honorary titan fan week 2020 day 4: with the honoraries. this prompt was about an honorary titan joining in an actual episode, so i picked between the middle of aftershock part one and two.

Molten

"So, you're the one who took over this city? You're a lot scrawnier than I imagined."

Standing atop her rock, Terra leered over her shoulder. Through the fog, she made out a figure burning in the gray air and standing on the cracked concrete which used to be an avenue. He was a the newer Titan, one she hadn't encountered before and only knew through Robin's stories. He was supposed to be based in Morocco, an entire ocean away from Jump City, but somehow, he arrived during her reign, and she twisted herself around, facing the smirking boy leaning against a broken light post.

"Terra, is there a problem?" Slade asked, her earpiece buzzing.

"No. Just a bug crawling out of the woodwork," she muttered, smirking at the newcomer.

"Good. Eliminate him like you've done the rest."

Terra played with her split ends and nodded. Slade would be watching her every move, and he would have taken over if she gave up, but this was merely one Honorary Titan when she had already defeated the crux of the Titans. She had drowned Raven, the untrusting witch, in a sea of mud and had bested Robin, the so-called Boy Wonder, in combat, making the hothead charging his fists with flames nothing more than a pest.

But if she was being honest, something unnerved her. He was too new to the Titans. He had no reason to appear in Jump City. He should have been stationed in Morocco, so why was he in Jump City? Because he heard what had happened and raced to help? Slade's robots would have decimated any dissenters or anyone appearing on the horizon. Even the local police and firefighters proved powerless in their wake, but Hot Spot arrived without any aplomb, simply showing up behind and announcing his presence.

"How did you get here?" she demanded, her rock moving forward with a tap of her foot.

"I was in the neighborhood," he said, knowing she did not believe him for a second.

"You're supposed to be in Africa, Morocco to be exact." She narrowed her eyes, the visible one appearing slitted. "Unless you have magic powers or something, I don't think you walked here."

Hot Spot shrugged, his carelessness pinching her nerve. Crouching, he held out a fist and sneered, "I haven't been a Titan for too long. Maybe a month tops, but to someone like you, I don't think I owe a traitor anything."

Her muscles tensed, and her mouth tightened into a straight line. Raven's voice echoed in her head, and she banished it to the farthest, darkest crevices of her mind. Being toyed by someone she hadn't met, especially someone who lacked seniority in the Titans, drew out her rage, and she roared, throwing her arms up and cutting through the humid air.

Coiling streams of rubble shot up from the ground next to Hot Spot. He jerked backwards, one beam slamming inches in front of him, and he fired out a stream of flames from his palm. It burned through the stones and dirt, making a mad dash to Terra's face, but realizing her rocky platform would be ineffective, she lunged off and landed on her knees. She watched the stone explode from the fiery blast and clenched her fists, catching the sharp shards before they could scatter in mid-air. She punched forward, shooting them off like bullets at Hot Spot, who maintained his smirk the entire time much to her bafflement.

"You know, I like to think fire is stronger than earth," he jeered, cleanly incinerating the stones with a burst of fiery energy.

"Well, you wouldn't have volcanoes without earth, huh? You think I can't control a little magma?" Terra jeered and slapped her palms on the ground.

Hot Spot's grin faltered as the ground rumbled underneath his feet. He heard her bellow like a bear ready to strike down its prey. His eyes widened as massive, smoldering slabs of molten rock wrenched free from the earth's crust. He stumbled in place, his thoughts scrambling as Terra thrust them all at him, her manic smile too twisted to be human.

But although she commanded the stones, he mastered the heat within them.

Gnashing down on his molars, he clenched his fists and held them out in front of him. Smoke wafted off him, fire slipping between his fingers. Before the rocks could crush him into a melty paste, he snatched one of them much to Terra's shock, her mouth dropping open at what she considered to be the pinnacle of insanity.

But then, the rock cooled. The reddish aura it had dulled to a ashen gray. Before the other rocks could slam into him, he propelled himself off the stone he had chilled. The other rocks smashed down on to the space where he had once stood, and Terra's dumbfounded expression was his personal highlight of their brawl.

She raised a shaky finger. "How-how did you-? But the rocks-! I-! Wait, wait, Robin never said you could-"

"Apprentice," Slade hissed in her ear, cutting off Terra's stammering, "don't show him any fear."

"Temperature control," he simply stated. "You think a guy who can control fire can't also control the heat?" He twisted his finger by his temple. "You gotta be pretty stupid if you didn't figure that out."

"Don't mock me," she snarled through gritted teeth, every fiber of her being shouting at her to crush him.

"Can't mock what's already lower than dirt."

A shiver ran up her spine, and she wondered if Slade felt it, too. She gnawed on her chapped lower lip, his hissing echoing in her head and making her brain ache. His harsh criticism and orders filled her thoughts, fueling her desperation for victory as she lunged forward, her footsteps clumsy in her wrath.

She punched at his chin and missed. Hot Spot crouched and slammed his heel into her hip. Grunting, Terra raised her claw and pierced his back with a multitude of small, jagged stones. As he yelped, he left himself wide open, and Terra smashed her knuckles into his jaw, making up for her failure with a thrilling rush of blows. She slammed her steel-toed boots into his chest when he stumbled, kicking him to the ground and bashing his ribs, a maniacal laugh desperately trying to claw free from her throat.

Pain burst in his body, but Hot Spot suddenly grinned. He snatched her foot when it rained down upon his forehead. As shock dampened Terra's glee, he lunged forward, tearing her off the ground and slamming her on to a chipped sidewalk. He grimaced, phantom pain pricking the back of his head as tears suddenly brimmed Terra's eyes, her agony almost making him feel sorry.

But he couldn't be sympathetic towards someone who had committed too many atrocities. Taking a breath, he cupped the bag clipped to his belt and said, "Better stay down. Don't wanna take too many head hits or you might end up unconscious for real," he said, taking in her closed eyes and writhing form. He pressed inwards on his bag.

"Terra! Get up! Are you going to let one Honorary Titan defeat you?" Slade snarled in her ear as she struggled to peel back her eyelids.

"Of course not," she hissed back, feeling as though her teeth had cracked. She rubbed her aching head, but when she opened her eyes, she blinked. She looked left and right, up and down, and even under her legs, but Hot Spot had suddenly vanished. A gasp escaped her as she hurried to her feet, rocks flying around her and striking abandoned buildings. As one sliced through a fire hydrant and caused it to burst, the water spraying high into the air and gushing around her, she shrieked, "Where are you? Where'd you go, you coward? Gonna hide when the fight's just getting good?"

"Apprentice!" Slade barked, and she flinched, her expression softening as he sighed and lowered his voice. "When you had your eyes closed, it seems he escaped. My security systems aren't picking up any trace of him left in the city."

"But-but how? He was right here! Right in front of me," she sputtered, tearing her fingers through her hair.

"Calm down. Think rationally." Slade hummed in her head. "He must be the calvary. Perhaps the other Honorary Titans will oppose us, and he was their warning. It's a sign that the Teen Titans aren't through with us yet. Be on guard and continue patrolling for any others."

A part of her wanted to snarl back at him, but she bit her tongue. She waved her hand and wrenched another hunk of rock from the concrete. Stepping on to it, she sighed and combed through her lank strands of hair, continuing into the fog as her master ordered.

Unbeknownst to Terra, Hot Spot had indeed vanished into thin air. When he opened his eyes, he was back in his flat in Morocco. He shuddered and rubbed his head, looking over his shoulder at the girl clad in only deep blue and black.

"Well, even though the trip back here was way colder than I thought it would be, that worked out pretty good," he said, grinning at Raven.

She nodded and raised her cloak. "If anything, it really helped us get back into the city undetected through the sewers. Thanks for being our distraction."

"When Robin called me up, I couldn't say no. I had to repay the favor after the whole Master of Games tournament, y'know?" He shrugged and crossed his arms. "You guys gonna be good by yourselves? That girl's tough."

"We're tougher," Raven vowed, anger crossing her complexion, and she threw her cloak around herself, vanishing in the blink of an eye.

Sighing, Hot Spot powered down. He ran his fingers through his curly hair and wondered what kind of outcome would emerge from the war in Jump City. Rubbing his aching shoulder, he pulled out his Titans Communication from the bag on his belt and tossed it on his bed, deciding to rest in case he was needed again.