbered keys. She needed a password.
"I don't have time for this…" groaned Terra as she heard another scream. A middle size rock raised from the floor and shocked against the panel. It exploded, but the door remained closed. Another shout. She would have to break it. A much larger rock undocked itself from the ground and ran thought the door, ripping it out. Terra got in, rushed.
"Hello?" she called, since the room was dark "Is there anyone…"
In that moment, a red light shone inside the room and a loud alarm started ringing. A feminine voice repeated 'Invasion' over and over again, and from the ceiling thick metal boards covered the walls. All exits were locked. Terra fell on the ground. Another shout. The alarm stopped, everything got dark once again, and at last, the room got illuminated with white light.
There were some shelves in the room. Four were down. The origin of the noises. On top of a desk was a little recorder. The screams were coming from it. A gloved hand turned it off.
"Hello, Terra. Can we talk?"
Oo0Oo0Oo0Oo0Oo0Oo0Oo0Oo0
"Robin!" yelled Raven to the communicator "Robin, pick up!"
"What is it, Raven?" asked Robin's image at the little screen.
"Slade's here" answered her in a dark tone "He locked Terra at one of the rooms"
"What? How did he…"
"He attracted her to one of the most protected rooms while I wasn't around, and she went for it. When she broke in…"
"… She activated the security system" completed Robin "Can't you go in?"
"No, whoever runs this building protected it with spells that confuse me when I try to teleport inside"
"Well, we're done with the sladebots, and all the civilians were taken away in safety" he informed "We're going down"
"What happened?" Beast Boy appeared, sharing the screen with Robin "Is Terra in danger?"
"Yes, Slade got her" answered Raven, rolling her eyes. She thought that was pathetic.
"I'm coming down!" yelled Beast Boy, turning off. Robin grimaced and turned it off too.
Raven sighed. She could imagine what Slade wanted from Terra. This was Terra's real chance to prove herself.
Oo0Oo0Oo0Oo0Oo0Oo0Oo0
"Hello, Terra" said Slade in his calm tone "Can we talk?"
"I don't have anything to say to you" replied Terra, quickly getting up.
"Oh, but I think you do" retorted him, approaching her "I gave you six months, Terra. What are you thinking of life at the Titan's Tower? Did you have fun?"
"That's not of your business" she ran far from him, to the opposite wall, where she started to punch the metal.
"There's no point, Terra. This is made of very strong material, it's gonna take a while till you can get out of here"
"Well, we'll just see about that!" said Terra, her eyes shining with yellow light. Nothing happen "What the…"
"It's coated with three boards just like that, terra" informed Slade, evil pleasure coming out of every word "Also the floor and the ceiling. It's suppose to stop people with a stone crusher. You'll have to make an enormous effort even to take a little stone off your dear earth"
Terra gasped and ran behind a desk with computers. It should be true, she could feel a big distance between her and the earth, feeling an incredible difficulty whenever she tried to take a piece of it, something that never happened before. She breathed quickly, feeling claustrophobic. She tried to reach someone over the communicator, but the screen only showed static, and no sound came out of it.
"Your communicator is not going to work either. There's no other option, Terra" Slade's smooth voice came to her ears again "You are going to listen to me, and you are going to give me a straight answer today"
"What do you want?" she asked in a shaking voice. She had never felt so defenseless before.
"I only want to help you, Terra. I want to look into your eyes while we talk"
Terra bit her lip. She was scared to death, but she stood up and stared at the villain.
"Very well. See, we're already starting to get along" said Slade with a fake fatherly tone "Now tell me, how better is your control over your powers after the six months you spent with the titans?"
"I… It's a lot better" lied Terra, her mouth dry "Robin's been helping a lot and…"
"That's not going to work if you lie to me, girl" Slade sounded really angry for the first time since she came into the room. Really dangerous "I know it's not helping at all. You may have improved you fighting capacities, but not control. Robin doesn't know what you need. I do"
"But I… I don't want to do bad things" muttered Terra, looking down.
"Why not, Terra?" asked Slade, slowing approaching her "Wasn't life bad to you? Wasn't bad all it had offered you? Weren't people bad to you? You never wished you were able to fight back? All these common, inferior people, people that can't see how special you are and that reject you when you lose control of one little thing?"
Terra didn't answer. Her head was tilted, and blonde locks of hair covered her expression.
"Six months. No improvement. You think Robin hasn't noticed?" Slade touched the wound, talking about what Terra was trying not to think about in the last few weeks "He thinks greatly about himself, he won't think he's the problem, but that you are. How long do you think he'll wait until he considers you a lost case and expels you from the team?"
"No… Stop. You're wrong" tears slid across her earth stained face. Slade got really close without her realize. He lifted her chin with surprisingly tenderness.
"Join me, Terra. Only I can help you" whispered Slade, staring at her "What's holding you? Beast Boy? You think he's good enough for you? He's the weakest of them all…"
Terra couldn't look away from Slade's eye. It was blue, just like hers. But a darker, stronger blue. Secure and confident. They weren't green or weak.
It was a very tempting offer. In that look she saw real confidence. In that look she could trust. He really could teach her how to control her powers. And alongside with control, would come more and more power. No one would ever dare to tell her she wasn't good enough again. And if she was consider dangerous, it wouldn't be because she could lose control at any moment, but because she could lose patience at any moment… She remember Raven's scold and mistrustful looks.
But she remembered something else. The figure she saw the day she ran away from the titans. That familiar figure, that reminded her… of herself. And what it said…
"And never ever listen to Slade. He's going to be your damnation. You must protect yourself from him"
He would be her damnation…
She walked backwards, letting herself go of Slade's fingers. The ground started shaking. She couldn't make a decision. From outside came her friend's voices.
"Tic tac, Terra" said Salde, getting away from her "You really are a time bomb, aren't you?"
"No" she muttered.
"What's that?"
"I said no" the whole place was trembling now "I'm not going to join you. Never ask me again. We're enemies now. I'll always be a teen titan"
The villain didn't get a chance to reply that. Pointed rocks came out of the ground. In that moment, green rays came from the wall, making a circle that was soon flung, and the five titans came inside. Robin ran to Slade, Starfire and Beast Boy to Terra, and Raven and Cyborg tried to avoid the place to collapse.
Terra fell down, since she used too much energy and strength to do this. Starfire took her in her arms before she could hit the ground and lay her down, where Beast Boy received her. Slade ran off in a cloud of smoke and despite Robin's efforts, escaped once again. The shaking stopped, thanks to Raven's actions. Cyborg saved the building's computers and experiments, taking the rocks before they could hit them. He knew that if they got lost over one of the team's members, it would cause a big headache for the titans.
Finally, that mission came to an end.
Oo0Oo0Oo0Oo0Oo0Oo0Oo0
"Terra?"
"Hey, BB. Come in"
Terra was laying in her bed, with some bandages on her arms and legs. She was wearing normal clothes.
"I can't believe Cyborg let you out of the infirmary" said Beast Boy, coming closer.
"I can't believe Robin let you came to see me" she retorted. They both looked at each other.
"I won't tell if you won't" said the changeling, making her laugh.
"Deal"
"Terra, did Slade hurt you?"
"No, BB, don't worry, he didn't do anything to me" she answered without looking at him "He just ask me to join him again"
"This guy doesn't know when to give up!" said Beast Boy, angry "How can he not realized you're with us, that you're not like him?"
"I know…" mumbled Terra, ashamed to think that she did consider his proposition. She saw the heart shaped box he gave her earlier and decided to change the subject "So what did you want to tell me before, BB?"
"Hm? Oh, that!" he blushed "I wanted to ask you something…"
"What's that?" she asked. His green eyes met hers. Weak eyes. She couldn't see the confidence she saw on Slade's eye.
"Would… Would you like to be my girlfriend, Terra?"
The proposition got her by surprise, although she should have imagined something like that.
"I…" she didn't really. She assumed they were only having fun. Nothing serious. They were too young for that, really. But… maybe a commitment like that would stop her from being tempted by Slade's offer again. It was for the best.
"Sure, Beast Boy"
His green eyes shined more than ever, and he leaned and kissed her.
Inside Terra's wardrobe, on a shelf, the hourglass's sand started to shine. The drawings on the box around it changed slightly: the future was changing.
Oo0Oo0Oo0Oo0Oo0Oo0Oo0
Hey everyone,
I would like to thank you all for the feedback. Most of the reviews are from guests, so I can't reply properly, but thank you for the interest in the story and the nice comments! I also appreciate the corrections, they really help my writing! :D
-bf
