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Titan Reborn

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A/N: I don’t own the Teen Titans, Terra, General Immortus, and Slade. This is the story in my headcanon of what happens some time after “Things Change” and “Metamorphosis”. Enjoy!

Titan Reborn

The last bells of the day rang at Murakami High School. Students opened the doors and walked down the steps as they headed to their homes. A girl with blonde hair and blue eyes stood among the crowd, no one commenting on how identical she looked to the former sixth Teen Titan, Terra. That was how she preferred it, free to be her own person and not anyone else, even if it had hurt to see that green-skinned boy so sad. She smiled as she was joined by her two friends. They walked together until they reached the blonde girl’s house. She waved goodbye to her friends before she unlocked the front door and walked inside.

“I’m home!” she called out. There was no answer. She frowned slightly and went to her room where she put her backpack on her desk in preparation to start her homework.

The young teenager went into the kitchen and grabbed an apple as a snack and went to the living room to watch some television before she started her homework. She noticed the room was dark and turned on the lights. The girl gasped in fright as she saw a tall, muscular man with a black and orange mask sitting in an armchair with her adopted parents and younger brother tied up and sitting at his feet.

“Who-who are you?” the girl asked, her body shaking in fear. She turned around as three Slade-bots came up behind her.

“Let’s just say I’m an... old acquaintance,” Slade said.

The girl looked at her family and the terrified looks in their eyes. “Let them go!” she demanded despite her fear.

Slade stood up and walked to her. The Slade-bots grabbed her before she had a chance to react. Her family muffled screams through the tape over their mouths. “Don’t worry, child,” said Slade as his gloved hand sparked with electricity. “It’s you that I’m after.”

Faster than a cobra strike, his hand was on her shoulder, turning her world to pain followed by darkness.

At Titans Tower, the Titans walked into the main room after eating at their favorite pizza place.

“Ah, veggie pizza!” Beast Boy sighed. “You’re so good to my belly!”

“Mmm-mmm-MMMM!!! Man, no wonder they call it a ‘Meat Lover’s’ Pizza. I am feelin’ the love! How about you, BB? You feelin’ the love?” Cyborg taunted. A smirk came to his face as he watched Beast Boy make a gagging face.

Robin was about to tell his teammates to stop teasing each other when his communicator rang. He opened it and turned to his teammates. “Titans, trouble!”

The Titans traveled to the house where police cars were parked outside with lights flashing. An officer stood at the front door. “Thanks for coming,” he said. “We were called about a kidnapping, but when the family described the kidnapper, we thought it’d be best if we called you.”

“They got a look at the kidnapper?” Robin asked.

Inside the house, police dusted for finger prints and took pictures of the crime scene. The father, mother, and their young son stood next to several officers. Once the Teen Titans approached, the mother gasped.

“Oh thank goodness! Please, you have to find her!” the mother exclaimed as she practically ran to the Titans.

“Who was taken?” Robin asked.

“Our daughter!” The mother took a picture of the family. In the center of the picture was the girl that looked identical to Terra. The Titans’ eyes went wide. Misinterpreting their reactions, she continued. “I know she doesn’t look like either of us, she’s adopted. We found her, alone on the street. We took her in,” the mother explained.

“She was just a kid,” the father sighed. “No family to take her in. It didn’t feel right to let her stay on the streets.”

“Can you describe the person who took her?” Robin asked.

The family looked nervous. “He was wearing a mask... all black on one side and orange on the other,” the father said.

“Don’t worry, we’ll find her and bring her home,” Robin assured them.

“Thank you so much!” exclaimed the mother.

Robin turned back to his team. “All right, Titans, let’s-” it was then they noticed Beast Boy had already left. The Titans left the house to find Beast Boy briskly walking to start the search. “Beast Boy, slow down!” Robin called after the changeling.

“I can’t, Robin,” said Beast Boy, his voice filled with anger. “Slade took Terra. We need to find her fast.”

Raven emerged in front of him. “I know you’re angry right now, but we need a plan if we’re going to find where Slade is keeping her.”

Suddenly, Robin’s communicator rang again and he opened it. Slade was staring back at him. “Slade!”

“Robin, so good to see you again. It’s been a long time, hasn’t it?” Slade replied.

“What did you do with Terra?!” Beast Boy demanded as he looked over Robin’s shoulder.

“Mind your temper, my young friend,” Slade warned, “you wouldn’t want to get reckless, now would you?”

“Enough of the games, Slade,” Starfire ordered, her eyes glowed green with anger. “Where is our friend?”

“Now, Titans, how will you ever learn anything if the answer is simply handed to you? You’ll have to figure this one out on your own.” With that, the transmission ended.

Robin turned to his team to give an order, but Beast Boy had already turned into a bloodhound and was sniffing his surroundings. At last, he caught a scent. “Terra!” he exclaimed as he morphed back into his human form.

“Lead the way, Beast Boy,” said Robin. The green changeling morphed back into the bloodhound and began to follow the scent’s trail.

Meanwhile the young, blonde teenager awoke to find herself strapped to a table in a room that looked like a laboratory. She grunted as she struggled to break free, but the restraints were too strong. All of a sudden, she heard footsteps coming from the shadows.

“Who’s there?” she demanded.

An elderly man with an old general’s uniform and a sinister grin came out of the shadows. “Greetings, Princess. It’s been a long time, hasn’t it?”

“Who are you?” she asked.

“You must have forgotten me after all this time,” said General Immortus, “I once worked for your father.”

“What do you want with me?” the girl asked, her eyes narrowed.

“It’s simple. We’re going to redo the experiment that gave you your powers.” replied Immortus.

“You have the wrong girl. I don’t have powers,” she with a frown.

General Immortus walked over to a table where there was a syringe and a small bottle of sedative. “Soon enough, it won’t matter.” he said, taking the syringe and drawing a dose of the sedative. “We were going to conquer Markovia through you and your brother had you two not found out about our plans. But now, I’m sure the king will surrender his crown for his daughter.”

“King? Daughter?” she asked almost desperately confused. “None of this makes any sense, if you think I’m some princess to ransom, why would you want to give me super powers?”

“When you get to be my age, you find yourself falling into the most curious habits. Not that you’ll ever get to be my age.”

He held her arm as she tried to struggle while he injected her with the sedative. Soon her struggling weakened and she closed her eyes. “Beast Boy.” she muttered before she fell asleep.

The scent Beast Boy had been tracking led the Titans to an abandoned underground military base near the canyon where they first met Terra. Once they were able to get inside, they saw four Slade-bots holding blasters and guarding a large door. Robin signaled to his teammates and they nodded. Starfire, Raven, and Cyborg blasted them with energy blasts while Robin threw one of his smoke bombs. Then Beast Boy charged at the door before he turned into a blue whale and crushed the robots.

On the other side of the door, Immortus came up behind Slade who stood on a balcony as he overlooked the hundreds of robots ready to attack. “The procedure is almost complete.” He scowled when he heard the door thud. “It would appear our young ‘friends’ have arrived.”

The Titans burst through the door and braced to fight again. “It’s over, Slade!” Robin shouted.

“On the contrary, my boy, it is just the beginning,” said Immortus.

“Immortus?! What are you doing here?” Beast Boy demanded confused and angry.

Immortus chuckled. “Clearly your former teammate didn’t tell you about her past.”

Robin pulled out his bo-staff. “We’ll hold them off! You find Terra!” he exclaimed.

Beast Boy nodded before he turned into a rat and ran across the room, dodging everything in his path. “Don’t let him get through!” General Immortus demanded. More robots blocked Beast Boy’s path, but the changeling just smirked. He turned into a cockroach and was able to get passed the robots and under the door.

On the other side of the door, there were more robots. Beast Boy turned into a T-Rex and tore them apart. He turned into a wolf and sniffed around for her scent until he found it and followed the trail to the room where the Terra-look-alike was located. She was unconscious in a chemical vat filled with orange liquid connected to metal tubes surrounded by machinery. Covering her mouth was an air mask with a tube connected to the top of the vat. Four Slade-bots guarded her.

The changeling turned into a T-Rex yet again and smacked the robots against the wall with his tail. He then tore them in half to ensure they wouldn’t attack again. Once he was back in his human form, he turned his attention to Terra.

“Don’t worry, I’m going to get you out of there,” he said softly.

He went to the control panel and began to pull levers and push buttons as the orange liquid drained. Beast Boy returned to the vat and morphed into a gorilla before he opened the lid and carefully pulled Terra out and took the oxygen mask off her face. He morphed back to his human form and waited for her to wake up.

A few minutes passed before Terra stirred and opened her eyes. “Beast Boy?”

Beast Boy smiled widely to see Terra was alright. “Terra!” Before he had a chance to say more, she hugged him tightly and began to sob. “It’s okay, Terra, we’re going to get you out of here.” he assured her as he held her close. They heard banging on the doors. “Do you trust me?” he asked.

She raised an eyebrow in confusion. “Um...yes?”

Beast Boy turned into a gorilla where he held the girl in one arm as Slade-bots broke through the door and charged. The changeling fought off the robots and made his way back to the other Titans. They were still fighting robots with Slade and General Immortus watching. Beast Boy set her down and turned his back to her as he prepared to help his friends in the fight.

“The girl has been freed!” Immortus shouted to the robots. “Get her!”

“Stay behind us,” Beast Boy whispered. The girl nodded in reply.

Robot after robot charged at the Titans, but each one was taken out. Terra stared in awe as the Titans not only fought to defeat their enemy, but to protect her. Slade gripped the railing of the balcony in anger. He had expected more from his robots especially with General Immortus’s support. As more and more robots were defeated, General Immortus’s face soured. Sensing defeat was inevitable, he turned to Slade.

“It seems that this is where we part ways, Slade,” said Immortus as he got onto his hover ship.

“It amazes me how you’ve lived so long, General, if you’re stupid enough to think I can’t find you wherever you try to hide your shriveled carcass,” Slade threatened.

General Immortus just smirked as he started his hover ship and fled. “Don’t let him escape!” Robin shouted. Terra tried to summon her powers, but nothing happened.

“Until we meet again, children!” General Immortus called out. And with that, he was gone.

The Titans turned to the oncoming robots, knowing they’d have to focus their energy on them and save Immortus for another day. Slade’s eye narrowed.

“And now,” he said as he jumped from the balcony and landed on the floor with a thud that cracked the floor. “You have my undivided attention.” The army of Slade-bots stepped back.

“What’s the matter, Slade? You mad your grandpa left without giving you a hug?” Beast Boy taunted. Terra backed away in fear knowing full well what Slade was capable of. “How about I give you one instead?” In an instant, he swelled with muscle and fur and the green grizzly bear in his place roared and reared up on its hind legs.

“Do you really wish to save this traitor?” Slade asked. “You knew nothing about her and you took her in. Look where it got you? Lies. Betrayal. And almost your demise. All her secrets are going to come out at some point. You might not want to be there when they do.”

“She was our friend before you tricked her!” Beast Boy growled, shifting back to normal. “And she’ll stay our friend no matter what!”

“How do you even know she wants to be your friend?” Slade asked. “She didn’t want to remember you?”

Unable to control his rage, Beast Boy turned into a lion and lunged at Slade. The Titans, knowing Beast Boy couldn’t take him on alone, joined the fight. Terra watched in fear as the battle intensified.

“Do you think you can save her? Do you think you can protect her?” Slade asked. “She was a natural disaster waiting to happen.”

“We would have helped her, but you took her from us before we had the chance!” Beast Boy shouted.

“She chose to serve me. Just as she chose to forget about you,” Slade replied. He punched Beast Boy in the gut and he fell with a groan.

All of a sudden, several rock flew from behind them and hit several Slade-bots while one hit Slade’s mask, cracking it. The Titans turned to see Terra, eyes and hands glowing yellow. “Don’t you dare hurt my friends!” Terra roared.

Beast Boy managed to get to his feet and the Titans turned to their leader. “Titans, go!” Robin shouted.

The Titans charged against Slade and his army as gadgets, star-bolts, kinetically thrown objects, sonic blasts, and earth flew through the air. Robot parts flew around as they were destroyed. Suddenly, Slade pulled out a device and pushed the button. The sound of explosions could be heard and the earth around them began to shake.

“It seems this is where we part ways, Titans,” said Slade. “It looks like you’re out of time.”

“This building’s going to collapse!” Terra warned. They turned to Slade.

“Until we meet again, Titans,” Slade said as he slipped away amidst the falling rubble and dust.

“Dude, you totally stole that line from the old guy!” Beast Boy yelled after him.

“Raven, get us out of here!” Robin called. Raven summoned her magic to create a bubble around the group and she teleported them out of the crumbling building. They emerged on a plateau where they watched the ground that held the underground military base collapse.

“Think Slade could be trapped in there?” Beast Boy asked.

“We’re not remotely that lucky,” said Raven in a monotone.

“Wherever he is, we'll find him and bring him to justice,” said Robin with determination.

The Titans turned to Terra who looked down before turning to face the canyon before her. “You saved me. Thank you,” she said solemnly.

“Hey, it’s what the Titans do,” said Beast Boy with a sheepish grin.

Her expression didn’t change. “A Teen Titan, a true friend. That’s what you wrote on the plaque.”

Beast Boy’s eyes widened in shock. “You remember?” Terra nodded. He looked at her sadly. “Did you always know?”

“Bits and pieces,” Terra replied. “But my powers didn’t work. I thought maybe if I couldn’t use my powers, I couldn't hurt anybody anymore and I could have a normal life.”

“But we tried to get you back,” said Beast Boy. “Why would you want to give all that up?”

“Because I betrayed you!” Terra exclaimed, tears coming to her eyes. “You gave me a home and a family and I threw it all away. How could you possibly want me to be part of the team again?”

Starfire walked up to her. “Because you saved us. Beast Boy saw good in you even when we could not.”

“It would take time to rebuild the trust you had with us,” said Robin firmly, “but not impossible. It’s just a matter of if you want to work for it or not.”

Terra sighed. “The family that took me in... they’ll be worried about me. If they knew who I really was, they might kick me out.

Starfire looked concerned. “What will you do now?”

Terra sighed and frowned with discouragement. “I can’t keep running from my past anymore. We haven’t confirmed Slade’s gone and General Immortus is still out there.” She became sad. “But I don’t want to stop going to school. I have friends there and I don’t want to just leave them behind. High school is a lot of work, but it’s kind of fun.” She gave a sheepish smile with a shrug.

Robin rubbed his chin. “I think there’s a way you can do both.” Terra gave a half smile. “So, do you want to be a Teen Titan?”

Terra’s eyes widened. “Are you sure? Even after everything I did?” she asked.

Starfire smiled brightly. “Of course.”

The geomancer raised an eyebrow with suspicion as she turned the the empath. “Raven?”

“You initiation is going to be brutal. You’ve been warned,” said Raven in her usual deadpan tone.

Terra looked as if she was about to cry. She grabbed each of the Titans and hugged them tightly.  “Thank you!”

The Titans returned Terra to the family that had looked after her. They embraced her, happy that she was safe. When she told them the truth, they weren’t happy they had been lied to and agreed that it would be best for Terra to live with the Titans. Terra packed up her belongings and returned with the Titans to the Tower. Once they arrived, Terra set her things down in the main room and sat down on the couch. The Titans circled in front of her.

“Guess I should tell you more about me, huh?” The Titans nodded. Terra let out a deep breath. “My name is Tara Markov. I was born in Markovburg Markovia. My father is the king of Markovia. I have two older brothers, Gregor and Brion. General Immortus was with the group of scientists that gave me my powers.” As she talked about her past, Terra felt a burden being lifted off her chest as she told her friends the truth she had kept hidden for so long.

When she was finished telling the Titans about her past, the Titans seemed contented. “We’ll figure out how this is going to work tomorrow, but for now, we should get some sleep.”

With that, the Titans said good night, hugged Terra, and went to their rooms. Beast Boy escorted her to her old room. “It’s great to have you back, Terra,” said Beast Boy as he nervously placed his hand on the back of his head.

Terra turned to look at him. “I’m sorry.”

Beast Boy seemed confused by her sudden apology. “For what?”

“Everything!” Terra exclaimed. “I lied to you so many times. I betrayed you. Why aren’t you angry?”

Beast Boy hugged her tightly. “I couldn’t stay angry forever. I missed you too much!” Terra returned the hug. “But... were you happy with us? Or was that not true?” he asked, on the verge of tears.

Terra pulled out of the hug to look him in the eye. “I was happiest when I was with you.” Beast Boy blushed. Terra looked down shyly. “Well, better get to bed before the sun comes up. Talk more tomorrow?”

“You know it,” said Beast Boy with a wink.

The next morning, Terra woke up and took a shower, but when she went back to her room and opened her closet, all she saw were multiples of her old Titans uniform. When she walked into the main room for breakfast, the Titans were surprised to see her wearing jeans and a T-shirt.

“I can’t wear my old uniform anymore,” she told her teammates. “It’s what I wore while I was working for Slade and that’s all anybody’s going to associate it with. I think it’s time for a change.”

Robin smiled. “I think we can help you with that.”

Later that day, Terra went to talk to her two friends from high school. She told them the truth and, not surprisingly, they weren’t happy at first. However, after Terra promised them that she would continue to attend school and would see about letting them visit the Tower and meet other Titans, her friends forgave her.

Over the weekend, Cyborg worked on a cloaking ring for Terra to wear at school to change her appearance so people wouldn’t identify her as Terra.

Two weeks later, when Terra came home from school, she saw a package with her name on it on the entry hall table. She smiled brightly as she took the package up to the main room where her teammates were waiting for her.

“It’s here!” she exclaimed with excitement.

Robin nodded in approval. “Better try it on.”

Terra let out a squeak of joy as she rushed to her room to change into the new uniform. Beast Boy smiled. “She’s so happy. I can’t wait to see how the new uniform looks on her.”

“Easy, tiger,” Cyborg nudged him jokingly. Beast Boy morphed into a 2,000 lb. Bengal tiger and growled at him.

Soon Terra came out wearing her new uniform. It was a golden yellow and black, sleeveless, one-piece uniform with shorts. Her insignia was a black circle with a golden yellow T in it. She had a belt similar to her old one, but it also had a T in the buckle. Her gloves, boots, and goggles were the same as before. Terra smiled proudly as she showed off her new uniform.

Beast Boy blushed as he walked up to her. “You look great!” he smiled.

Terra blushed as well. “Thanks.”

And so Terra began the next chapter in her journey. She attended high school during the day and fought crime with the Titans whenever there was trouble. At first, the people of Jump City were reluctant to accept Terra again with memories of Slade’s invasion all too vivid in their minds. However, the Titans defended Terra and promised that she was no longer associated with Slade. Over time, the people began to regain trust in the geomancer as she helped protect the city. As for Slade, the Titans nor the police ever found his body. Terra feared he was still at large and would seek revenge again, but the Titans promised they would protect her with their lives.

Terra sat on the roof of the Tower as she watched the sunset. Beast Boy approached her. “So, whatcha thinking about?” he asked.

She let out a happy sigh and turned to him as the wind blew through her hair. “I’m home.”

The End

A/N: This story came to me after reading some of my old stories and a few of some people’s stories. I got the idea was Slade would make one last stand against the Titans and use Terra. In the Titans Go comic “Metamorphosis”, it’s hinted that General Immortus was part of the group of people that gave Terra and her brother Geo-Force their powers. I imagine Slade discovers this and decides to team up with him. As far as Terra’s uniform, it made sense that she would want to reboot it since the other one is what she wore when she was working for Slade. You can see the image of Terra in her new uniform on our DeviantArt page.
Written by Hina
Beta-read and edited by Bludgeon

Edit 2021: Made corrections and changed some lines.

My head-canon for what happens after "Things Change" and before "Teen Titans: Second Generation
© 2017 - 2024 Madness-Made-Fresh
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Samtastic-V3's avatar
Very good, love it :D