And... Terra's back! I love her arc in this season, and I can only hope that I've done it justice here.
I watch as Robin, Starfire, Cyborg, and Beast Boy hit the ball repeatedly across the net, and I close the book as the round continues. Beast Boy changes into a gorilla to beat Cyborg to the ball, and he plummets it in Raven's direction.
"Raven, heads up!" he calls. The ball turns black and she flies it back at the shapeshifter, who catches it. "Yow!... Thanks, uh... good save."
I put the book on the floor and stride over. "I'm subbing in now," I tell the Titans. "Who's coming off?" Cyborg escorts Robin off the court, though I'm fairly sure it's his turn to sit out, and I walk up to Beast Boy "Are you sure you don't want to play, Raven?" I ask, looking at the meditating girl to my right.
"Yes, please, you must volley the ball with us!" Starfire exclaims, jumping up and down.
"Come on!" Cyborg shouts, detaching his left arm and waving it around. "I'll play you with one hand behind my back."
"Does that offer stand for me?" I ask cheekily, though I already know the answer.
"Nuh-uh!"
"I can't," Raven states, not turning around. "I have to meditate."
I smirk as I turn to face Starfire and Cyborg, and Beast Boy changes into a gorilla to begin the serve. It flies over our opponents' heads and zooms towards Raven. "Heads up, again!" Beast Boy shouts, and Raven moves out of the way, letting the ball fly past her and over the edge.
"OH, NO!" we all shout, our eyes wide as we watch the volleyball sail over. The sound of it bouncing on the rock can be heard and we all groan.
"I'll get it," Beast Boy says.
As he walks up to the edge to fly down and retrieve the ball, it bounces back up, landing at the shapeshifter's feet. A familiar silhouette rises up on a rock, her hands placed firmly on her hips. "So... which team am I on?"
She lands softly on the ground and Beast Boy and Starfire race each other to her. "Terra!" they shout, repeating themselves more than they should. Starfire blasts Beast Boy out of the way after he pushes her away in gorilla form, and the girl engulfs Terra in a hug.
"Terra! Oh, hello, long-lost friend! You remember me, yes?"
Terra's face turns red. "Of course, Starfire. I still have bruises from the last time you hugged me."
Beast Boy runs up to the blonde girl as Starfire lets go of the embrace. "Terra! You're... I mean, I... how's it... heh... wassup?" Terra hugs the shapeshifter and pinches his cheek, and I walk away to the roof's edge as the green teen falls over, hearts in his eyes.
"Well, if it isn't my favourite little rock-and-roller?" Cyborg calls out as he and Robin make his way towards Terra.
"Cyborg! Robin! What's shaking?" She high fives Cyborg and Robin offers his hand for her to shake.
"Good to see you again."
"Good?" Beast Boy shouts. "Is he kidding? It's great to see you again! I didn't think I'd ever see you again!" Terra blushes and Beast Boy drags her over to me.
"Hey, Ember," I hear Terra say, and I turn around.
"Terra," I greet with a cool smile spread across my face.
Beast Boy drags Terra over to the meditating girl on the other side of the roof. "Raven, wake up! Terra's back! Isn't that awesome?"
"Super," Raven says without turning around. "Just help yourself to anything in the fridge, and don't forget to lock the door when you leave."
"Actually, I kinda wasn't planning on leaving this time." I whip my head around at Terra's response, the wind now howling in my ear. "I'm ready to take you guys up on your offer. I want to be a Teen Titan."
Even Beast Boy gives her a look. "Uh..."
"Got it. Sorry," Terra says, turning around to leave. "Didn't realise the offer had an expiration date."
Robin walks up to her and places his hand on her shoulder. "The offer didn't expire, we're just concerned," he says.
"Yeah, it's 'cause, well, um, last time when you kind of freaked out and ran away, you didn't exactly... uh... you weren't completely, uh—"
"You couldn't control your powers," Raven states, her hands on her hips. Beast Boy gasps but Terra doesn't seem to take it too harshly.
"Hello? That's why I left! Robin said I needed practice, so I've been practicing! Check it out." She pulls her goggles on and jumps back onto a hovering rock, then onto another. The rock rises into the air and she uses it as a hoverboard, three other rocks trailing behind. She jumps off and lands on the rock at the back, continuing to sail on it.
"Glorious!" Starfire says.
"Dude! She really has gotten better!" Beast Boy exclaims.
"She learned a few tricks," Raven corrects. "Doesn't mean she's any less dangerous."
"Or any more useful," I add.
Terra flies over the water, circling around us before coming back to the Tower. She doesn't stop there, though. I look to my left and right to see more rocks flying right at each other, set to collide where we stand. Terra hops off in front of us and grunts as she pushes them into the air. They then collide, flashing lights as they explode.
"See?" Terra says, turning to us. "I've got anything under control." The ground rumbles below us and we all shoot Terra a glare. "Wasn't me."
I study the blonde girl in front of me and close my eyes, allowing myself to feel the tremors. "She's right," I conclude, standing up and opening my eyes to look at the five Titans and Terra. "That's not her... or myself. It's not natural. We should check it out."
Robin nods and runs for the door, leaping down the flight of stairs. We all follow him and surround him as he types on the computer.
"Earthquakes," Cyborg states once we're all in the room. "Small ones, but they're happening all over the city."
"Too many to be natural," Terra notes. I roll my eyes, having already said this.
"That's because they're not earthquakes," Robin tells us. "They're a trail. Something is moving under the city. We need to find out what. Titans! Go!" Three Titans run out of the room, but the three of us trailing behind stop and look at Terra. "Are you coming or not?" Robin asks.
"Does this mean I'm on the team?" Terra asks hopefully.
I give an annoyed sigh, but let the team's leader answer. "It means we could use your help." Terra nods and runs past us, and Raven gets sent back. I hold out my hand and steady her.
"Everything okay?" I ask.
"Can't tell," Raven replies. "Are you sure it's safe to have her around?"
"Not entirely," Robin says. "But everyone deserves a second chance." With that, he runs out of the room.
I tuck a strand of hair behind my ear as I look back at the door that Terra just ran through. "Not everyone," I mutter, loud enough for the Titan beside me to hear. She has a distressed look on her face, and I take a step towards the door. "What did you see?"
Raven shakes her head. "I don't know. But we need to be wary of how much we trust her."
I only nod in agreeance before following Robin out the door.
~~~
A giant worm looks down at a bus full of people, before diving its head towards it. Raven and I lift it up, Raven pulling it away. "You missed the bus," Robin says.
Cyborg holds up a taxi. "Looks like you'll just have to take a cab!" He throws it at the creature, and when the explosions recede, it is revealed that it did nothing to stop the beast.
Raven stands in front of Beast Boy, her eyes glowing. "Azarath Metrion—"
"I got it!" Terra steps in front of her and cuts her off. She raises her hands up and pulls earth from the ground to block the worm. It hits this then gets sent back, and Beast Boy rams into it. From the cloud of dust that has emerged comes a red beam, and it sends the shapeshifter back. "Beast Boy!" Terra shouts.
Terra pulls the rock up from underneath Beast Boy and jumps onto it as it flies up. While the snake is preoccupied with the two of them, Starfire and I charge; Starfire shooting starbolts whilst I shoot rocks and pellets of water, and the worm turns to fire at us.
Terra lands on the ground near Robin, who says something to her. She nods and lifts up platforms for the Boy Wonder to jump on, and he throws some explosives in the worms mouth. I fly away as they explode, smoke rising into the air. Beast Boy lifts Cyborg up for him to shoot discs of energy and I do the same with Robin. I fly close to the ground and let him drop down himself.
Robin grapples under and onto the worm and tries to pry it open with his staff. This backfires, with Robin's staff snapping in half, and the worm tries to shake Robin off. I feel a large rock rise and look over to see Terra grunting.
"No!" Raven and I shout in unison, quickly pulling it back down.
Terra holds her hands out and glares at us. "What are you doing?"
"It's too dangerous," Raven states. "Someone could get hurt."
"I know what I'm doing!" Terra shouts as she lifts it back up. "Trust me!"
"Terra, stand down," I bark, glaring at the blonde girl. Raven takes a moment to catch her breath as I slowly move the rock down.
Terra does nothing and continues to try, and in a move of desperation, I send her into the air and softly pull her back down. It's enough to stop her influence on the rock, and I pull it back down. I hear Robin shout something, but it registers as white noise, and before I can complete the task, I feel a sharp pain in my side as I get flung in the air.
"EMBER!" Robin shouts. I feel a hand grip mine and look up to see Starfire, stopping me just moments before I hit the ground. Raven and Terra stand, glaring at one another, and Starfire drops me off next to Robin. He, along with Cyborg and Beast Boy, stare into a tunnel made by the worm when Robin's communicator rings. The leader opens it up to the face of a familiar foe.
"Slade."
"Robin," Slade's voice echoes through my ears. "Good to see you again. I do hope I haven't called at a bad time."
"The worm!" Robin exclaims, not sparing a second."What are you planning?"
"Well, now, Robin. If you're so very curious, why don't you come down here and find out?" Slade's image flicks off the screen as we watch suspiciously.
~~~
"That evil worm has left a very long trail," Starfire states as we turn a corner. "This tunnel continues for at least two more plinthorgs."
I look up at the alien girl in front of me. "I'm going to go ahead and assume that's a lot."
"And we're more than three hundred meters below sea level," Cyborg adds. "What's it doing down here?"
"Whatever Slade tells it to," Robin says. I watch as he speeds up, but stay with Raven. Terra does the same as the others put more distance between the two groups.
"So, sorry about our little tug-of-war back there," Terra says to Raven and I. "You know I wouldn't have let anybody get hurt."
"Whatever," Raven responds.
The blonde girl narrows her eyes in annoyance. "Okay, look. I don't know what your problem is, but get over it." Terra holds out her hands in exaggeration. "If I'm going to be a part of this team, we have to get along."
I stop in my tracks, and so do the two girls on either side of me. "What did you say?" I challenge.
"You're not part of this team, not yet!" Raven shouts. "And if you endanger my friends again, you never will be! The next time I tell you something's too dangerous, TAKE MY WORD FOR IT!"
Raven resumes walking, leaving me with Terra. "Um, why does she hate me?" Terra asks Beast Boy, who's fallen back at the sound of Raven yelling.
"She's not the only one," I mutter, before continuing to walk away from the blonde girl.
"Dead end," Raven states as we enter a large chamber with no other pathways.
"Not necessarily," Robin says, walking closer to a wall as his communicator beeps, faster and faster with every step. Cyborg and I follow him. "I'm picking up a signal from deep inside the rock."
"Way deep," Cyborg comments. "Electronics, and a heartbeat."
"Slade," I say, my arms folded over my chest.
"How about we dig down there and see what's up?" Terra lifts her hands and rocks fall from the ceiling. Raven shoots her a glare as they stand, back to back. "Are you gonna give me that look every time there's an earthquake? Why don't you give Ember that look?"
"Because I can control my powers." The lie slips out of my mouth, smooth as silk.
"Whoa!" Terra exclaims as a drill shoots out from the ground, and before I can blink, two more shoot up. All the drills point to us and we regroup in the middle.
"Titans! Ready!" As soon as the leader says this, the worms drill past us and into the wall.
"Hello? The good guys are over here!" Beast Boy shouts, waving his hands around. Once they're out of sight, which doesn't take long, Beast Boy turns to us. "Dude, we got snubbed!"
"Because we are not their target," Starfire correctly states.
"Three of those worms together could wreck anything in the city," Cyborg exclaims.
Terra moves forward. "We have to stop 'em!"
"We have to stop Slade," Raven corrects.
"Split up," Robin tells us. "Cyborg, Starfire, Beast Boy... go after the worms. Terra, Ember, Raven, we're going after Slade."
"Star, BB, let's move!" Cyborg shouts, and the three of them head off.
We all move to the direction of Slade, glancing at the wall. "I can make a tunnel on my own. Shouldn't they go with—?"
"No," Robin says, cutting Terra off. "Raven's almost as good as moving Earth as you are, and Ember's better. We're digging through solid rock. I'm going to need all three of you."
Raven glares at Terra, who glares back. "Nice try," Raven says.
Robin's communicator starts going frantic, beeping more frequently than it did before. "I've got a fix on the signal. Forty degrees down, six hundred meters deep."
"No problem," Terra and Raven both say, blasting the wall with everything they've got.
"Is that as fast as you can go?" Terra teases.
"Not even close," Raven replies, and they begin to move forward.
"Careful," Robin warns us. "This rock isn't stable. Just take it a little..." he looks up to see Terra and Raven several meters ahead of him. "... slow."
I roll my eyes. "Want me to stop them?"
"No need," Robin says. "Just speed us up a little."
I oblige, lifting us both up with small rocks. "Hold on!" We move at double the pace we were, still slow enough that we won't catch up immediately. I use one hand to steady our transportation, and the other to aide the two girls in front of me whilst shooting daggers into the head of the girl on the left.
~~~
The tunnel leads to a large room with orange pillars holding the roof up. A large control panel emitting green light sits at the front, and wasting no time, I race towards it.
"Ember, be careful!" Robin warns, but I'm too busy looking at the image displayed on the hologram. In blue light, it shows our home, with a red arrow pointing down.
"Robin..." I say. "... you're gonna want to look at this."
Robin races over, Terra and Raven close behind. His eyes widen at the sight of the building, and he gets a good look at it before Cyborg's crackling voice fills the void of silence.
"Robin! It's the Tower! They're attacking Titans Tower!"
Robin opens his communicator. "It's not just under attack. It's about to be underground." We all start desperately blasting at the worms above us, then look up to see what we've accomplished. "Not even a scratch!" Robin runs back to the computer panel. "If we can't break the drill, hacking this computer is our only shot at shutting it down!"
Robin begins to type, but Slade kicks him back. The villain lures him into an elevator, and Terra and Raven run towards him, whilst I stand at the computer and continue Robin's work. "Robin! Hang on!" Terra shouts.
"Forget about me!" Robin calls out. "Shut down the drill!"
Slade says something to the leader, and the two girls keep running to him, but I stay at the computer. "I'm on it!" I shout, just as the elevator door closes and rises up, shutting Robin and Slade off from the three of us.
"We have to hack in," Raven says, and I have to assume she can't see me.
"Why hack when you can smash?" Terra says, and I hear a rock zooming towards my head until Raven stops it.
"No!" the cloaked girl shouts. "We don't know how this thing works. Destroy the controls and we might never be able to stop it."
Terra grunts. "Or we might stop it sooner and save our home."
"You mean save our home," I correct icily, my back still turned.
"Why can't you just trust me?" Terra asks as rocks start to fall. "Either of you?"
I wait for Raven to tell her to focus, but the reprimand doesn't come. "'Cause you don't deserve it! I have to meditate every day to keep my powers under control. And I'm supposed to believe that you can just suddenly control yours? Trust is something you have to earn!"
"How?" Terra asks. "How do I earn it?"
"You can start by trusting me," comes Raven's tired reply. Terra lets the boulder fall to the ground and they both run to my side.
"And you?" Terra asks.
"We don't have time for this, Terra," I spit. "Right now, the priority is saving the Tower, not having a heart to heart." As I say this, a large rock falls from the roof and both girls let out a gasp before pulling me back. The rock lands on the computer, right where my hands were, and the lasers from the worms grow thicker, increasing the rate at which they destroy our home.
I stand up and Raven looks at Terra. "Okay. Maybe smashing the computer was a bad idea," the blonde girl concedes.
Suddenly, my communicator beeps. "Robin, we did it! We took out the drill..." when the robotic teen gets no reply he pauses for a moment. "... Robin?" The last thing I hear from my communicator is a loud shriek from all three of them, and I look up as the Tower starts to fall.
"We have to go!" Raven warns, grabbing my hand to pull me out. "There's nothing we can do now!"
Terra's eyes glow yellow from my peripheral vision, and I turn around. "Yes, there is!" she counters. "Trust me!" She lifts her hands up and a yellow beam shoots from them to the base of our home. It slowly begins to give and Terra's body begins to cower.
"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" Raven shouts, and a black beam shoots towards the rock. I run back over and extend my hands, letting out a loud roar at the sheer weight, but still continuing. The Tower quickly picks up pace, and begins to lift. I smile as we begin to secure it with more rocks, glad the job is done.
~~~
I stand in the room, leaning on the wall as we wait for the new Titan to enter. "Um... where are we?" Terra asks, and Raven flicks on the lights.
"Your room."
"SURPRISE!" we all shout, to various degrees.
"You guys did all this... for me?"
Beast Boy flashes a grin. "Yeah, since you helped save our home and all, we thought you deserved your own room." He blushes as he looks at her and she sends a small smile in return.
"You also deserve one of these," Robin says, handing over a communicator.
Terra picks it up and looks at it warily. "So I'm..."
"... A Teen Titan," Robin finishes. "Glad to have you on the team." He shakes her hand as the others begin celebrating.
"Aw, yeah! Very nice!"
"This is the best thing that's ever happened to me." That was Beast Boy, still in a trance from Cupid's arrow.
"Welcome, new Titan!"
"Congratulations, Terra," Raven says. "You earned it.
"All right. There's only one way to commemorate such a momentous occasion." Cyborg doesn't bother to pause, as we all know what's coming. "Waffles!"
"Mmm!"
"Perfect!"
"Can they be non-dairy waffles?" Beast Boy asks, as all the Titans walk out. I walk out with them, but stop at the doorframe when Terra doesn't come.
"Sounds good. I'll catch up in a minute, okay?" The door begins to close, but I hold it ajar with a rock as I contemplate my options. Eventually, I come to the conclusion that I have to confront the blonde haired girl, because it seems no one else will. "I don't believe it," I hear her say. "They actually trust me."
I open my eyes before opening the door. "Not all of them."
Terra stumbles back as her eyes widen. "Ember? What are you doing here?"
"Terra, cut the act," I say. "I have your powers, and I know how long they take to control. Especially when you're learning by yourself." I walk over to the other side of her room and sit down on the floor, still glaring at the girl. "Someone helped you. And I want to know who."
Cliffhanger! The next episode is 'Winner Take All.' I'm writing the entire thing, minus the card scene, from scratch, and it's taking a while. I hope it will be up by Sunday, but I don't know yet. Sorry in advance!