Teen Titans Fan Fiction ❯ Prophecy of Awakenings ❯ Enter Sandman ( Chapter 1 )

Prophecy of Awakening I

 

Demonic Awakening I

 

Enter Sandman

 

xXxXxXxXx

 

 

 

Two Years Earlier

 

 

 

The sun mirrored against the crashing waves along the western coast of California, home to the heroes of Jump City. The sky was bright, clouds parted away from the sun's rays, and the wind was enough to cool one's skin. Along the edges of the island at Jump City's limit held the home of five super heroes. With a combination of leadership, strength, charisma, wisdom, and a little humor now and then, these young heroes had joined forces for only one time, and had ever since been called the Teen Titans. Holding their base of operations where it had all started, on an island along side Jump City, their base was built in the shape of a T, as a reminder to those who attempted evil just who it was they would be faced against. The large tower held it all for the heroes; from the largest training indoor gymnasium, to the highest quality-training course, both indoor and outdoor. From the state of the art super-computer that informed them of any crime occurring within the city, to records of every known criminal as well as access to police and confidential records. From a garage filled with the tools that had created their very own personal T-car, to the roof that held a basketball court, the Titan's had it all. The city wanted the Titans to remain comfortable while keeping their city safe from evil.

 

“This has been a most exciting day, friend Raven,” came the ever-enthusiastic voice of the princess of Tamaran. Long fiery red mane rolled down her back, with thick strands covering the sides of her face, framing it more beautifully than the violet haired sorceress could ever imagine. Dark forest green eyes swirled in a pool of light jade, while they blinked innocently with the perky smile upon the small lips of the orange skin-toned alien. The teen's hands were clasped together in front of her, while her shoulders pinched inward. Clad in a dark purple skirt, halter-top and knee-high boots, her brows rose in excitement while she attempted to share her enthusiasm with the best friend she had on this planet.

 

Dark ashen lips smirked in response to the Tamaranian's actions; lilac colored eyes shifting from the dark shadows of the heavy azure cloak worn around her form, the hood pulled over her head. With their powers similar in a way, both needing to have complete control over their emotions in order to control their powers successfully, Starfire and Raven had become quite close. The sorceress of Azarath had taught the girl meditation, while Starfire had taught the sorceress to open up more. Though Raven always kept her cold demeanor around the other members of the team, when alone with the Tamaranian Princess, the Princess of Shadows opened up, relieving the pressure of constantly keeping her emotions to herself.

 

Raven had been having trouble keeping her emotions in check lately, and had taken more time in meditating than normal. Instead of a usual activity picked out by Starfire, the redheaded Teen Titan had suggested that they simply meditate the day. Though it sometimes seemed boring to the Tamaran, simply being in the presence of the sorceress was enough to please her. Within the walls of Starfire's room, both touched the floor from their levitated meditative position, Starfire stretching her limbs while Raven pulled back the hood to her cloak, feeling slightly cleansed after another successful meditation.

 

“My dear Koriand'r, you become excited over a snail riding the top of a turtle's shell,” the sorceress relayed with a light amount of mirth, while floating her hand over the motion sensor set next to the doorframe. With a green flash, it read the heat and instantly opened the doorway, leading them into the red-carpeted hallway of Titans Tower. The ceiling light lit the way, with the view of the ocean to the west, the coastline of California easily visible from the Tower. A flash of light emitted from within the confinements of Raven's cloak, along with the infamous tune for the Titans were well known. It had never been her choosing, though catchy as it was.

 

“Titans,” the voice of their leader came through the speakers of the small round mechanism. Raven pulled the device and flipped open the top, viewing the leader's slick black hair, and trim black and white mask worn over his eyes. Apprentice to the caped crusader himself, and hailing from the dark city itself, the Titan's leader Robin, gave a firm look through the visor screen, before relaying the rest of the message, indicating for all Titan Team Members to report to the main lobby of the Tower. “Trouble.”

 

 

 

xXxXxXxXx

 

 

 

Meanwhile, swirls of blonde attached itself to the moisture that collected along the damp forehead of the sprinting girl, while her lightweight traveling boots continued to pound in haste against the rough grassless Earth. The thunderous sounds of a larger beast's trampling continued to close in on her. She quickly forced her legs to continue their endless journey through the rocky mountains just outside of Jump City. The large mutated creature currently attempting to devour her for an early morning breakfast was a fast legged, giant-sized scorpion, with its pointy legs in addition to its immense weight easily piercing through the hard rock surface the girl continued to run along, taking sharp left turns at the last moment in attempts to loose the creature. Finally backing herself into a corner, the sapphire eyed teen turn to face her predator, a look of exhaustion wearing down upon her façade.

 

“Titans, Go!”

 

Before any of the team could move however, the girl's sapphire tiers became overtaken by a hue of golden-yellow, with a light aura encircling her body. With a spiraling wind picking up at her feet and growing with each passing second, the girl lifted her gloved hands upward, the same yellow hue surrounding a large bridge-like rock just above where the giant scorpion had seemingly trapped her. With a forceful scream, she pulled her arms downward; forcing the giant piece of rock to give under her power and straight onto the scorpion's back, crushing its spine, with falling rocks completely covering its body. The golden hue faded from her eyes, bringing a slightly surprised pair of sapphire eyes to inspect the results. The tail of the scorpion twitched twice, before it fell to the ground, unmoving. She then shifted her view to where she had heard the initial shout to view the heroes of Jump City, which were well known throughout the state of California as non other than the Teen Titans themselves, all of which held a surprised, and slightly impressed expression. A quick brush of the strands of hair that fell over her field of view relayed a smile across her lips.

 

“She was not in trouble,” Starfire was first to speak, amazed by the girl's talents.

 

“She was leading it into a trap!” Cyborg added in with a grin.

 

“Question is,” Robin continued with a hand on his chin. Beast Boy peeked up over the boy wonder's shoulder, completely awestruck by the girl.

 

“…who is she?” he asked. The girl waved a hand, and then continued to dust the dirt from her gloves. A touch to the ground beneath her would surround a portion of rock and force it into the air with the girl upon it, lifting her into the air and to where the team stood, atop the mountainside. With a cocky grin, the girl spun on the rock, then leaped onto the mountainside, allowing the rock to plummet down the hill. Her sapphire hues clashed well with her overly long blonde hair, which seemed to constantly fall from her ear's reach and shadow over one side of her face. The girl stood slightly taller than Raven herself, and had been clad in civilian clothing, a blue and white shirt, short cargo shorts, and a pair of worn out traveler's boots.

 

“What?” she asked with a hand on her hip, letting a smirk play out on her lips. “Haven't you guys ever seen a superhero before?”

 

Raven arched a brow at the girl's straight-forwardness, rolling her eyes thereafter toward Beast Boy's rather overly dramatic response to a blonde. She watched her leader step forward first, extending his hand outward formally toward the girl.

 

“I'm Robin,” the boy wonder stated with a firm smile, greeting the girl. “We're the-”

 

“Teen Titans,” the girl exclaimed, while slapping her hand against Robin's. “Rock on! I'm Terra…”

 

 

 

xXxXxXxXx

 

 

 

“This is Titan's Tower,” Beast Boy said with a puff of his chest. Sapphire hues widened to the size of saucers, as she gawked over the size of the infamous T-shaped Tower of Jump City's Heroes. Forty-stories, the tower rose, every ten stories holding a large divider, with four cubes reaching upward with one sitting to each side of the top cube, making the well-known T-like appearance of their home base. Clear grass stretched from the dirt path road to the edge of the cliff, the ocean's horizon visible over the edge on the left, and to the right was the city itself, with a view of Jump City and it's port. Terra had seen the Tower before, in the papers or on the news, but never in person.

 

“Wow, you guys live here?” she asked stupidly, as she rushed all around the sides of the tower, amazed at both the structure and location. “How'd you guys build this?”

 

“Heh,” Cyborg chuckled at the memory after stepping out of the T-car, a blue and silver sedan that held the same technology and weaponry within its very creator. “It's a long story. Took a lot of time, but it's packed with everything a hero would ever need.”

 

“Yea,” Beast Boy nodded, as he extended an arm, and began to speak and appear as a real-estate agent. “The bottom section holds the garage and inside training arena, with both a gymnasium and a court. The middle part there is where we sleep, and on the top is the living room, of the tower, where we track down the bad guys, watch T.V. or play video games!”

 

“Easy, Beast Boy,” Robin stated while a sweat drop appeared on the side of his head. “We're not trying to sell the place.”

 

“Yea,” Cyborg continued as he made his way toward the garage. “Its also got a state of the art security system, un-hack-able computer operations system, and a defensive weapons system.”

 

Robin sighed, as the two continued to show off their home, while Starfire and Raven landed from the skies beside him. Sparkles suddenly erupted around the overly enthusiastic Starfire, as she clasped her hands together and titled her head to the side, looking onward admiringly.

 

“Glorious!” she announced in a cheerful voice. “I shall prepare for our new friend the Feast of Friendship as it is made on my home planet!”

 

One by one, the Titan's stomachs turned. A shade of green falling over all of them, while Beast Boy's green-tone skin simply paled at the thought of Tamaranian Food. The girl's taste buds were strange enough, thinking mustard had been some sort of liquid tangy juice. Holding no knowledge of that little fact, however, Terra's stomach had been the only one to rumble, a hesitant chuckle following the empty stomach's cry for food. Before any could warn her, however, Starfire had grasped the girl's hand in a tight Tamaranian grip, and simply dragged her to the entrance of the tower and straight upstairs to feed her. The rest of the team slowly followed in suit.

 

 

 

xXxXxXxXx

 

 

 

Raven sighed later that night, waving her hand over the motion sensor, the light just above the rectangle device lighting from red, then to green, blinking twice before the door lifted open at her command. Insomnia. One of the many nights the sorceress would spend upon the rooftops of the tower. A good meditation would allow her to sleep blissfully. A thought passed by her head, as she made her way down the hall, an arched brow toward the left turn that would take her toward the main lobby, where their “guest” currently resided. The girl certainly had made herself at home, though it did appear as if she had no other place to stay. The sorceress found herself pausing, where straight would lead her to the stairwell, and a left would take her to the lobby. Should she check up on her? Why was it taking her this long to come up with an answer? Raven let out a light humph, blowing a single strand of lavender from her eyes. She moved forward, passed the lobby and toward the stairwell, crashing into something that made its way around the corner.

 

“Oof,” came the muffled voice of Beast Boy, who toppled onto his side along with Raven, a blanket draped over her head. Realizing just whom it was he had bumped into, he let out an `eep,' and slowly began to pull the blanket he had been carrying, revealing a slightly irritated sorceress. “Heh, uh … sorry, Raven.”

 

The girl flipped the rest of the material off, while pushing herself to stand, dusted off her chest and arms, then pulled the hood to her cloak up and over her head. The shadows covered the upper parts of her face, with the soft glow of her eyes peering through the darkness. The changeling of their team was attired in a black and purple spandex suit he had received during his time with the Doom Patrol, his messily spiked green hair, dark green skin and pointy ears proved that a mask held no need to hide his so-called `secret identity,' Raven remembered pointing out, which had left him speechless at the time. That had been the first battle of wits she had won against Beast Boy, and it certainly had not been the last.

 

“What are you doing up this late?” Raven suddenly asked, arching a brow to the blanket he held in his hand. The changeling fumbled around with the material for a moment, while attempting to conjure up an answer.

 

“I uh, well you see … I thought … wait, what are you doing up this late?” Beast Boy suddenly asked, mirroring the girl's own façade. Raven's lips became a solid line, not entirely in the mood to deal with where Beast Boy was going.

 

“Don't answer a question with a question,” she said while shaking her head. What was he trying to do, change the subject? It was a simple question, which would easily be completed with a simple answer.

 

“Why not?” Beast Boy asked with a tilt of his head. Raven frowned in slight irritation.

 

“Because you're avoiding the initial question,” Raven spat back. Frankly, she did not care for the answer. He was probably heading to see Terra to see if she wanted a blanket, or something similar. Why should she care?

 

“Am I?” Again, the changeling was playing dumb, or was simply just plain stupid. It was enough to drive the sorceress mad, and most likely to blow something up if it were not so late in the night.

 

“Whatever,” the girl shook her head; quickly brushing passed the changeling, bumping shoulders with him on the way by. Beast Boy's weight was forced against the wall, dropping the blanket while, a question mark floated over his head. Eyeing the sorceress cautiously, he waited until the door to the stairwell closed after she exited the hallway to spend the rest of the night under the starlit sky.

 

“Jeez, what's her deal?”

 

 

 

xXxXxXxXx

 

 

 

“Az'rath, Metrion, Xinthos … Az'rath, Metrion, Xinthos …”

 

Raven levitated inches above the roof's floor, her arms set upon her knees, her ring and middle finger pulled back, while extending the pinky and index outward. Slowly, her mind was at ease. She had not meant to blow up on Beast Boy earlier. Frankly, she did not know what had upset her so much. So what if he was up this late? She was up to, was she not? Who cares if he was just going to go see if Terra needed a blanket? Well, it's not as if she needed one. Starfire had made sure she was well bedded before retiring herself for the night. She had extra blankets and pillows, so what was the little twerp thinking? Just some stupid excuse to talk to her with no one else around?

 

One of the lights upon the rooftop suddenly sparked, being overtaken by black energy, erupting and then shattering completely, awakening the sorceress from her thoughts. Shock was on her face, attempting to shake her head free of such thoughts proved more difficult than it first appeared. What was wrong with her? Surely, her emotions were in check. She had no problem earlier in the day, so what was the big deal now? Letting out a sigh, she felt suddenly drained, her once traditional frown turning into a slight pout, unfolding her legs and touching foot to concrete floor.

 

Why did she feel so drained all of a sudden? Surely, she wasn't tired. She felt wide-awake, and her body was well energized moments ago. Her meditation hadn't gone all that well, and she didn't feel as `serene' as she usually did after finishing a successful meditation. A hand parted a few strands while she walked toward the edge of the tower, viewing the skyline of ocean. She took a seat at the edge, letting her feet dangle over the rooftop. She always found it peaceful upon the tower's roof. Every problem seemed much smaller up here … well, most of them anyway. A sudden splash from below interrupted her nonexistent thoughts, and moved her view downward over the edge.

 

“Sorry! I'm sorry, I'm so stupid! Don't tell! Please don't tell!”

 

Was that Terra's voice? Raven fixated her eyes upon the hysterical blonde, who seemed rather distraught over something she had just done. Rarely did she pry on other's privacy over the respect that they leave her alone, and she leaves them alone, she found herself leaning over slightly, fixating her senses upon the conversation below.

 

“Terra, it's okay,” she heard Beast Boy reply easily. Therefore, he finally found his voice. The sorceress let out a light chuckle recalling the changeling's fumbled words when he first met the blonde. “You can't totally control your powers. So what?”

 

“Promise you won't tell anybody - ever!” Terra demanded. This intrigued the sorceress. The girl couldn't control her powers fully.

 

“Sure…”

 

“Swear it!”

 

“Okay! Okay! I promise. But really, it's no big deal. If my friends knew, they'd still like you.”

 

 

Of course it was a big deal. Having special powers required a lot of responsibility, especially when it comes to powers like Terra's, or even Raven's own. She required constant meditation to assure her emotions were in check. They were constantly in tune with her powers. The light-bulb explosion earlier was a prime example. Who knows what this girl could do if her powers got out of control.

 

“You just don't understand.”

 

The statement was barely audible, but somehow Raven was able to catch it. The tone behind it held more meaning than the changeling would ever comprehend. Raven, however, knew very well what the girl was going through. It seemed she had much more in common with the new girl than she first thought.

 

 

 

 

xXxXxXxXx

 

 

 

“Slade …”

 

The next morning within a diamond mining cave site that the named mercenary had attacked with a small gang of robots, Terra shifted her view to the shadows, quickly wiping her eyes from her prior mistakes of nearly burying Beast Boy. She watched as the silhouette suddenly disappeared, attempting to make an escape before the Titans could catch him. If she could somehow corner Slade and defeat him, maybe they'll accept her. Determination fueling her actions, Terra pushed herself from the ground and rushed after the mercenary, who seemed to know the caves well. Left turn, then a right. It took nearly all her stamina just to catch up with the man, but a few hundred yards later, she's hot on his trail. The girl skids to a stop and raises one hand, caving in the ceiling from above, and trapping the man where he stood.

 

“Looks like I've got you,” Terra announced confidently, fighting back the urge to add in a cocky chuckle. The much taller, more menacing man simply turned, walked toward her without any fear and leaped high into the air, landing directly behind her.

 

“Actually, Terra,” he stated in a calm, deep voice, producing a sphere with the Slade insignia upon it, an orange S with an orange circle on it in a pool of black. Throwing it upward, the strange device stuck to the ceiling. A light beeping sounded, as well as a quick flashing red light. As he rose from his crouched stance, the quick flashing stopped and exploded, bringing down the other side of the ceiling, completely trapping them both. “I've got you.”

 

The overly-calmness of the mercenary sent a wave of fear down the young girl's spine, swallowing the lump that formed in her throat. Slade continued to make his way toward the girl, his hands set calmly at his side.

 

“Now Terra,” Slade started, while Terra began to back step against his approach. “You walked right into a trap.” With a motion of his wrist, a metal pole extended outward, the tip of which tapped against his other hand. His eyes lowered, making his appearance even more evil.

 

“Another mistake. You of all people should know better,” he went on. Not wanting the man to continue, Terra reached out to strike. Her fist was easily parried by the newly acquired weapon. Her wrist smashed against the metal pole, though she dared not show the pain she felt. “But at least you and I are finally getting a chance to talk.”

 

This time, Slade attacked, extending his fist outward for a quick jab. Terra shifted to the side and out of the way, a motion of her hand sending a rock straight for his head. Slade easily leaned to the left, allowing the rock so soar passed him, barely missing.

 

“Hm … I see we have much to talk about,” Slade said with an arched brow. Frowning intently, Terra crouched down, with a soft yellow hue glowing around her gloved hands.

 

“Mind if I talk with my hands?”

 

 

 

xXxXxXxXx

 

 

 

“Az'rath, Metrion, Xinthos!” A sphere of black energy surrounded the telepath, as several beams of plasma energy threatened her life, all of which were stopped in their tacks at the summoning of her shield. With a quick motion of her hands, her shield was pushed outward; knocking back the five robots that attempted to damage her. A quick shift of her view upward would show the Tamaranian Princess tearing through three at a time with one simple swing. She then glanced toward another member of her team, the half-human half machine being nicknamed Cyborg. In a lab experiment gone wrong, the African-American Victor Stone had lost most of his limbs, as well as some important internal organs due to the accident. Most of his body, as well as half of his head was wrapped in a special silver and blue metal, all powered by a plasma battery. It was later found out, when the Titans had first joined forces with one another, that his metal arm could be converted into a weapon that released the plasma energy. This `sonic cannon,' along with his superior strength, had been his primary form of attack.

 

A quick motion of her hands sent her black magic downward in the form of a giant black hand that stretched down to grasp hold of one of Slade's robots. These humanoid creatures were clad in a ninjitsu-like suit, with silver metallic belts that held their plasma energy pistols, with the only source of vision being their optical sensors, two round sensor spheres, good for both computerized images, and depth perception. These mechanical bots were specialized in various fighting styles, which made them difficult to fight each time, since they would never used the same tactic twice. Raven's hand clenched tightly while out stretched, forcing its shadow-like puppet to clench as well, completely crushing and destroying the robot. More suddenly jumped down from the ledges above, one landing right onto the back of the sorceress.

 

“Raven!” Starfire cried out to the girl with an extending of her arm, as the sorceress became bombarded with Slade's minions. Three more joined onto her back, and soon she fell to a thirty-foot drop to the ground, with several more surrounding her. The Tamaranian let out a shout as her fist tore through another robot, letting an explosion of green energy pass through its skull and straight through the chest of another. Six more stood between herself and her sorceress. With a leap into the air, she began to fly toward her, until a piercing scream reached her ears.

 

A soft wind slowly began to spiral around the center pile of robots, and with a sudden shriek, a black field of energy completely disintegrated over ten robots that attempted to squash the sorceress, with said dark magus now standing with her arms spread outward, and cloak flapping wildly behind her. Before relief could fill her expression, Starfire caught for only a split second the pair of crimson hues shinning through the black energy sphere, but as soon as the shield diminished, the enraged look was gone, replaced by the every stoic façade of Raven, who sacrificed a mere moment to spare the girl a questionable glance. Starfire shook her surprised look as quickly as it came, relieved that her friend was indeed safe.

 

The look of relief didn't last long; however, as the very walls that prevented the ceiling from caving in began to shake tremendously. Alertness took over the dark magus, as she quickly shielded herself from a falling rock with a lift of her hands. Crumbling upon impact against the dark magical shield, Raven retracted her hand, diminished her defenses and quickly flew down to her teammates with Starfire in tow.

 

“Slade must be trying to bring the whole place down!” Cyborg shouted as a blue beam of energy erupted from his arm cannon and tore through the midsection of two robots. Robin leaped down into view with his pole caving in the skull of one robot while swinging it around and decapitating another.

 

“I don't think its Slade,” the Titan's leader stated as he connected his steel-toed boot to the chest of the final robot, and landing with ease. He shifted his head toward where Terra had run off.

 

 

 

xXxXxXxXx

 

 

 

“They're my friends,” Terra quickly countered, though fear was now evident in her voice. No matter what she had thrown at Slade, he would easily parry or doge, and counter just as strong. “They wouldn't do that.”

 

“And what of your old friends, Tara?” Slade's eyes lowered while his hands remained behind his back. “No one will accept you for who you are because your curse spreads to them like a disease. Everyone will like you until you lose control of your powers, and somebody gets hurt. Then, they'll blame you like everyone in the past.”

 

“No!” Terra screamed as her eyes flared a violent shade of dark yellow. Her powers suddenly exploded all around her, and she quickly tried to regain control. “Don't lose control … don't lose control…” Terra crouched down with her hands upon her head, her knees to her chest with tears streaming down the sides of her cheeks. Slade knew everything. He had even called her by her real name, and it sent shivers down her spine. Her powers had been the cause of deaths across the country, and now she feared her friends would soon find out. Her swirling emotions caused a lift of winds, and rocks to spin around her, while the cave she stood within threatened to cave in upon her.

 

“Now Terra … Tara Markov,” Slade corrected himself, once again bringing up the fact that he knew everything about her. “How can you lose something you never had?”

 

A torment scream ensues, while debris of rock and the like swirl around her. Another violent shake and parts of the ceiling begin to collapse. Her body rises from the ground, while her eyes glow an even brighter hue of golden yellow.

 

“No one else understands you, Tara. No one else can help you,” the mercenary threatened, lowering himself into the shadows. “I'll be waiting.”

 

The girl couldn't control her emotions. She felt control slowly escape her grasp, and soon she would come face to face with those in which her powers had affected.

 

“Terra! Terra!” Beast Boy's voice called out from within the maelstrom, reverting to human form and suddenly lifted into the air from the swirling winds. The girl blinked her moistened eyes open, viewing the changeling attempting to grasp her hand. A single hand grasps onto her shoulder, and she's shocked to see concern in the boy's eyes. The grab was enough to awaken her from her trance, and force her to notice the danger she had let him walk right into. Slowly, his free hand and one of her own inch toward one another, grasping together firmly. Terra instinctively moved toward the hold, cowering in both fear and guilt.

 

“It's okay Terra, I'm here,” he states while the girl clings to his arms, sobbing. “I'm here.”

 

The winds began to die down, with rock and debris slowly falling to the ground all around them. The two lowered to the ground; while Terra's tearful eyes looked upward.

 

“You won't,” she started out, fearing the worst from the changeling, as well as the words of Slade.

 

“I'm not going to tell anybody, I promise.”

 

Raven watched from the shadows, with her own emotions mixing suddenly. Why did it affect her so, this scene before her? Angrily, she retracted herself to the shadows, lifting herself up and away from the caves completely, in hopes to clear her mind of the sudden thoughts that had risen in her mind, as well as the emotions that stirred around in her belly.

 

 

 

xXxXxXxXx

 

 

“Well guys, uh … it's been real,” Terra started out back at the tower after Beast Boy had calmed her down, with her backpack slung over her shoulder. She felt it best if she left the team. Slade may have been wrong about her wanting to join, but he was right. She needed to leave. Her powers weren't under her control, and she didn't want to risk having her teammates hurt, or even worse. Turning toward the door as it opened, she gave a friendly waving gesture. “Seriously, thanks for everything, but I should-”

 

“Don't even think about it,” came a voice from in front of her, while she nearly fell over from running into what seemed like a steel wall.

 

“Okay,” Terra said, turning around in half amusement and half confusion. “What's going on?”

 

“Well,” Raven stated, arching a brow to the girl. Terra would make a nice new addition to the team. She herself had a lot in common with the girl, and she couldn't help but feel … well, she couldn't quite explain it, but she simply liked the girl's presence. In addition, it would finally even out the gender ratio of boys and girls. Yea … that seemed like a good reason.

 

“We talked it over,” Cyborg added in, patting the girl on the back.

 

“We wish for you to stay here, with us!” Starfire gleamed, letting out a giggle while her hands clasped together.

 

“We think you'd make a great addition to our team,” Robin stepped forward, his eyes shifting to Beast Boy.

 

“So,” Beast Boy was last to voice out, while Robin held out a Titans Communicator within her reach. “Want to be a Titan?”

 

“Me?” Terra couldn't believe it. Her; a Teen Titan. She could help save lives, and possibly make up for what she had done in her past. “Really?”

 

Her lit up face was enough to force a smile upon the sorceress, feeling lucky that the hood was draped over her shadows eyes, and light pink hue that rose upon her cheeks. She continued to watch from the back of the group, hiding her mixed emotions as they brought forth a new Teen Titan.

 

“Of course, you'll need more training,” Robin nodded his head with a genuine smile. With a roll of his hand, he continued. “I know you have trouble controlling your powers, and we can help.”

 

Raven's eyes widened, while she watched the blonde strands lower, the sapphire eyes she had remained locked upon shifting to the floor. The Titans Communicator dropped from her grip to the floor, bouncing slightly at Beast Boy and Robin's feet, then off to the side.

 

“You told him?” Terra's eyes hadn't lifted, but the tone in her voice was beyond angered. Had he just shattered her trust?

 

“I didn't,” Beast Boy quickly attempted to defend himself, his own ears lowering at her tone.

 

“You promised!” Terra's voice now grew, her eyes returning up with tears filling her sockets. “You lied to me! You lied!”

 

The girl quickly ran through the door Cyborg once stood, attempting to rid herself of her would-be friend. She sprinted out the door, ignoring the cries of Beast Boy, whom she thought she could trust. How could he lie to her? Slade was right. She couldn't trust him. She couldn't trust anybody. She could only rely on herself, as she always had.

 

“Terra, no! Wait!”

 

 

 

xXxXxXxXx

 

 

 

“Running away won't solve any of your problems,” a voice from beside the sprinting blonde forced her to pause in mid step, turning to the rising shadows of the sorceress of Azarath. “We all have our demons to face, Terra, but sometimes we can't all do it alone.”

 

Terra sighed toward the wisest of the Titan's Team, who floated from her levitated state, having easily beaten the girl from the main lobby to the front entrance, and dirt pathway that would take her across the bridge to the outer limits of the city to which she came.

 

“We can help you learn to control your powers, Terra,” Raven suggested, bent on keeping the girl with her team.

 

“I have control of my powers,” Terra stated firmly while her eyes shifted from the girl. Raven recalled stating the same thing to other members of her team upon several occasions. “Just not complete control.”

 

“Then stay with us,” Raven suggested once again, forcing the blonde to look back to her with shock in her eyes. “We can help you with that.”

 

“I …” Terra was at a loss for words. The entire team had pleaded her to stay. However, could she really trust them? Could they really help her to control her powers? Or would she simply lose control and end up just hurting them as she had with everyone else that tried to help her. Terra shook her head while her eyes dropped to the ground. “I just don't want to hurt anyone, I'm sorry.”

 

With that, the girl continued to push away, turning to run off and leaving Raven alone under the streetlight of the dirt pathway. The sorceress sighed while her view never left the running girl.

 

“Running away wont solve your problems, Terra…” she mumbled aloud, her head lowering when the view of the girl completely faded. “You and I … we share the same problems … we don't want to be around anyone in fear of hurting them.”

 

 

 

xXxXxXxXx

 

 

 

Raven sighed while she leaned up against her door, looking around at the bare contents of her room. She had failed in persuading the girl to stay, and for some reason, it hurt her more than she wanted to admit. Perhaps it was because there would finally be someone she could relate to on the team. Someone who couldn't fully control her powers? Possibly. Raven felt as if there were more to her mixed emotions, but she felt too tired to deal with them tonight. Tomorrow would become like any other day, and soon she would forget about the girl … hopefully.

 

 

 

End Part I