Titans: Elemental

Chapter 34: Aftershock, Part 1

We see a stained-glass window, such as might be found in a cathedral. Orange-tinted sunlight shines through the panes into the dim chamber. We see more of the interior; a collapsed jumble of steel beams betrays the fact that this place, wherever it is, has not been used in quite some time. Slade stands at one of the windows and turns to address someone behind him. Since his throw down with Beast Boy, he has had a chance to replace his mask and armor.

Slade said, "you have had doubts in the past. Made mistakes."

We see Terra at another window. She stands with her head bowed and eyes closed. The black and yellow-orange outfit she once sported has been replaced by a very different one: steel breastplate and shoulder/elbow pads, a layer of cloth wrappings under the armor to cover her entire body, a black codpiece, and a metal hair clip above the left ear.

Slade asked, "but all that is behind you, isn't it?"

She opens her eyes and lifts her face.

Terra said, "yes."

Slade asked, "you belong to me now…. Don't you?"

Terra said, "I do."

He walks around behind her.

Slade asked, "from this day forward, will you serve me and me only?"

She turns her head slightly to look at him over her shoulder. The movement reveals a second clip over her right ear, as well as the hair that has fallen forward to hide that side of her face.

Terra said, "I will."

She raises her hands, now clad in thick steel gloves like his.

Slade asked, "will you obey my every command?"

She steps forth and says, "I will."

Slade asked, "will you fight at my side forever?"

He holds out one hand, palm up, and she stares into it. He has a disc marked with his S insignia. She gives him a hard look, takes the item after a bit of hesitation, and holds it over her breastplate.

Terra said, "I will."

She fixes it in place as Slade asks, "and will you destroy the Titans?"

He looks searchingly at her. She says what he wants to hear.

Terra said, "I thought you'd never ask."

Her mouth curves up into a cruel smile, but it almost looks forced…. As if a hint of regret was breaking through.

….

We see the streets of Jump City during the day. The T-Car races down the street. Dick rides shotgun next to Vic.

Rose, Bryan and Blackfire sit in the very back. Beast Boy sits with Starfire, Jack and Raven.

BB said, "okay, okay, I got one. Why are ducks so funny? Because they're always quacking jokes!"

Vic and Dick groan softly as Rose face-palms.

Raven said, "pull over. I think I'm gonna be sick."

BB is caught flat-footed; Starfire seems positively perplexed, but her face soon lights up.

Starfire said, "oh, I see! It is humorous because ducks lack the large brain necessary for the telling of jokes. Hehehe."

Dick said, "actually, Starfire, it just wasn't humorous."

Raven said, "because Beast Boy lacks the large brain necessary for telling jokes."

Rose and Blackfire start cackling like hyenas.

BB said, "come on, Raven, you know I'm hilarious. And I'm not gonna give up until I get you to smile. Okay. Why did the aardvark cross the road?"

The T-Car rolls up and brakes at a stoplight.

Raven said, "to beat up the idiot telling jokes about him?"

Everyone in the car starts laughing except for Starfire, who looks confused, and Beast Boy, who looks irritated.

Vic laughed, "the idiot telling the jokes…. Hahaha!"

Dick chuckled, "now that's funny."

Starfire asked, "please, an aardvark is some form of duck?"

Jack said, "no Star, Raven's making fun of Beast Boy now."

Starfire said, "ohhhh….", before she started giggling.

Beast Boy's frustrated groan makes itself heard and the traffic light turns green. As the T-Car rolls through the intersection, a boulder flies into view along the cross walk and bulldozes it away. Vic's pride and joy tumbles over and over, the windshield cracking, and skids upright to a stop in a horrible scream of smoldering rubber. Due to Starfire's efforts, her door is blasted away just before the engine explodes and throws a piece of itself far away.

She climbs out, groaning and rubbing her head, and Vic opens his door. As soon as he steps to the street, it falls off the hinges and both Titans stare ahead in surprise. The others emerge bug-eyed; Beast Boy is the first to find his power of speech again.

BB said in shock, "Terra?"

Terra stands not far away, amid the clearing dust and smoke of her assault.

Terra said, "hey, guys. Miss me?"

Rose yelled, "Judas!"

Everyone looked at Rose.

Rose said, "what? I said I was gonna call her that the next time I saw her…."

With a fierce yell, Terra raises her hands and brings them forward; many small chunks of stone rise from the pavement and rocket toward the Titans. All nine bail out, leaving the T-Car to absorb the attack. Glass, headlights, tires, frame, and body panels all are mercilessly battered and smashed hopelessly out of shape. Beast Boy has taken cover behind the large rock she first slung at them; its sudden ascension takes him by surprise.

He turns just in time to see it make a perfect one-point landing on the car, crushing it flat. Now Terra focuses her powers on the section of pavement beneath her feet and gets herself airborne to zoom straight at the team.

Dick yelled, "Titans! Go!"

He, Starfire, Bryan, Jack and Beast Boy move first, the latter turning into a cheetah as he charges. Vic, Rose, Blackfire and Raven bring up the rear. Terra skims her platform along the street, a long fissure forming ahead of her. It rapidly widens while racing toward the Titans, and a huge stone pillar rises to push Dick, Rose and Raven out of sight. The other heroes continue their rush, Starfire and Blackfire blasting away, but a boulder flies at them and knocks them both backward.

Vic shoots one worried look back toward them, then trains his sonic cannon on Terra and fires. Bryan does the same with his laser gun. The blasts chop away part of her pavement fragment and put her off balance for a moment; however, she quickly regains control and sends the broken piece down at the remaining Titans. It crashes into Bryan and Vic's faces and floors them, but Beast Boy and Jack jump away and the former becomes a falcon in midair.

Jack forms his own slab of earth and starts trying to hit Terra with his staff. She blocks every strike with the metal gauntlets on her arms and pushes Jack away before firing a pillar of Earth at Jack, sending him flying until Blackfire catches him.

A fast swoop puts BB in Terra's face, at which point he reverts to human form and hauls himself over her leading edge.

BB exclaimed, "Terra, stop! We're your friends!"

Terra growled, "I don't have any friends, remember?"

Having thrown his words back in his face, she follows them with an uppercut that knocks him clear. Starfire catches him just short of the ground; behind her, Terra flies past and flips backward off her stone, leaving it to continue riderless.

Dick, who has fallen near the T-Car's wreckage and been knocked out from the hard landing. The mass slams down, bouncing over him, and Terra soon comes down after it.

She directs a vicious smile at the prone Titan and levitates two large stones to crush him. As he starts to sit up, the weights are lifted higher and moved directly over his head, but before she can drop them, Raven touches down and levitates a third stone.

Raven growled, "don't make me hurt you."

Terra said, "don't make me laugh."

Raven's stone moves behind the blond head, but her hold on it is suddenly broken and Terra sends all three boulders straight at her. The impact, just inches short, throws her far down the block; she grabs a lamppost to slow down, spins on it at high speed, and ends up hurtling down the street anyway. The friction of her contact with the metal weakens it to the point that the section of the post above that spot topples into the street.

A swing of Dick's arm knocks Terra's away, and in an instant, he charges at her. The two swing at each other energetically; Bryan leaps in to help double-team her, (that's what she said), but she promptly kicks both boys away in opposite directions. As soon as Dick is on his feet, the pavement before him erupts into a jagged wall that blocks his approach and stretches far down the block in both directions.

She smiles at her work; she sticks a disc on Dick's side of the wall. A red light at its center flashes briefly before the thing detonates with a mighty blast. Bryan, meanwhile, is in the clear at another point in the street as Vic runs over to him, and watch as chunks of debris tumble past them, followed by the human bulldozer herself. Dick's bomb has blown a hole in the wall.

Dick said, "Cyborg! Winter Soldier! Now!"

As Terra starts to get up, Vic levels his cannon and Bryan levels his gun.

Vic said, "sorry, Terra."

Bryan said, "but we gotta do this."

Terra's thin-lipped mouth curves into a smile; she stabs the fingers of one hand into the ground. A glowing crack spreads ahead, behind and explodes at each of their feet, sending both skyward.

….

We see inside an office whose wall-to-wall windows give a view of the street. Dick, Bryan and Vic fly up past here as the people inside go about their business. One man runs the copier, while a second sits at his desk and talks to a female co-worker.

The man said, "then I said, 'chill out. It's not like the sky's falling.'"

As he says this, Dick crashes onto a rooftop across the street and Vic comes down through the ceiling and lands on the desk. The woman squeals in terror as the dust clears.

...

Bryan falls back down to the ground outside.

Terra straightens up, looks up toward the spot, and smiles. Terra approaches Raven; the latter is still half-unconscious from that spin around the lamppost, while the former raises an enormous boulder and shifts it over her.

Raven looks up with a gasp as the mass starts to drop. She quickly lifts one black-glowing hand toward it, and it stops moving just in time and starts to move back up, but not due to her powers. As it rises higher, we see that Starfire, Blackfire and Jack using his powers have come to her rescue. Putting their backs into it, they heave the rock over her head; behind her, Beast Boy runs in and gets an arm around Raven's shoulders to help her up. Jack runs to Raven to help as well.

Starfire and Blackfire stand with that huge rock poised above their heads. After a very long moment, they fling it straight across the intersection at Terra. The former Titan stops it with almost no time to spare and sends it right back, but a pair of two two-handed starbolts reduce it to a storm of gravel. Starfire immediately lets go with an eye blast that finds its mark and sends Terra crashing against the remains of her pavement wall.

As the Tamaranean glares at the fallen enemy, wisps of smoke rising from the corners of her eyes, Raven, Jack, Blackfire and Beast Boy move up behind her. She flies over and kneels by Terra's side with obvious concern.

Starfire exclaimed, "Terra!"

Terra's eyes are closed, but soon pop open and glow very brightly.

Terra said, "you always were easy to fool."

The spot of pavement at Starfire's feet explodes into a high-pressure jet of mud, propelling her some distance away. Terra steps up and dusts herself off nonchalantly; the now-furious Titan stands up to face her. Raven, Jack, Blackfire and Beast Boy come in to offer reinforcements; the latter arriving as a falcon, then resuming human form. They are at the front entrance of a nearby building; out comes Dick, freshly descended from the roof where he crashed down. He runs to join the others. Rose comes over with Bryan at her heels. Vic emerges from a door across the street to complete the lineup.

Terra has stood her ground and focused her energy on the asphalt around her; glowing cracks now spread in all directions, and more power races along the ones that stretch toward the Titans. Very large masses emerge from the roadbed, forming into a pair of colossal humanoid mud figures that stand in front of Terra. The Titans are momentarily dumbfounded.

Raven said, "that's a new trick."

Jack said, "makes me wish I had learned it before this happened."

Staring at her hands, Terra is just as perplexed as they are.

Terra said, "whoa. How did I-?"

Her hair has shifted a bit, exposing her ear, and we can now see a Slade-marked radio receiver plugged into it.

Slade said, "you didn't. I did."

She turns a very scared look back toward that ear.

….

We see the stained-glass-windowed lair.

Slade steps into view as he says, "your new suit is more than a fashion statement, my dear. It is a sophisticated neural interface that gives me direct access to your nervous system. Your power is my power. My strength is your strength. We are connected, Terra; united as master and apprentice! We fight as one!"

He raises his fists behind his head with a growing yell….

…..

…. We see Terra doing likewise. The glowing hands hit the pavement, sending out shimmering fractures that lace among the Titans' feet. When they fade, the two mud golems drop from sight and part of the street behind the team erupts in a blast of light and smoke. Vic aims his cannon and Bryan levels his gun at the spot only for both to get smacked away by an emerging arm; its owner stands up from the weakened pavement and Dick and Rose rush toward it. The other standing Titans brace for action and immediately get a torrent of muck in their faces.

Beast Boy, almost up to his waist in the mess, becomes a rhinoceros and charges down the street. The second beast's arms now have a piece of sewer pipe jammed onto the end. It stops the flow and drops away just in time to avoid the green Titan's rush; he returns to human form and throws a confused look around, and the foe stands up from the pavement behind him. Seeing a brown fist coming down at him, he becomes an ankylosaurus and lets the tough hide deflect that blow. The two eye each other as Dick and Rose both brouch; they have to jump right away to avoid the first golem's huge fist.

They and their enemy square off for a moment, after which they leap onto the rubble-covered back. It takes little time for the thing to stretch out an arm and pull Dick loose; he is pinned under that hand, about to take a severe pounding from the other one, but Rose pulls out her sword and severs the arm!

Vic is rushing down the block with a yell, then to the monster as he tackles it. As soon as he hits the ground, though, the semi-liquid body disappears to leave him sitting in a cloud of dust. After a quiet moment and a puzzled look back and forth, the ground rumbles and two thick tendrils of mud shoot up just behind him. These loop over his head and punch back through the pavement just in front, crossing just above Vic's head. He is quickly pinned down when both loops contract, then finds himself aloft as the creature emerges beneath him.

Dick is on the scene, ready to mix it up. We see the rest of his captor; it has the big man wrapped up in its arms and is using him as a shield. The sound of starbolts is heard, and we look down the street, where Starfire and Blackfire back up and toss off a couple of shots. A crack of asphalt at their feet, and a thick tendril of sludge has emerged to ensnare them both firmly, but some quick eye blasts and superhuman heaves break them loose again. Raven and Jack back up to the sisters, shielding them from a few flying rocks and a very big one that comes after them, then lifts off.

Dick looks toward Beast Boy, who is still eyeing his adversary up and down. It jams the pipe-ended arm into the street, pops it up under the green dinosaur, and spews out a muddy fountain that launches him all the way to the opposite sidewalk. Beast Boy plows into a building near Dick, taking out one of the plate-glass windows, as Dick gets a pair of discs ready.

Dick yells as he throws the discs, "Titans! Fall back!"

The projectiles arc toward Terra, who puts up an arm to shield her face, and explode to produce thick smoke.

Terra coughed, "can't see!"

As she says this, we look to Blackfire and Starfire; the tentacle reaching towards them disintegrates suddenly.

We see Jack and Raven, who takes down the barrier she has put up around herself and him. Both golems vanish into the street, Vic getting dropped flat as they go, and Beast Boy stands up in human form behind Dick. Bryan runs over with Rose. Each directs a slightly puzzled look at the leader, wondering at his decision since Terra's offensive has been blunted.

Dick said, "you heard me! Fall back!"

He hurls down a smoke bomb, which instantly throws up a thick veil to hide the team's movements. Out of the haze from the discs' explosion, Terra raises herself on a tall stone column and watches the smoke slowly dissipate: no one in sight right now. She is frustrated and furious at not having been able to finish the job here and now.

We see that Beast Boy has not followed Dick's order right away, but he soon takes a few reluctant steps backward and wheels into a run to catch up.

….

Later, at Titans Tower; it is now early evening. Inside the entrance hall, Vic is in one of the armchairs, bending over a table, while Raven leans against the wall. Her crossed arms and disgusted expression say more about her thoughts on Terra's turncoat attack than any words ever could. Jack stands next to her, leaning against his staff.

A small clinking sound comes from Vic's direction. A bowl sits on the table, and he is picking bits of stone stuck from his forearm circuitry and dropping them in here. Farther back, Starfire sits on a flight of stairs next to Dick, who leans against the railing with Blackfire, and Beast Boy stands nearby.

Rose is wrapping some bandages around Bryan's real arm. He had landed on it hard when Terra tossed him around.

Vic said, "I shoulda blasted her when I had the chance."

Raven said, "I should've hit her with everything I've got."

Blackfire said, "get in line, sister."

Bryan said, "at times like this, I wish BOTH my arms were cybernetic."

Starfire asked, "why did I permit her to fool me again?"

Dick asked, "why couldn't we take her down just like any other criminal?"

BB said, "because…. She's not just another criminal. She's Terra. She was a Titan. She was…. Our friend."

Jack said, "Beast Boy, I wanna believe that was true, but look what she did to us all…."

Raven said, "Terra was never our friend. She was a liar and a spy, trained by Slade and sent to destroy us. She's evil. Always has been, always will be."

BB said, "you don't know what you're talking about, okay, Raven? She's made some serious mistakes, but she's not-"

Vic said, "hey, man, the girl wrecked my car. Seems pretty evil to me."

With one swift, violent motion, Beast Boy seizes the table and flings it aside.

BB said, "this isn't a joke! I knew her better than anyone! I know all the terrible things she's done, and I know exactly how messed up she is. But she's not evil! We can't just give up on her!"

Raven is briefly caught out by these words, but her eyebrows soon lower again; her opinion has not shifted a bit.

Dick said, "Beast Boy, she's working for Slade."

BB turns to Dick and says, "when you were working for Slade, did we give up on you?"

There is a long pause.

Bryan said, "he has a point…. You were blackmailed by Slade, I was mind controlled by him, and Rose is his daughter."

Rose said, "maybe there's more going on than we think?"

Dick said, "... She gets one last chance. One. We have to break Slade's grip on her. We have to try to get Terra back."

The alarm and red flashers go off.

Starfire said, "trouble!"

….

We see the prison Cinderblock attacked many weeks ago.

An alarm is going off here as well. Inside the front gate; Terra rides over the wall on a chunk of rock, comes to a stop, and swings both hands above her head with an agonized groan. From one of the cell block towers, a broad rock column shoots straight up; two other towers experience the same fate. From here, just above the turmoil, one by one, Plasmus, Overload, and Cinderblock rise into view on these pedestals. The first of these has the many-eyed form he took on during his fight with the Titans when Starfire was transforming into a cocoon, and the second now has a skeleton of microchips visible through the surging electric sparks that compose his body.

Terra floats up to their level. Her breakout efforts have brought the three villains up to at least twice the height of the towers' roofs. Terra is floating a bit closer and holding up a disc identical to the one on her breastplate. It is thrown at Plasmus to stick under his mouth with a brief flash, eliciting a brief screech from him. Identical devices are scaled across to hit the chests of Overload and Cinderblock in turn and bring a small groan from each.

All three are quite docile now.

….

Slade said, "well done, my dear apprentice."

He is watching her on his monitor. The image flickers a bit. After a moment, three other screens each show one of the newly freed holy terrors.

Slade said, "the neural remotes are online…. Overload, Cinderblock, and Plasmus are in my command…. And everything is under control…."

….

We see hooves galloping across a forest plain. The legs are green, giving this away as Beast Boy. Vic rides bareback, his cannon at the ready. Jack is right beside them on a floating slab of Earth.

Dick calls said, "we've got three escaped criminals attacking three separate targets. Whatever Slade's doing, we have to split up and stop it."

….

We see Dick on his motorcycle, racing down the street.

Starfire said, "Nightwing, Winter Soldier and I shall defeat Cinderblock."

Raven said, "Ravager, Blackfire and I can deal with Overload."

We see Starfire, Raven and Blackfire in flight above Dick as Rose and Bryan run along some rooftops.

Vic said, "and Beast Boy, Zivel and I'll take Plasmus."

BB asked, "what about Terra?"

Raven is floating down an alley, scattering bits of trash in her wake.

Dick said, "we'll have to worry about her when this is over."

Dick and Starfire, carrying Bryan, roar into view and disappear toward the horizon.

….

We see a large rectangular chamber; the same one in which Dick met with Slade when he was Red X. A large cylindrical piece of equipment is suspended from the ceiling, with a floor platform centered below it, flanked by two armed guards; all is peaceful for the moment, but a crackle of sparks from a nearby control panel breaks the quiet, Overload is hard at work. Lines of current trace a lattice up the wall. Up the balconies, emergency lights coming on, across the ceiling, toward the suspended device and down its length. More bulbs flick to life on the surface; at the bottom end, the arcs gather within a large ring that faces the floor.

On the platform, Overload's energy surges into it, causing a flash and a broad beam of energy to shoot straight up; it flies up to the overhead ring, which is now emitting an identical stream of radiation. The two meet with a blinding flash, which clears to show Overload now in the place.

A guard yelled, "fire!"

He and his partner train their fire on the intruder, but without effect. In response, Overload lifts his hand and causes the two weapons to fly out of the guards' hands. They disappear into his arms, which form into spikes; the men yell in panic and beat a quick retreat through the door. Back to the chamber; Overload grunts a bit and turns back to the overhead rig from which he emerged, only to see it turn black as Raven's powers encompass it. The entire place soon goes black as well, and her "soul-self" rises from the floor and turns into the blue-cloaked Titan herself, with Rose and Blackfire holding onto her.

Raven said, "so, Overload, think you can handle a total blackout?"

Growling, Overlord extends an arm straight at her for a stab; she stops it with a large shield, which she pushes back toward him. It plows into his face, forcing him to somersault backward across the room and right himself in a hurry. She follows this bulldoze with a few black energy bolts that set him bobbing and weaving. He pours himself into the floor grid, races toward the platform, and turns off to go up one wall, at which point he re-materializes in front of the girls. The shock sets them all tumbling in midair, but they all flip upright and Raven and Blackfire fly back to him.

Raven said, "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!"

Blackfire yelled, "eat starbolts!"

Raven's spell creates a wide barrier, just in time to stop the blow he is aiming at her, but not before Blackfire manages to get a few hits on him!

The energy of his strike is absorbed and starts to break it down, filling the area with light….

….

We see the beam from Vic's built-in flashlight. He, Jack and Beast Boy are on patrol in a chemical plant. We see a couple of large glass storage tanks. Plasmus' face appears within the contents of one of them as the three pass, but they continue on without noticing.

The sound of bubbling liquid is accompanied by the disappearance of that face and causes Beast Boy, Jack and Vic to wheel back to it. They see only the roiling liquid, however, and trade somewhat bewildered looks before resuming their surveillance. Soon, Plasmus eases into the tank again with a submerged screech; he bursts out in full voice.

He spits a mouthful of the contents at the trio, who split up to avoid the hit; Beast Boy turns into a leopard as he bugs out. The sludge quickly eats through the section of equipment where they had been standing, and it topples slowly to the floor. Vic dives away from the next gush just in time and sets off running.

Jack throws a ball of flames at Plasmus, making him stagger long enough for Jack to catch up with Vic.

Plasmus' shots rain down all around them; finally, Vic somersaults between a couple of vessels and stops next to Beast Boy, with Jack sliding in next to them.

Vic said, "great. Now he spits acid."

Jack said, "why can't we ever fight a villain who shoots kittens or something!?"

Beast Boy resumes human form and says, "let's just get this over with."

He becomes a pterodactyl and hoists Vic up as Jack shoots into the air with a small tornado around his legs The three dodge the creature's slime gobbets and counter with a yell, a fire blast and a cannon blast that tears through the purplish midsection. Vic is let go and sails neatly through the hole before Plasmus can get it sealed again; he stops at the far wall and looks back.

Plasmus turns toward him, revealing Beast Boy, back in human form, trapped within one of those huge, vomit-green eyes. The hero holds his breath as he struggles against the outer covering, then begins a transformation. The beast roars over Vic as Jack lands next to him, but that eye starts to bulge out of all proportion, and soon, Beast Boy bursts out of it as a tyrannosaurus rex. Vic and Jack find themselves standing in the growing shadow, which reverts to human form just in time for the changeling to drop neatly into Vic's arms.

We see Plasmus, roaring down at all three of them.

….

We see Cinderblock facing off against Dick in an open-pit mine, he has lifted a dump truck above his head. He hurls it at Dick, who fires a grappling hook and swings away on its line as the vehicle smashes down near him. What he has hooked is the overhead boom of a crane; he swings up and over it in a full circle, coming down for a flying kick at Cinderblock. This blow finds the stone behemoth's forehead and drives him back to the edge of the pit.

He shakes his head to clear it, roars, and charges back in. We see Dick, standing pat atop an earth-mover with Bryan jumping down beside him. As the approach continues, the Titans' leader and the winter soldier jump out of the way, revealing Starfire right behind them and flying in fast. Her sucker punch drops Cinderblock into a hard skid across the pit floor; he fetches up against a parked crane. Something creaks overhead, drawing his attention and snapping him back to full consciousness in a very big hurry. High above, the crane's load of steel girders has been set swinging by the crash. Down they come, squarely on him; in no time flat, though, he is back on his feet and hopping mad.

Cinderblock rips the boom loose and swings it across the pit, but Starfire hits it with a couple of well-timed shots that slice it apart. Those huge concrete hands wrap themselves around her, and drag her up to his truly annoyed face. This time, though, she does not smile or apologize for having to disappoint him. We see one violet-booted leg swinging back. The ensuing high kick gets her out of his grip and is followed by a disc flung into his face, and a laser blast at the same time; the diac bursts with a brilliant flash that dazzles him. His perspective: bright spots play across his retinas and obscure the double image of the incoming Dick and Bryan. The eyes focus themselves just before two steel boots crash into his face. Cinderblock is dumped onto his back again.

He slides across the pit to crash into a piece of equipment and then stands up. We see Bryan and Dick watching him from atop a vehicle, with Starfire floating nearby.

Starfire said, "he is unquestionably persistent."

Dick asked, "but why? There's nothing to capture, nothing to steal. Why did Slade send him here?"

Bryan said, "if I know that old psychopath, there's always a reason for what he does…."

Cinderblock charges back to the three Titans, who bail out before his rush.

….

Back to Overload, who has backed Raven up to the wall. She hits the area with a bit of telekinesis; the black power traces along a couple of conduits behind the plaster, and these break out to hose the electrical enemy with water.

Rose grabs a nearby hose and begins spraying him as Blackfire peppers him with starbolts.

He is driven back toward the floor platform as more pipes rupture and start to drench him, and gradually, his body subsides into the floor, leaving his circuit-board core lying by itself.

Raven steps to the center of the room with Rose and Blackfire; standing over the board.

Raven said, "what is your mission? Why are you-?"

Suddenly, brown sludge emerges from the pipes and hits all three girls with facefuls of the stuff and knocks them all the way to the wall.

"Hel-lo?"

The apprentice's boots approach Overload's core, the mud receding around each footfall.

Terra said, "does the word 'decoy' mean anything to you?"

Overload floats away.

Terra said, "we had to find some way to coax you cowards out of hiding."

Raven and Blackfire warm up as Rose pulls out her fighting staff.

Raven growled, "Terra."

Terra growled, "Raven."

Raven growled, "Traitor."

Terra growled, "Witch."

Blackfire growled, "clorbag."

They all charge at one another.

Terra is riding up on a muddy wave and jumping free, Raven and Blackfire flying to meet her challenge as Rose uses a grappling hook to swing towards Terra. They struggle briefly before Raven plants a boot sole in the aforementioned traitor's face and sends her down into the muck.

When Terra sits up, she is just as filthy as her opponents, and her eyes start to glow with a new and fiercer light. She raises herself on a column of mud, then jumps off it and hits Raven with a flying tackle. Both tumble into the swamp that covers the floor.

The surface settles down and is dead still for a long, tense moment as Blackfire and Rose stand by, worried for their friend. First to stand up is Terra, who then reaches in and pulls Raven up by the hair, but a burst of telekinesis knocks her off her feet. In a flash, Raven has thrown herself at the former Titan and pushed her head below the surface in an attempt to drown her. A few bubbles break the surface, and then a very large one swells and bursts with enough force to throw Raven halfway across the room.

Terra stands up, still breathing on her own, and pushes the mire back from a large circle of floor around her.

Blackfire flies at her, eyes blazing, shooting countless starbolts at her!

Terra forms two shields of Earth to block them before sending a huge pillar at the angry Tamaranian, sending her flying to where Raven had landed!

Next is Rose, who jumps down and begins fist fighting Terra!

She yells, "how could you do this to us!? After we took you in?! You allied yourself with that monster!?"

Terra yelled back, "he believed in me! Saw my potential! Made me better! What would you know about him!"

Terra manages a lucky punch that knocks Rose's eye patch off. Rose's hair moves to the side, showing her scarred, vacant socket.

Rose glares at Terra with her remaining eye and growls, "I know everything about him. He's my dad after all!"

Rose gets a lucky hit on Terra, giving her a bruise on her cheek before she summons a column of Earth to send Rose flying to the others!

At Terra's touch, the glutinous liquid boils and solidifies into small chunks of baked Earth, which she propels toward the ceiling.

Raven levitates a panel away from the wall, positions it to stop the volley heading to her, Rose and Blackfire, and sends it down at Terra. Now the mud forms into a tidal wave and is quickly cooked to make a stone wall that blocks the metal sheet.

The solid wave is smashed apart by the hit, but Terra gathers them together into a large hand. Balling this into a fist, she sends it toward the girls; Raven throws her own powers at the thing and slices it down the middle. Having avoided the biggest right jab ever thrown in recorded history, she focuses her energy on the overhead equipment and starts to bring it loose from the ceiling. As Terra looks up, the device comes free and sails toward her; she floats away on a stone platform she has created from the mud. She is thrown clear when the mass of metal explodes upon impact with the floor.

The three Titan's are shielding their eyes from the glare. After the view clears, they look across the room; a foot or more of mud covering the floor from wall to wall, smoking wreckage from this most recent offensive, and Terra nowhere in sight. A large shape starts to form in the ooze from a gushing pipe behind them; it becomes a mallet that whacks them all over the head, and down they go. However, the figure that immediately rises is not Raven but Terra, still on that rocky perch she created. The brown-tinted heroine gets partway up a moment later.

Terra said, "you know, Raven, I never liked you."

Raven said, "I never even wanted to know you", she stands up, "you may have fooled the others, but I always knew you were a liar."

Rose said, "ever since you came back, we should have known."

Terra said, "oh, really….", she cooks mud away from one arm said, "is that why you let me live in your house and steal all your secrets and-"

Raven yelled, "shut up!"

She forms the mud into a wave and drives it toward Terra, who parts it easily. The latter is now completely cleaned up, and she counters with three long tentacles that snake around the edges of the shield Raven has put up and plow her and the others away. Terra stands for a moment, a fist-sized mud ball floating in front of her face.

Slade said, "good, Terra. You know her weakness. Exploit it to take all three of them down. Especially my traitorous daughter."

Terra rides her stone across the chamber, taking the ball with her; it circles her head as she stops near the girls.

Terra said, "you're not getting mad, are you, Rae….", the ball stops, "oh, better be careful. Beast Boy told me all about your temper tantrums. And don't even get me started on Blackfire's ego or Rose's little sob story. Ugh."

The mud shapes itself into a fair likeness of Raven's head, with features set in a furious grimace. It then forms into Rose's head, giving an overly sad expression, and then Blalcfire's head, giving a really smug look, before turning back into Raven's head.

Raven said, "anger is pointless. My emotions are under control."

Blackfire said, "I don't think I'm better than anyone else anymore."

Rose said, "and you better not be mocking my story!"

The mud face becomes hideously distorted.

Terra said, "nyah, nyah, nyah", she made a flapping mouth with her hand; the mud head following suit, "anger is pointless. I'm not better. Don't mock me", the face is smoothed away, "and you're calling me a liar?"

Needled in just the wrong place, Raven gets to her feet and starts toward Terra, but is stopped by a mud hand that emerges to seize her ankle.

Blackfire and Rose try to help, but they're grabbed too!

They are dumped on their faces; as they sit up, the blond Earth-shaker floats a bit closer and brings up small stones to use as a staircase. She steps leisurely down toward ground level as she continues, with each stone falling away as she moves off it.

Terra said, "come on. What stings the most….", she makes a small ridge and walks down it , "that I tricked you? That I nearly wiped out your team….", she kneels to the girls; a stone spreading over them said, "that everyone liked me better than any of you three? That they thought I was happier? That I was stronger?"

Raven said, "stop it!"

Terra went for the throat.

Terra said, "or is it that deep down inside, you really believed I was your friend? Or that…. Maybe Jack would like me more than you?"

Raven's eyes pop open. Not two, but four, glowing bright red. Her powers flare up just behind the cloak's hem; with a feral roar, she grows to the same impossible height she attained while fighting Doctor Light.

Her voice echoes with a fearsome tone as Blackfire and Rose are pushed back from her power!

Raven yelled, "I trusted you!"

She sends a hail of rocks down at Terra, who has to back up before them. Other items start flying at her as well.

Raven yelled, "we trusted you! We gave you everything and you treated us like dirt!"

Blackfire tries to help by shooting her starbolts as Rose throws a knife at Terra, managing to slice the edge of her hair as she dodges it!

Now a piece of the balcony railing is wrapping itself around Terra's legs, but she hops clear and just avoids the supercomputer that slides her way next. She backs up before Raven's lunge, hits the wall, and forms a pair of mud arms that reach straight ahead. All ten fingers promptly wrap themselves around the gray throat and start squeezing; soon more arms reach up to pull her body in. By this point, the mud has deepened to the point where it is almost overflowing onto the balconies.

Blackfire and Rose yelled, "RAVEN!"

They try to run and help her, but they too are grabbed by mud arms and dragged down with Raven!

Terra's face registers sudden shock at the brutality she and Slade have inflicted.

Slade growled, "finish them!"

These two words get her back on track. Raven and the others are about to go down for the third time, thanks to all the hands that have seized them; Terra floats over and lowers her stone platform until she is flush with the mud to watch the last stage of the struggle.

Terra said, "who's in control now?"

But when she says this, there's a look in her eyes, as if she's second guessing what she's doing….

Now Raven is the one who gets snapped back to the task at hand. With only her head breaking the surface, her eyes return to normal as she realizes that she has played right into Terra's trap. She has time enough for a last gasp and cough before being dragged wholly into the swamp.

Blackfire tries to reach into the air before she is pulled down as well!

Rose yells one last thing before she gets pulled down into the mud!

"I'll see you in He-"

But she didn't even get to finish that….

….

We see a patch of surging waves and tilt up to show them breaking against a high rock face. Cinderblock stands at the cliff's edge. Dick, Bryan and Starfire charge in, the boys on foot, she flying to get a grip on their wrists. At just the right moment, she yanks them up and slings thrm through a full circle as they both extend one leg for some flying kicks. The combination of muscle and momentum dumps Cinderblock back into the mining excavation.

Situated not far from Jump City Bay, evidently, and the two Titans move to the edge.

Starfire said, "victory at last."

There is a tiny flash in the night sky, approaching fast.

Dick said, "now we can concentrate on saving Ter-"

The flash resolves into a large boulder hurtling toward the site. Starfire notices it first and shoves Dick and Bryan out of the way, but gets the huge weight squarely across her back as a result. Ending up in the pit, they look back with a stunned gasp; at the cliff's edge, she tumbles senseless over it. Trying to grab her, the boys are a hair slow on the draw; they watch her plunge toward the jagged rocks hundreds of feet below.

Dick yelled, "STARFIRE!"

Sinister laughter from Terra is heard. She has levitated Cinderblock and is standing on the unconscious creature's broad back, with the full moon shining behind her. The two float away.

….

Back inside the chemical plant. Plasmus' hands clap down flat on the floor, he is all fours and badly out of breath. Beast Boy, now a tiger, Jack with his hand ablaze and Vic are right in front of him, having gotten the upper hand. The big man breaks out his cannon, but the entire place starts shaking before he can fire a shot.

The floor starts to crack beneath Vic's, and this widens into a broad fissure. Free-falling into the depths, Vic launches his left hand upward to use as a grappling hook, and digs its fingers into the floor tiles. Five deep grooves are cut into the surface as it is dragged along, but a perpendicular fracture opens to break the hold entirely. We see Vic, still hanging on the end of his line, which suddenly goes slack as the hand drops into view. He vanishes screaming into the black abyss.

We see Beast Boy's tiger paw, holding on for dear life to a rock on the wall of one of these new gouges. It reverts to human form; and we see him just below floor level as Terra steps to the edge. He looks up with a shocked gasp.

Terra said, "hope you're not expecting a goodbye kiss."

BB said, "Terra, you can't."

Terra said, eyes glowing, "watch me."

The sides of the fissure grind back toward one another.

BB said, "Terra!"

The light from above is cut off.

Terra turns to see Jack standing atop a slab of floating Earth.

He growls, "you may control the Earth, but I have all the elements on my side!"

Jack shoots a blast of lightning at Terra! She quickly dodges and rises up on her own slab of Earth!

Jack forms an enormous ball of fire in his hand and throws it at Terra! She swerved as fast as she could away from it and raced towards Jack! Jack begins shooting huge gusts of air at Terra, but she keeps moving slowly but surely towards him! She grabs his staff as she lands on his slab, and the two begin playing tug of war with the staff!

Jack tries blasting ice into her face, making her hair fly around as frost litters her growling face and hair, but she keeps tugging at the staff!

Jack growled, "why Terra?! You were our friend! You were family! And you threw it all away for Slade!?"

Terra growled said, "you don't know WHAT I've run from. What I've done. What Slade has given me a chance to do!"

Jack said, "the past is the past! We accepted you! And you tossed us aside for a man who uses his kids as weapons! A man who mind controls people! Blackmails them! Kills them even!"

Jack tries to blast some water into her eyes, but she quickly throws some dirt into it, forming it into mud and tossing it aside! Jack can feel his grip slipping as he tries electrocuting her! Terra screams as the electricity courses through her, but she quickly headbutts Jack when he's not expecting it, stopping the surge of lighting and allowing her to pull the staff away from Jack! The Earth beneath them crumbles as Jack falls flat onto his back! Terra quickly forms another chasm, sending Jack plummeting down while screaming!

Once the screaming dies down, she tosses the staff down the chasm and closes it up.

She gives another torn look before steeling herself and walking towards the exit….

….

Slade looks over monitors showing the Titans each meeting their ends.

Slade said, "excellent work, Terra. I couldn't have done it without you. But…. Our conquest is not yet complete."

….

We see the exterior of the chemical plant, then we see Terra walking away from it. There is an evilly satisfied smile on her face.

Terra said, "I know. Seven Titans down, two to-"

She is cut off by the revving of the N-Cycle. We Dick in its driver's seat, Bryan sitting right behind him; the vehicle is hurtling over her head, and they jump clear for two flying tackles that lay her out flat. They struggle, but the boy's have the advantage of leverage and keep her pinned.

Dick said, "do. Not. Move."

Terra said, "what's the matter? Feeling lonely since I exterminated all your friends? You especially, Bryan. I took out your brother! Your girlfriend!"

Bryan said, "that ain't gonna work Terra!"

Dick said, "and they were your friends, too."

Terra said, "I don't need any friends."

Bryan said, "what did we ever do to make you hate us so much?"

Terra said, "you were born."

Her eyes flare up. A fresh tremor cracks the ground, throwing them in opposite directions.

Dick said, "I promised Beast Boy I'd give you one last chance, and this is it!"

Bryan said, "this can still change Terra! Just stand down!"

With fresh roars, they both charge at her and start raining punches. She dodges the firsts, blocks all the others, and returns the favor; they avoid her blows and catch her off balance by throwing her away!

She sails away to land in a crouch, then brings up a chunk of rock and rides it back to deliver a high-speed flying kick that sends Dick reeling. She then sends a pillar of dirt into Bryan's chest, sending him flying to where Dick landed. Now they are the ones on the defensive before a storm of punches, but a black-gloved hand locks around an armored wrist and stops her cold. Bryan does the same when she tries to punch him, his robotic hand clenched around her wrist.

Her exposed left eye widens in shock as they fling her against a chain-link fence. She hits it face first and is pinned there, Dick not relaxing his grip on the arm he has twisted behind her back. Bryan points his gun at her so she doesn't try anything.

Dick said, "look at yourself, Terra!"

A broken window shows the combatants' reflections.

Bryan said, "is this really what you want to be?"

Terra gives a horrified look for a few seconds, before, in one swift motion, she reverses her position and Dick's.

Terra said, "I'm just never gonna be good enough for you, am I?"

She sends a rock flying into Bryans gun, sending it flying away before he can attack!

Flipping his legs up the fence, Dick breaks her grip and somersaults away to Bryan. Terra raises herself on a tall stone column. The boys both look up wide-eyed as the shadow falls over them. The mass slides at them, throwing showers of earth and boulders everywhere and forcing them to run for it. A long leap gets them clear; Dick whips a disc up at her, and it explodes at her feet to throw her to the ground. The whole column crumbles into a thundering avalanche of fragments, but she brings these under her control, suspending them in midair, and stands up.

Dick said, "you don't belong with Slade."

Terra said, "you don't know anything about me."

Bryan said, "why do I get the feeling she's said that a lot today..."

She sends the stones at them; in a heartbeat, Dick has his fighting staff out and twirling as he charges. Bryan quickly follows with his robotic arm poised to strike. One rock after another is crushed to gravel by Dick's powerful swings and Bryan's powerful punches, and they jump along the tops of others to drill two huge roundhouse kicks that skid Terra at least fifty yards downrange. As she starts to come around, the end of the staff pins her back.

Dick said, "it doesn't have to be this way, Terra! I was Slade's apprentice once."

Bryan said, "so was I. He mind-controlled me and turned me into this! He blackmailed Nightwing into working for him! But me and him got out. So can you!"

Terra said, "I don't need you to save me."

Dick said, "you can only save yourself."

Terra said, "I don't need saving!"

Bryan said, "keep telling yourself that, it's not true!"

She kicks them away, breaking the staff, and flips up to her feet. The boys leap away from the melee; the ground starts to tremble. Terra is striding toward them.

Terra said, "I'm not some sad little girl who's waiting to be rescued."

Rocky masses emerge from the earth and are followed by the opening of fissures that send up curtains of dust and wind.

Terra said, "I wanted to be this way. I wanted to go with Slade. I wanted to annihilate you and your pathetic friends!"

Bryan said, "is this all because you think Beast Boy told us you couldn't control your powers!? I was mind controlled for months, and you don't see me attacking my brother when he didn't find me!"

Terra once again flinches before she growls and shakes her head.

A flick of Terra's hand aims a boulder toward them. It crashes down just to one side, but the shock wave puts them down. As they struggle to rise, she continues her steady approach and directs two more stones; these ones also land short and knock them flat. They labor for breath after taking the one-two punch; she stands over them and raises both hands.

Terra said, "and now, I never want to see your faces again."

The hands come down. We see a third boulder in view, floating above the Titans, then dropping straight toward them!

….

Skidding into view to stop under a spotlight is a broken Titan's communicator. Slade reaches into view and picks it up. Terra and the three prison escapees are standing at a short distance. Overload has put his body back together since his fight with Raven, Rose and Blackfire.

Slade said, "you see, my dear apprentice…. Now that you belong to me, the city belongs to us."

Terra keeps looking down, as if the weight of everything she's done is finally catching up with her….

….

We see the Tower, standing on its own….

….

We then see a cavern deep beneath it. Voices echo within it.

Vic said, "no more chances."

Blackfire said, "no more doubt."

Starfire said, "no more trust."

Raven said, "and no more mercy."

BB said, "she's just another criminal."

Rose said, "she's just like him."

Jack said, "she needs to be stopped."

We see the silhouettes of the Titans at the far end of the cavern; they have all survived Terra's onslaughts, and one of Starfire's hands glows green as a torch. Blackfire does the same with her hand glowing purple, and Jack's hands glowing red with flames.

Bryan said, "and we're going to stop her."

The others are in complete surprise at the sound of Bryan's voice. Raven, Blackfire and Rose have cleaned up nicely after their extended mud bath. Starfire, Blackfire and Jack raise their lit hands a bit higher; we see Bryan and Dick, eyebrows lowered in icy determination. They, too, are in one piece after getting bashed with that boulder, though their clothes are a bit torn.

Dick said, "no matter what it takes…."

….

Reviews:

Bailey Radcliff: I'm glad you've been enjoying the stories. Great idea for that moment with Rainey in Alien Force. Though I might use EVERYTHING in the idea. And sorry I've been taking so long and hope you're feeling better.

CNguy: thanks. Though I probably won't do a Halloween chapter.

Anti-Mage 29: glad you found it so funny. And yeah, I might do that retcon.

Canadude2029: indeed. Thanks though.

The Cthonaut: thanks so much.

pokemonking0924: thank you very much.

SuperSentai199: I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter so much.

….

Sorry it's been taking me so long to release chapters of my stories. Real life stuff like a new job, a new dog, family troubles and writing multiple other stories has left me VERY busy.