I'm so sorry for not updating in a while, there's been a few family things that have taken up most of my time.
I turn my head to the direction of a small shout and fly over to a giant scorpion towering over a small girl. She's no older than us, and although her long, blonde hair hides her facial features, I can tell from one look at her clothes that she's on the run from something or somebody. She's dressed in small, blue shorts, and a light grey long sleeved top lines her torso with a dark blue crop top over the top. Brown boots cover her feet, and I almost miss them against the rocky surface.
By the time I've finished observing her, the other Titans have arrived. "Titans! Go!" Robin shouts, and we get ready to fight. We don't have to, though. The girl stands up and lets out a battle cry as her hands glow a yellow that I've seen before. The bridge, made of earth, lifts up under her influence and comes crashing back down with a thud, squashing the scorpion.
I feel the other Titans' eyes on me, and I lift the girl into the air as they begin to unravel the situation. "She was not in trouble," Starfire points out.
"She was leading it into a trap!" Cyborg exclaims.
"Question is..." Robin draws out.
"...Who is she?" Beast Boy finishes as I slowly let her feet touch the ground.
She takes one look at the other Titans' awestruck looks, then her blue eyes lock with mine. I narrow my eyes slowly before smiling at her in a welcoming manner. "What? Haven't you guys ever seen a superhero before?" she asks mockingly.
Robin's the first one to break out of his daze, and he offers the girl his hand to shake. "I'm Robin. We're the—"
"—Teen Titans!" the girl exclaims as she fist bumps the Boy Wonder, who looks on, confused. "Rock on! It's cool to meet you guys. I'm Terra, and you're..." she points to each of us as she says our names. "...Cyborg, Raven, Ember, Starfire...and..."
I look at the last Titan—Beast Boy. He goes into panic mode as he spits out his name. "Boy Beast!" I snort at his attempt. "...Uh, I mean, Bass Boot...no!"
"Beast Boy?" Terra offers, and Beast Boy screams before turning into a turtle and hiding in his shell. Terra laughs as he spins around. "Dude! He's hilarious!"
"Hilarious?" Beast Boy asks as he pokes his human head out of the shell. "Me? Really?" Beast Boy smiles, and I spot hearts in his eyes before he falls over. Luckily, I catch him in the wind and steady him, and Beast Boy quickly nods his thanks before turning back to Terra.
Starfire flies over to the blonde girl, a smile plastered on her face. "Curiosity abounds. Please. Where do you come from; how did you get here; what is your favourite colour; do you wish to be my friend?" She asks the four questions in spitfire, and Terra leans back instinctively.
"Um...Earth, walked, red, and...sure," she says, and Starfire engulfs her in a tight hug.
"Hello, new friend!"
"How's it going?" she asks as Starfire lets her down, and she straightens out her hands.
"So, what brings such a cool little chickie to our big, groovy city, huh?" Beast Boy says, blushing increasingly.
"I go where the wind takes me, you know?" Terra answers, tucking her hands into her pockets. "I get to see new places, meet new people, stomp a few bad guys here and there."
"Cool!" Beast Boy exclaims, laughing.
"Fascinating!"
"Well, all right!"
Robin eyes Raven and I, then turns back to Terra. "You mean, you don't have a home?"
"The Earth is my home." She waves her hands in the air before pointing behind her. "I've been crashing in a cave on the other side of the hill."
"Unacceptable!" Starfire practically shouts. "I cannot permit my new friend to slumber in a lonely cave of darkness."
"I have a flashlight," Terra points out cautiously.
It doesn't stop the alien girl, and she pulls on Terra with all her might. "You will stay with us."
"Really, I—I'm..."
"Come on, we got plenty of room," Cyborg adds.
"Yeah! And I can make you laugh some more. I'm hilarious, remember?" Beast Boy raises his eyebrows twice and she chuckles nervously in defeat.
"Well, I guess I could stay one night."
"Oh, glorious!" Starfire says, and the three Titans drag her off. I look at Raven, who in turn looks at Robin. He's on the ground, and he looks down at the vanquished scorpion.
"Everything okay?" Raven asks.
"Not sure," Robin replies as some dirt filters through his fingers and back on the ground. "Something just doesn't feel right." I offer him my hand and he takes it to stand up before he and Raven walk off, trailing the four teens preceding them.
I turn to leave but hear the ground crumble behind me and whip around just in time to stop it from falling. I lift it up inquisitively and feel a pair of eyes on me as I walk over to inspect the site. Out of the corner of my eye, I spot a butterfly pin and pull it into my hand before taking off.
~~~
"Whoa! Nice digs! And check out the view!" Terra exclaims as she stares out into the city. She runs back and jumps on the couch, crossing her feet on the coffee table. "I can't believe you guys actually live here!"
"Su casa es mi casa," Beast Boy replies in a mispronounced Spanish dialect. I translate it in my head and frown at the shapeshifting Titan. "So do you want the grand tour, or..."
"Got any food?" Terra asks quickly. Beast Boy gives her a worried look before enthusiastically nodding, and he scrambles to accomodate for the blonde teen's needs, along with Starfire and Cyborg. Raven turns to look at me before turning away but Robin places his hand on my shoulder.
"Are you feeling okay?"
I turn my head to make sure nobody's looking before pulling out the butterfly pin. "Something's not right," I say, then lower my voice even more, if possible. "Someone was watching us."
"Did you see who?" Robin inquires, causing me to shake my head and put the butterfly pin back in my pocket.
"Didn't want to. Whoever they were, they didn't attack, for whatever reason." I brush my hair away from my face and eye the Boy Wonder nervously.
Eventually, he looks back up at me thoughtfully. "Slade?"
I wince at the name and hide it with a nonchalant shrug. "Could be. Last I checked, he's the observant type."
Robin nods, taking it all in. "Okay. I'll search the databases, see if he's been spotted anywhere. You—"
"—watch the girl. Got it." I turn my head to where Terra sits, dirty dishes compiled around her like a crash site.
~~~
"Whoa. Mud bath," Cyborg comments as he, Beast Boy and I stare into the bathroom. There are handprints and footprints scattered across the walls and the floors, and I turn to Terra, who scratches her now-clean neck anxiously.
"Sorry. Guess I was due for a rinse," she comments, and Robin and Raven grimace from the hall. "Mind if I use your sink?" She quickly walks off at Beast Boy's eager nod, and I glare at him.
"I'll clean it up," I say as I pull the mud out of the bathroom and drag it through the hallway in the air behind me.
~~~
Terra stands at the sink, cleaning her clothes in the water and hanging it with some pegs and a rope. The six of us stand from the entrance, watching her. "Well, she seems comfortable," Raven remarks.
Beast Boy looks at Raven, then at Terra, and his eyes widen as he grows increasingly concerned. "Wonder how long it's been since she had a decent place to crash for the night."
The blonde girl makes her way to the couch and hugs her knees, and it's not long before she spreads out in sleep. We make our way to the dining table.
"She needs more than a place to crash," Robin states.
"She needs a home," Starfire finishes.
"Why not our home?" Beast Boy says. "She could stay here with us."
Starfire flashes a smile and her eyes widen. "Yes!"
"I don't know," Raven comments.
"She would make a great addition to the team," Cyborg points out, and I glare at him.
"Maybe," Robin says after looking at me. "Let's ask her to train with us tomorrow. We need to see what she can do."
I nod thoughtfully as I stand up to dispose of the mud ball that hovers in the air, my mind occupied with the events of the day.
~~~
Robin, Raven and I stand at a control panel as Cyborg runs through the course, avoiding the obstacles that the three of us set. A large metal fist shoots out of the ground and Cyborg avoids it quickly. Next, several mounted lasers are activated, and they aim themselves before firing at the robotic teen.
Guillotines burst out from underneath Cyborg and he races through them, the guillotines catching him ever so slightly. The last one lands on top of him but he catches it, struggling to hold it up. Eventually, he pushes it back up forcefully and continues on.
The rocks split to reveal multiple turrets, which fire disks that Cyborg quickly blows up with his sonic cannon. His completion of the course earns cheers from Starfire and Beast Boy, and Terra stands beside the shapeshifter.
Cyborg looks down at his time, imprinted in his forearm. "Boo-yah!" he shouts. "New course record!"
"Well, yeah. You're the first one to do the course," Raven points out, and Cyborg shoots her an agitated look.
"Okay, Terra! Ready to show us what you can do?" Robin asks, and Terra nods before stepping away from us and towards the course.
"I just hope you're ready to see it," she mutters.
"You can do it," Beast Boy says, placing a hand on her shoulder reassuringly. "'Sides, it's just practice; it doesn't matter if you mess up. Not that you're gonna mess up, but I'm just saying that even if you really blow it, you..." He trails off as Terra places her goggles over her eyes and looks at him. "Shutting up now."
The timer on the front of the control panel lights up, starting from eleven and moving down. "Countdown initiated! Good luck, Terra," Robin says. Starfire, Cyborg, and Beast Boy cheer loudly as Terra adjusts her goggles. She repeats something under her breath, and when the timer hits zero, she clenches her fists and a yellow light surrounds them.
Turrets shoot out of the rocks and fire lasers at the blonde, who avoids the impending attack by summoning a pillar of rock at her feet to lift her up. The rocks blow everywhere as the lasers hit it and the debris crushes the turrets. Terra emerges from the cloud of dust, standing on top of a flying rock.
She lets out a scream at the sight of a metal fist popping out of the ground, and almost crashes into it, narrowly avoiding it as she clings onto the side of the rock. The rock she's using gets destroyed by one of the other fists and Terra begins to plummet to the ground. She summons another boulder and uses it to catch herself.
Terra closes her eyes in relief and lets out a sigh, but when she reopens them, she's met with a view of the ground and changes her direction abruptly. She crashes into some rocks, but the other Titans still cheer.
"Yeah! You da man, Terra!...um, I mean, you're the...way to go!" Beast Boy exclaims, fumbling on his words. Terra suddenly spins out of control, heading towards the guillotines. A pillar shoots out of the ground and into said guillotines, utterly destroying them.
"We're gonna need a new obstacle course," Raven states.
The blonde abandons the rock altogether and instead runs along the pillar, the ground opening up where Terra jumped off the last guillotine. A boulder flies towards her and she jumps on it before landing on a second rock. She's not steady, and slips off, but two smaller rocks fly over to her. She catches one in each hand and they lift her off to safety.
A second round of turrets open fire, but the disks explode when they hit the boulder that Terra's on. She throws several rocks at the turrets, destroying them all, and she jumps off the boulder, skidding to a stop in front of us. The girl lowers her goggles as Beast Boy and Starfire race towards her.
"You rock!"
"Magnificent success!"
I look over my shoulder at Cyborg's timer, which indicates that Terra has beaten Cyborg. "Looks like we have a new course record," Raven points out.
Cyborg appears to be caught off guard by Raven's comment, then shrugs. "I musta softened it up for her," he says.
"You were incredible!" Beast Boy shouts, and Terra sweeps him up into her embrace.
"I did it!" she exclaims. "You said I could do it, and you were right." She lets him go and he staggers backward in a daze before falling over. I catch him with the breeze and lean him against a rock to recover.
"A little rough around the edges, but you've got some real talent there," Robin says.
Terra smiles at the leader. "You think?"
"With a little more training, you could—"
His thought is interrupted by the sound of six communicators beeping in unison. Raven floats down to join the rest of us as her brooch flashes red, and I flip open my communicator. "Okay. Why is everybody blinking?" Terra asks as a lock of hair falls over her face, a tinge of annoyance in her voice.
~~~
"Slade," Robin tells the rest of us as we stare at the screen. "He's back."
"Slade?" Terra asks Beast Boy in confusion.
"Bad guy. Way bad."
Slade's image shrinks to a map of the city, and a flashing arrow points to his coordinates. "Got a fix on his location. Titans! Move out!"
Everyone else moves except for Terra and I, though we're stuck for different reasons. Terra's not sure if she's allowed to come, whereas I'm not sure if I can. Beast Boy stops at the door, and he pulls on Robin's cape to stop him. I don't know what Beast Boy tells him, but the two boys look back of us.
"Hey!" Beast Boy says to Terra. "You coming or what?"
She smiles broadly and runs off with him, leaving me here alone. My heart rate quickens and my hands glow different colours in panic. I stand, transfixed, completely trapped. "Ember?" Robin asks, but I can't move. "Are you okay?" I close my eyes and nod slowly, forcing myself into the air and out the door.
~~~
Slade bots jump down from the roof and use their lasers to destroy the mine. A birdarang knocks the laser guns out of two of the bots' hands, bringing their attention to the seven of us.
"Tell your boss we'd like a word with him," Robin says. The bots jump in the air, poised to attack, and Robin points at them. "Titans! Go!"
"You boys ready to rock?" Terra asks as one of the bots jumps on the boulder that she's flying on. She grunts as they jump on her, holding her in their grip, and Robin and I kick them off. Once Robin and I land on the ground, we look up to see ourselves surrounded by a dozen of the robots. I pull rocks onto some, crushing them, and the others pile onto Robin, who whacks them away.
One of the lasers hits the ground below me, and I grab Robin's hand and haul him away. "Robin! Ember!" Starfire calls in despair.
"We're good!" I shout back as I stand up on the other side of the mine. Several Slade bots jump onto Starfire as she flies around uncontrollably, and I pull some off before Cyborg moves to help.
"Hang on, Star!" he calls as he slams two of the bots' heads together and readies his sonic cannon. The robotic teen begins shooting, but some bots shoot at him from above. Cyborg shoots his sonic cannon at the rope holding their platform up, and once they're on the ground, I grab two of their laser guns.
I turn my attention away from Cyborg, to Raven. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" Her hands glow black and a strip of metal crushes the driver of the vehicle.
"Raven, look out!" Raven heeds Beast Boy's warning and flies into the air, avoiding the lasers, whilst Beast Boy changes into a dinosaur, sweeping them with his tail before backing up near Terra. The latter sends some rocks at the henchmen, but before they can reach them, they're exploded by the laser guns.
"Can't control it!" Terra shouts, grimacing at the effort.
The rocks fly down, aimed at Beast Boy, and my fists clench. I redirect the rocks at the Slade robots, along with a wave of water which electrocutes their circuits. At the same time, I fly Beast Boy into the air and away from the action. I yell at the physical toll but persist with all three elements.
Terra's powers have already done enough damage to the mine's structure, and the rocks fall where Beast Boy was and separate the two of us from the rest of the group. "Beast Boy!" Terra shouts, and I make my way closer to the door to hear their muffled voices.
"You okay?" I hear Robin ask Beast Boy.
"Where's Terra?"
"Don't worry. She's with Ember. She'll be fine." I look at the girl beside me and subsequently take her hand, leading her from the henchmen and mine debris.
~~~
After what feels like a lifetime of running, Terra collapses against a wall, panting heavily. "Why can't I do this?" she asks herself, but I answer for her.
"You can." When she looks up at me, I shrug and pull a rock from the other side of the mine into my hand. "You just need some practice."
Terra opens her mouth to respond, but is cut off by the sound of loud footsteps. We both jerk our heads in the direction of the noise to see a silhouette running. "Slade!" we both note, our voices in hushed whispers. Without looking back, I run towards the villain, and more footsteps indicate that the blonde girl is behind me.
I skid to a stop when rocks fall from the roof, cutting off the exit, and hide behind a large rock. Slade turns in the direction of Terra, who smirks victoriously. "Looks like I've got you."
Without hesitating, Slade jumps behind the girl and knocks her off her feet, sending her to the ground. "Actually, Terra..." he says as he throws an explosive at the roof. "I've got you."
I pull the rock with the explosive latched onto it out of the roof and hurl it as far back as it will go. "I wouldn't be so sure, Slade," I comment, making my presence known.
Slade doesn't seem surprised at all, and his one eye narrows ever so slightly. "Ember," he greets. "You didn't think I wouldn't notice you? You'd be hard to miss, especially after you and your little friend destroyed my plan."
Lights flick on and I destroy each one with a small rock, diminishing the light. "What do you want?"
"I'm surprised you can even talk to me right now," Slade says, sidestepping the question. He walks over to Terra, who cries out and crawls backwards. "I thought you'd be too scared."
I growl. "Hard to be afraid of a man who won't even show his face," I retort.
Slade shakes his head. "No, it's not," he smoothly replies. "Fear of the unknown. The mysterious monster in the dark. It's actually quite easy." I curl my fists once more as he turns to Terra. "Now, Terra...you walked right into a trap. Another mistake. You of all people should know better. But at least you and I are finally getting a chance to talk." Slade sticks his staff at the wall behind Terra and she dodges before weakly throwing a rock at Slade. "Hmm. I see we have much to talk about."
"Mind if I talk with my hands?" the blonde asks, and two pillars made of rock shoot out of the walls, throwing Slade forward. He lands on his feet easily and looks up at her.
"Good, Terra, but not good enough." He moves to sweep her off her feet once more but this time she avoids it, and I pull the floor from under her up, letting her land beside me. Terra lifts the rock up once more and throws it at Slade, but he easily avoids it.
"Impressive, unless, of course, you were aiming for me." Slade drops his staff and it echoes through the room eerily. I send Slade back with a small, but effective tidal wave and pull him into the air before sending him plummeting back to the ground. Terra runs to the side and shoots rocks at Slade but he sends her flying back.
"Back off! I'm with the Titans!" Terra shouts as she stands up. "They'll be coming to—"
"You don't belong with the Titans," Slade responds.
"You don't know anything about me!"
"On the contrary, Terra," Slade counters as he pulls something into his hands. I identify it as the butterfly pin that was on my person and scowl. The sight of the pin sends Terra into a state of fear and her eyes shake with the emotion as Slade continues to talk. "I know everything about you. I've been watching you for some time. I know why you're always running away. I know your secret, little girl."
"No!" Terra screams as she runs for Slade, who carelessly pins her on the wall.
"Get away from her!" I demand as the roof above Slade shakes, threatening to fall on him. He takes a step back, releasing Terra's hand, and looks at her.
"Would you like to tell her, or should I?" he asks, and when she doesn't reply, he continues. "Earthquakes. Avalanches. Mudslides. Everywhere you go, you try to do good. And everywhere you fail. So everyone turns against you." He pulls her hair back and keeps it there with the pin. "You lack control, Terra. And when you lose control, you are more dangerous than anything I've ever seen."
I bring the roof down on Slade, and he jumps back right before it lands on him. "Try this on for size!"
"Ember," Slade says as he makes his way to me. I bring up a wall of water to separate us, and he glares at me through the clear liquid. "The same problem lies within you, though you are significantly better at masking it. You lack control."
"Don't ever tell me what to do with my powers!" I snap as I shoot the wall of water at Slade. He falls to the ground momentarily before standing back up slowly.
"You're too fearful." He turns to Terra, then back to me. "If you were to attack me right now, both of you, there's a good chance you'd bring the mine down yourselves." He turns back to Terra menacingly. "I can help you, child."
"You can?" she asks, caution and hope tainting her voice.
"He can't," I shoot back. "Don't fall for his lies, Terra." Slade throws his staff at me and it hits me square in the stomach. I watch as his feet make their way over to me before I'm slammed against the wall, but I weakly pull a large rock from my left and ram it into the villain. It's enough to get him to release me, and he turns back to Terra while I crouch there, winded. "No," I gasp, but it's too late.
"Right now, you are...rough around the edges," Slade tells Terra as he picks up a small rock to aide his metaphor. "You need more than obstacle courses to overcome your problem. You need a teacher. A mentor. Come with me, Terra, and I can teach you to shine." As he says this, he crumbles the rock to reveal a diamond. Terra looks at him before walking away.
"But...my friends told me you're..."
"You don't really believe they're your friends, do you, Terra?" Slade steps towards the blonde, and I slowly stand up myself.
"Terra, don't listen to him!" I call out as loud as I can, my voice empty.
"They took me in. Gave me a home," Terra points out.
"And when they find out what's wrong with you, they'll reject you, like anyone else."
"He's lying, Terra!" I shout, my voice packed with more gusto than before.
"Beast Boy—"
"—Can't keep his mouth shut forever," Slade counters. "He'll tell them." This angers Terra, and her hands light up with yellow energy.
"He promised," she says.
"He lied."
"Terra, calm down!" I roar. "Control it!"
"Shut up!" she tells Slade as a collection of rocks swarm around her in a small hurricane. "Just shut up and leave me alone!" Her eyes open and she gasps before falling to her knees. "Don't lose control... don't lose control!"
"Now, Terra..." Slade says, and Terra looks up at him, clutching her head. "How can you lose something you never had?"
"I said get away from her!" I yell, intending on shooting flames from my body. They don't come, though, and I stand there perplexed as Slade uppercuts me.
"It seems you're not completely in control either." I glare at him, but it comes off as more of a petrified look. As a result, Slade, once again, turns back to Terra. "No one else understands you, Terra. No one else can help you. I'll be waiting." Slade disappears, and Terra lets out a yell, her powers causing rocks to fall from the mine's roof. I tear apart the hurricane and fly Terra to my side.
"Terra, it's okay," I comfort. "It's okay."
She lets out a sob, muffled by her knees. "You won't—"
"No. I won't tell. I promise," I reply, and her tear-stricken face is lit up by a small smile, one that I return without much thought.
~~~
"Well, guys, uh, it's been real," Terra says as she hauls her backpack onto her back. "Seriously, thanks for everything, but I should—" She turns to exit but is cut off by Cyborg, who's at the door with his arms crossed.
"Don't even think about it."
"Okay. What's going on?"
"Well..." Raven begins.
"...We talked it over, and..." Cyborg adds.
"...We wish for you to stay here, with us!" Starfire concludes, giggling in happiness.
"We think you'd be a great member of the team," I note, smirking.
"So..." Beast Boy asks. "Want to be a Titan?"
Terra looks at all of us, confusion written all over her face. Robin hands her a communicator and she stares at it in awe. "Me? Really?"
"Of course, you'll need more training," Robin states. She looks at him in shock and I nudge the leader, but to no avail. "I know you have trouble controlling your powers, and we can help."
Terra drops the communicator and glares at Beast Boy and I. "You told him?"
"I didn't!" Beast Boy says, his hands in the air.
"You promised!" Terra claims, then turns to me. "You both lied to me! You lied!"
"Terra, no! Wait!" the shapeshifter shouts as he runs after him, his voice fading as he leaves.
"I wasn't supposed to know, was I?" Robin asks me, and I shake my head as I pull my hair back behind my shoulders.
"You were bound to find out." I turn to the window on the other side of the tower and into the night. "Maybe it's for the best."
"Maybe," Robin agrees, and I brace myself for the question that never comes.
I love constructive criticism, so please help me to improve my writing. Any help with the Terra arc in particular would also be greatly appreciated.