Fan Fiction ❯ Teen Titans: Edge of War ❯ Did it really work? ( Chapter 3 )

 

Chapter 3: Did it really work?

 

Terra gasped over and over, staring in frustration at the little stone mouse. For the first time since meeting him, she actually doubted Robin. The doors of the warehouse opened as Robin walked in, carrying a grocery bag. “I thought you might need some lunch,” he said in a cheerful manner.

“Lunch would be highly appreciated.” Terra wiped her brow and sighed. “Robin,” Terra said inquiringly as he cut some carrots, “did Beastboy say anything about me?”

“Well, he never did talk much about,” said Robin, the right corner of his lips tweaking into a smile, “But I think you fueled a burning interest in Chemistry from him. I never thought I'd see the day when I caught Beastboy in my room, using my Chemistry Lab.” Terra giggled. Well, “giggle” isn't the best term for what she did. She burst out laughing, something she had never done since she her last days with the Teen Titans years ago. Robin stared at her. Finally, after wiping the tears of merriment from her cheeks, she went back to practice some more.

 

Terra returned to the kitchen to find it empty. She got herself a soda and sat on a bench, sipping from it. When she felt refreshed, she went to work again. She listened for the soul of the rat once again. This was all a simple procedure. At least, now it was. Before she couldn't even sense in that sculpture. Now it was alive, just petrified. Terra raised her hands to it… again. But it felt different all the same. Every time she felt a little closer to the goal… only, this time, she would succeed. Her energy began sapping into the strenuous project. Her shoulders began to sag, her breaths came in short rasps, and sweat beaded across her brow. The last thing she saw was a blinding flash. Then nothing.

 

When Terra opened her eyes, she was still lying on the cold ground of the warehouse. A little rat scuttled around her… the rat she had un-petrified. Terra looked at her hands in wonder. Her mouth moved as if to speak, but it couldn't. The rat ran as she got up. She didn't care. Robin wasn't back. So, Terra, who was starting to get over-excited, ran out the door. The cemetery was engraved in her mind. Now she was going to pay her debt to her friends. Especially…Beastboy.

 

How well she wanted to do this. She ran down the road, not caring about who looked at her… and, to her misfortune, who was following her. Her was pounding, her breathing was shallow, but she felt energy course through every single vein in her body. Her longing to help broke loose. And, before she knew it, she fell into another deep, dark, and seemingly endless slumber.

 

Now, one could imagine Robin arriving to find Terra gone and a little rat running around the floor. You would have thought he would smile all-knowingly, the way I portrayed him. But nope, I had to make him terrified at “stupid, young” Terra's mistakes. He gawked when it came upon him, letting his groceries fall in a heap on the floor and he ran for his favorite weapon and rode out on his old bike. His bike was cleaned with loving care, made for the dark streets of Gotham. Gotham. Every time Robin's mind turned to it, it made him shiver. His last fight there made him fume over the un-fairness of the number of criminals. He gritted his teeth. He tried to turn his thoughts, and it was right on time too. With the roar of an engine he had followers… old followers. Robin gritted his teeth even more. Robin was going to have to use tactics he had never wanted to use in Haven. But what choice did he have. “You're really asking for it aren't you?” he shouted at the enemy riders.

“The only thing we want,” said a gruff, deep voice “Is your head.”

“Lets see you try to get it!” Robin's motorcycle turned a corner and raced down the alley. Robin elongated his trusty pole and at the end of the alley, he pushed his pole into the pavement, making race up the wall. The great mechanical beast flew up in a straight line. It fell backward and onto the next building. Robin uprooted his staff and shrank it. The followers surely couldn't follow him on a rooftop. Robin grinned and turned his bike around, speeding in the way of the cemetery.

 

“Master,” said the deep, gruff voice. “He's gotten away!”

“That's ok,” said a calm cool voice. On the transmitter screen, the white hair and old features of the notorious Brother Blood filled the screen.

“Master Blood! I didn't expect you to-“ but the slave was cut off by Blood's harsh, yet sharp, voice.

“Return here immediately! There is much to be done. We have acquired the bait and will have Robin in a short moment. Blood sniffed the air. “Ah,” he said, closing his eyes. “Do you smell that, fool? That is the smell of triumph.” A smile lurked beneath the deep-voiced man's mask.

“Of course I smell it. I would have to be a traitor not to.”

“The master will learn of this when he returns from his last business trip. I'm certain,” he chuckled to himself, “that we all get new toys to play with.”

 

“Terra, Terra!” Robin's voice echoed through the cemetery. “No,” he whispered to himself. Why didn't she wait? Why couldn't she just tell me? Then he remembered why. He forgot to tell her that the Teen Titan's old contact receiver still worked. Why didn't he tell her? A hopeful ebbing emitted from his heart. Maybe she is still in there. Maybe. Or maybe not. He sucked in air and sighed. And he walked into the room of the memoirs of the Teen Titan's… his friends, who sacrificed themselves, for the safety of the world…

 

To be continued… Hopefully…