The Return of Terra - Re-posted

[ttwelcome]

When we last saw our heroes in Episode 65, the Titans were battling the Creature with the red robotic eyes. The battle was raging on, with neither side landing a decisive blow. The mystery also continued... Who was this Creature? Where did he come from? And why was Terra forgetting her past?

Beast Boy was obsessed with Terra, and had seen her on the streets of the city. She had no memory of Beast Boy or the Teen Titans. He went searching for her stone statue in the underground Caverns but it was missing. Beast Boy loves Terra, and is convinced she is alive and needs his help to recover her memories and super powers.

Episode 65 ends with the battle between the Titans and the White Creature raging on unresolved.

THE TEEN TITANS SERIES CONTINUES...

Episode 66, The Return of Terra, begins with the Creature, actually a White Robot whose glowing red eyes look like the robots of the Brotherhood of Evil, walking the halls of the Caverns. He is searching for something, a key, to give him the strongest powers of all. He sees Terra's body encased in stone, and walks menacingly towards her...

The Titans are trying everything they can to defeat the Creature, actually the White Robot, and are perplexed about his powers, how he can absorb the elements of the earth to battle them. Many blows are exchanged, but no side is closer to victory...

The White Robot's hands reach out to Terra's stone encased body. His fingers begin to vibrate as he touches the hard volcanic rock covering Terra. With a loud vibration and cracking sound, the rock splits vertically and falls away, revealing the unconscious body of Terra. In an instant, her memories and super powers are transmitted to the White Robot, whose eyes glow red with new intensity. But all is not lost, as Terra now slowly begins to breathe...

With the additional powers he has absorbed from Terra, and her knowledge of the Teen Titans tucked away in his memory circuits, the White Robot releases the dazed Terra onto the outskirts of the city, where she eventually is found and taken in by foster parents. The White Robot, a renegade from the Brotherhood of Evil, is now ready to begin his attack on the Teen Titans...

The battle continues to rage on between the Titans and the Renegade White Robot. The Titans are getting tired, weary from the never ending battle, but the White Robot fights on without any sign of weakening. Raven watches her fellow Titans struggle, and sees how the Robotic Creature absorbs whatever earth element they throw at it. Steel beams, boulders, mud and water, they are all absorbed by the Robot who turns these elements back onto the Titans as powerful weapons.

Beast Boy finally joins the fray, having returned from a fruitless meeting with the girl that looks like Terra, who has no recollection of her past exploits as a member of the Teen Titans. Raven takes Beast Boy aside, and says, "What took you so long?"

"I'll explain later, Raven. Who is this creature?" Beast Boy asked.

Raven fills him in about her insights into the super human powers of the White Robot. "We've got to hit him hard enough to knock his circuits loose, without using any earth elements that he will turn into weapons against us," she tells Beast Boy.

"Raven, you hit him low with your dark magic, and I'll hit him high with a gorilla smash to the head," Beast Boy responds.

"Titans Go," they shout in unison, as they attack the seemingly invincible Robot.

Raven's dark magic is strong, but only succeeds in knocking the Robot further back. Beast Boy is a split-second behind her, and he slams the Robot in the head with a mighty gorilla-sized punch. The Robot looks dazed, then suddenly falls hard. The Titans are momentarily stunned seeing their powerful enemy crash to the ground.

Cyborg cautiously approaches the fallen warrior Robot, extends his arm and begins to analyze the creature. "This is a Robot," Cyborg reports. "He has the same eyes and computer brain as the robots of the Brotherhood of Evil team."

Beast Boy watches Cyborg work on the Robot, and mutters to himself, "This thing is strong enough to crush steel or stone... I wonder if it could have freed Terra from her stone statue form. Maybe that's why she wasn't in the Cavern when I looked for her."

Suddenly, Cyborg shouts, "I found something. There's something deep in the Robot's memory circuits that doesn't belong there."

The Titans gather round Cyborg as he works rapidly to uncover the Robot's secrets before it recovers consciousness. "There are memory traces here that don't fit the Robot's mental patterns," explains Cyborg. "I'm going to try to play them back," he warns, "but I don't know if playing them back will erase them or destroy their traces."

An eerie silence descends on the tightly knit group of Teen Titans, as they hear a soft and familiar voice. "...I'm very sorry... I will try not to betray the Titans again. I miss all of you so much..." The voice trails off, and leaves the Titans in a stunned silence. How did this Robot come to have the voice-memory of Terra locked within?

Beast Boy felt his heart tear inside, to once again hear that beautiful voice that he missed so much...

"I knew it!" Beast Boy exclaimed. "I knew something happened to Terra to make her forget that she was a true Teen Titan at heart. This Robotic Creature must have stolen her memories!"

"How could he have done that?" asked Starfire. "Where did he come from, and who built him?"

Cyborg explained, "We took out the Brotherhood of Evil and destroyed their robots. But one of them must have escaped before we faced them. This White Robot has the same memory circuits as the robots of the Brotherhood of Evil. But there is much more power in this robot's energy circuits and micro-processors. That's why his strength was so hard to defeat."

"Starfire is right. How could this White Robot steal Terra's memories?" asked Robin. "And what about Terra's powers? Could the robot have stolen her powers, too?"

The Titans were so engrossed in this discussion that they failed to notice the dim red glow returning to the White Robot's eyes.

"I'll analyze the robot at the Titan's Tower lab," said Cyborg. "Help me get him back there fast, before he wakes up."

But it was too late, because at that moment the White Robot sprang into action, hurling a barrel of recycling waste at the cluster of Titans.

Robin shouted, "Look out!" and pushed Starfire out of the path of the hurled waste barrel.

In the confusion, the robot broke through the wall of the recycling center and raced to escape.

The Titans regrouped and were about to rush off after the fleeing White Robot, when Raven stopped them. "Hold on," she said. "We need a plan to make this work. Robin, you take Starfire and Cyborg and find that robot. Another blow to the head should knock him out again. I'll go with Beast Boy to find the girl who looked like Terra. If she really is Terra, we will bring her back to the Titan's Tower. We'll meet you there when you capture the robot. With Cyborg's help, we'll solve the mystery of what really happened to Terra.

The Titans paused, contemplating the difficult tasks that lay ahead for each of them. Then Robin shouted, "Titans Go!" and they raced off on their life-saving mission to capture the Renegade White Robot and solve the mystery of Terra's disappearance.

The White Robot felt something he had never felt before. It was a cold, dark sensation. Fear. He was being chased by the Teen Titans, and he knew he had to run for his life. He had never been defeated in a fight before today, and his circuits were buzzing with white noise from the blow he had taken to the head. He knew the Titans wouldn't stop until they caught up with him and they were only a minute behind him. Where could he go to rest and recover from the crushing blow to his head?

He remembered being safe a long time ago in the jungle lair of the Brotherhood of Evil. But he didn't know where that was. How could he find it now? He ran and ran, looking for anything reminiscent of his old jungle lair. At last he came to dense foliage that reminded him of that safer place from long ago. He broke through the walls that stood in his way and went deeper into the jungle-like forest of plants. He heard strange animals crying out all around now, and was confused. He broke down more walls, searching desperately for his lair and a place to hide away in safety...

Robin raced ahead of Cyborg intent on tracking the Renegade White Robot. Starfire called to him from above where she could see the trail of destruction left by the Creature. "Robin, it looks like he's heading downtown. We've got to stop him from hurting more people and destroying the city."

Robin knew he had to think fast while he raced on. If this robot was from the Brotherhood of Evil where would it try to hide, he thought. "Starfire, I think I know where the Robot's heading."

Cyborg called to Robin, "Where would he go? How do you know where he would hide?"

"If the Robot's from the Brotherhood of Evil, he will remember their jungle lair and try to find safety in a jungle," said Robin.

"This is the city. There's no jungle here," Starfire replied.

"No, but there is a place that looks like a jungle. I think he will head there. I think he's going to the downtown Metropolitan Zoo," Robin yelled. "We've got to head him off, because there are many wild animals there and that can spell trouble."

"Big trouble," yelled Starfire. "If he releases the wild cats, we'll need a lot more help to round them up before we can go after him."

At that moment, the Titans stopped abruptly in front of the smashed wall surrounding the zoo. They heard a fierce, blood curdling scream from just inside the walls. Suddenly there appeared three huge jungle cats that leaped through the hole in the wall and lunged at Robin. Starfire yelled a warning, "Look out for the cat attack!" But the cats had already targeted Robin, and they pounced with predatory speed and rage...

Beast Boy and Raven watched Robin, Starfire and Cyborg race after the White Robot. Beast Boy said to Raven, "Come on, Raven, we've got to hurry. I think I know where Terra is going to school."

Raven said, "Wait a minute, Beast Boy. How do you know where Terra is? If she's alive, why isn't she helping us?

"She isn't helping us because she can't remember us. She can't even remember who she is," replied Beast Boy. "She thinks she's just an ordinary school girl and she doesn't even have her powers any more. I think the White Robot must have done something to her."

"Cyborg did find memory traces in the Robot that belonged to Terra," said Raven. "Maybe the Robot took Terra's memory and powers, and that's why she can't remember who she is, and why she has no powers."

"I talked to her and tried to convince her that she was a Teen Titan, but she wouldn't believe me. We've got to have proof to convince her to come with us," argued Beast Boy. "Without proof, she won't listen to us. We can't just kidnap Terra. We've got to have a plan to get her to believe us. How can we prove to her that she was a Teen Titan?"

Raven responded, "I've got an idea. We can show her a picture of her with you and the Titans. Do you have any pictures like that?" she asked.

Beast Boy yelled to Raven, "I've got pictures of Terra and me we made at a carnival a long time ago. I know she'll remember that. We had so much fun that night at the amusement park riding the bumper cars and Ferris wheel. We took pictures in the photo booth, and I've got them in my room at Titans Tower." And in a flash, Beast Boy changed into a pterodactyl and was racing through the air, with Raven flying behind trying to keep up.

As Beast Boy and Raven raced to Titan's Tower to find the pictures needed to convince Terra to trust them, the Renegade White Robot continued blindly searching for the jungle lair of the Brotherhood of Evil, not knowing it was a continent away in Paris, France. And Robin was about to become a Tiger's meal at the Metropolitan Zoo.

Continued in Part 2...

[bishospidey]

lovely ......

[ttwelcome]

As Beast Boy and Raven raced to Titan's Tower to find the pictures needed to convince Terra to trust them, the Renegade White Robot continued blindly searching for the jungle lair of the Brotherhood of Evil, not knowing it was a continent away in Paris, France. And Robin was about to become a Tiger's meal at the Metropolitan Zoo.

The tigers and big jungle cats, accidentally freed by the Renegade White Robot, saw Robin walking towards them. They crouched in the shadows and crept forward, stalking their prey. Just as Robin was about to enter the compound through the broken wall, the big cats pounced. Starfire yelled a warning, "Look out for the cat attack!"

Robin looked up to see three enormous jungle cats hurtling towards him. Only his lightening reflexes saved him from the terrible claws of the angry beasts. He ducked and rolled forward, into the attack, and by doing so just missed being dinner for 3 hungry tabbies. He rolled under the leaping felines which caused them to overshoot their mark. Cyborg came running up and grabbed the first tiger by the tail. This made the big cat angry and he snarled and swirled around trying to get to his tormentor. With a hearty laugh, Cyborg yelled, "Whoa, kitty! Robin won't be your dinner tonight. And you won't like my hard titanium skin either." He swung the tiger by the tail until it was too dizzy to stand up.

Starfire, flying above the scene, raced down in a flash, and picked up the 2nd big cat by the scruff of the neck. "Hear kitty, kitty," she said, in a sweet, soothing voice. "Lets fly over to this empty pen and we'll give you a new home where you'll be safe, and where you won't be eating any friends of mine." She dropped the big cat gently in a walled-off outdoor cage. Cyborg hurried up to her with a very dizzy cat slung over his shoulder. He deposited his package into the same cage, and the two Titans then raced back to see if Robin was OK. Starfire had left him facing at least one big cat on his own after he had been ambushed by the jungle hunters.

Robin was relieved to see his two friends helping him fight the wild cats. Three against one were difficult odds, he knew, but now there was only one cat left, and he turned to face the charging animal. Just in time, too, as the cat leapt off a rocky ledge towards Robin. If it worked once, it will work again, he thought, as he rolled forward into the attack, and under the leaping cat's charge. He grabbed his bat shaped boomerang and hurled it with the nylon rope attached towards the cat's legs as it flew overhead. The boomerang circled around the paws of the airborne beast and wrapped the rope tightly around the cat's legs. When the cat came down from his leap, he was surprised to find his legs immobilized beneath him, as he tumbled and rolled to a stop. "There," said Robin. "That's one neatly wrapped cat, ready for the zookeeper and a new cage."

Starfire and Cyborg laughed when they saw the third cat wrapped up like a present. "I didn't know you gift wrapped," wise-cracked Cyborg.

"You didn't hurt the poor thing, did you, Robin?"

"What do you mean, the 'poor thing'," questioned Robin. "That 'poor thing' almost made a meal of me."

"And a scrawny meal it would have been, my friend," said Cyborg with a hearty laugh.

"We've got to get back on the trail of the White Robot, before he does even more damage," said Robin.

With a shout of, "Titans, Go!" the three young heroes raced off in pursuit of the rampaging Renegade White Robot.

Beast Boy and Raven entered Titan's Tower through the automatic doors. They raced to the elevator and waited impatiently while it climbed to the living room floor of the Towers. Beast Boy rocketed out the elevator doors, through the living room and into his bedroom. Pictures were flying through the air by the time Raven entered the room.

"I've got it," he yelled, and triumphantly showed Raven the picture of his beloved Terra. Raven smiled knowingly at the picture of the couple, which showed Beast Boy staring at Terra with puppy-dog eyes.

Raven asked, "So where do we find the girl you thought was Terra?"

"She goes to the school by the construction site where we first fought the White Robot," Beast Boy said. "Come on, let's go!" he shouted, and was once again racing off ahead of Raven.

As she pursued the love-stricken Beast Boy, Raven reflected on the intensity of Beast Boy's feelings for the missing Terra. "I hope this doesn't turn out badly for Beast Boy. He'll be crushed if we don't find Terra and help her recover her memories," thought Raven...

As Beast Boy and Raven approached the school, they heard the dismissal bell ringing.

"She's getting out now," Beast Boy called excitedly. Raven looked at the many young faces streaming out of the open school doors.

"How do you know Terra will come this way, Beast Boy?" asked Raven. But as soon as she asked, she answered her own question. "There she is, at least I think that's her," said Raven. And Beast Boy looked in the direction she stared.

"Yes," he whispered. I know that's Terra. It's got to be her."

The two Titans waited until the crowd thinned out, and started following the girl that looked so much like Terra.

But Beast Boy couldn't wait any longer. "Terra, it's me, Beast Boy," he called to the blond girl just ahead of him.

There was no response. Beast Boy jumped in front of the girl, and she looked up startled. "Oh, it's you again," she said. "Why are you back? I told you I'm not that girl you're looking for."

"But Terra, you are her. I know you are. You've got to come with us. I think I know what happened to you. Please, Terra, this is really important," he pleaded, but her stoic expression remained unchanged.

Then Raven stepped up and said, "I know you don't know who we are, but what Beast Boy is saying is very important," Raven explained. "Won't you give us a few minutes of your time?"

The pretty girl with the long blond hair looked deeply into Raven's eyes, and for a moment she felt a connection with something she didn't understand. A feeling from the past that tugged at her insides in a way she found disconcerting.

Raven spoke softly, almost hypnotically, "Beast Boy, didn't you bring something to show her?" And with a greater calmness now, Beast Boy pulled the treasured picture out of his belt.

"Terra, please take a look at this picture," he pleaded. "We took it when we were together at the amusement park months ago. Do you remember?" he asked hopefully.

The girl stared at the picture. She was silent as she looked at it, almost looking through the picture into the past. "I don't know," she said softly...“maybe. It feels strange to see this picture, but I just don't know if that's me."

Raven again spoke softly with her soothing, dark voice. "If that isn't you in the picture, then you two must be twins."

Beast Boy could hardly breathe, he was so hopeful that this picture would jog Terra's memory. But he held his words, somehow knowing that Raven was doing the right thing to gain Terra's trust.

"It really does look like me, and Beast Boy you look pretty goofy here," she joked. Beast Boy turned red with embarrassment, except with his green skin he took on a purple hue.

Raven and Terra laughed, and the voice-spell that Raven had cast to help them all stay calm and connected now dissolved.

"OK, I don't know who you are, but I'm willing to trust you," she said. "What do you want me to do?"

Raven and Beast Boy exchanged a glance, and took a deep breath. They knew that this was the crucial moment that everything else depended on.

"We want you to come with us to the Titan's Tower. We think we know what happened to your memory and powers, but we need you there to find out for sure," Raven explained. "Will you trust us?"

After a minute's deliberation, Terra responded, "OK, I'll trust you. This seems so important to you both that I'll take a chance."

Beast Boy hadn't realized that he was holding his breath, and now he exhaled in a rush. "Oh, Terra, I'm so glad you're gonna come back with us. I just know we can help you understand the truth, everything that happened to you when you were a Teen Titan like us," he explained.

And with this question decided, the two Titans and Terra now set off for Titan's Tower, with Raven and Beast Boy hoping that Robin, Starfire and Cyborg had met with success on their quest to capture the Renegade White Robot.


At first, the jungle-like park with the overgrown plants and trees had reminded the White Robot of his home, the original jungle lair of the Brotherhood of Evil. But now, as he searched desperately for a sign that would help him locate his creators and their hideout, he grew increasingly worried. "Where am I?" he thought. "Where is my home? Why can't I find my way back?" He crashed blindly ahead, not realizing that he was leaving behind a trail that would be easy to follow.

"We have to hurry and catch up to that thing before it does some real damage," said Robin, as the 3 Teen Titans tracked the Robot by the trail of damage he left behind in his wake.

Cyborg replied, "If we catch up to it, Starfire, all you have to do is grab the Robot by his feet and smash his head into the ground to knock it out."

"Yeah, if we want smashed nano-circuits and neural spaghetti," replied Starfire. "Remember, we have to knock it out without damaging the memory circuits. We've got to see if there's a way to retrieve the memory-traces of Terra that we saw a glimpse of before."

"That's right, Starfire," said Robin. "We can't destroy the Robot yet before we find out if we can retrieve Terra's memory and powers, if the Robot has really stolen them."

Cyborg thought about this, then replied, "So how hard do we hit the Robot to knock it out without destroying its key memory circuits? If we don't hit it hard enough, it will return the favor and strike back as hard as it can. It wants to survive, and so do I."

Starfire added, "We've got to get it right without any time to practice. If we don't succeed in capturing the White Robot this time, there may not be a next time. It will run faster and harder the next time, and we may never find it then."

"Listen," said Robin. "Do you hear that?" And the 3 Titans paused to hear what sounded like a wind storm through the trees. "I think that's the Robot just ahead. We need to circle it so there's no escape."

The eager Titans spread out and moved silently towards the sound of breaking tree limbs. What they saw surprised them all. The Robot was gone! There were tree limbs broken and scattered in a heap, but there was no sign of the Renegade White Robot.

"What gives?" said Cyborg. "How could he have escaped our trap?"

"Hold on," said Robin. "I don't think he has escaped. Remember how he hid before in the brick wall at the construction site?"

Starfire exclaimed, "That's right. We couldn't see him, because he blended into the brick wall. He can absorb the earth elements and seem to disappear from sight into any earth element."

The 3 Titans turned to look closely at the pile of broken tree limbs. "Look out!" shouted Robin. And suddenly the tree branches came flying at the Titans, who ducked and scattered to avoid a shower of shattered limbs. The Robot was up and hurling the jagged tree trunks at the Titans.

To Be Continued in Part 3…

[ttwelcome]

The Return of Terra – Part 3

The 3 Titans turned to look closely at the pile of broken tree limbs. "Look out!" shouted Robin. And suddenly the tree branches came flying at the Titans, who ducked and scattered to avoid a shower of shattered limbs. The Robot was up and hurling the jagged tree trunks at the Titans.

Robin shouted, "Starfire, now!" While Robin and Cyborg stood their ground and battled from the front, Starfire flew around to attack from the rear. She grabbed the largest broken tree trunk she could find, and with the Robot distracted by Robin and Cyborg's attack, swung it hard against the creature's head. The wood splintered into a dozen pieces, but it was enough to do the trick. The Robot came crashing down safely onto a pile of branches that broke its fall.

Cyborg jumped into action with his analysis tools. "The Robot's memory circuits are still intact," he said excitedly. "We've got to get the Robot back to the Titan's Tower lab where I can try to extract these memory-traces."

With her super strength, Starfire picked up the Robot like he was a bag of groceries. The 3 Titans set off for Titan's Tower, hoping that Beast Boy and Raven had success in locating Terra. Now, the most difficult part of their work would begin: To see if they could solve the mystery of Terra's missing memory and super powers.


"All right, I'm here. Now what?" said Terra defiantly. "I don't remember this place, even if you say I've been here before."

Beast Boy looked at Raven questioningly. "Uh, Terra, are you sure you don't remember any of this?" He hoped that somehow the familiar sights of Titan's Tower would jog Terra's memory.

"I don't think she can remember this, Beast Boy," said Raven, who turned to explain to Terra. "I suspect that all traces of your memory were removed by the Creature we call the White Robot. He may have even stolen your super powers, Terra."

The slender blond girl looked shocked. "What do you mean, my super powers? Do you really expect me to believe that I had super powers like you all do?" Terra demanded to know.

"Yes, Terra, that's right. You had amazing super powers. You could move the earth and toss rocks and boulders with just a motion of your hands," Beast Boy said excitedly. "It was really cool!"

Terra looked doubtful, but hopeful. Could she really have been that special once upon a time? It seemed like a fantasy to her, too fantastic to believe in.

At that moment, Cyborg's booming voice was heard outside the door. "Beast Boy, Raven, are you in there? Did you find Terra? Hurry up, we've got the White Robot and Starfire is carrying him into my lab now."

Beast Boy yelped with excitement. "Come on, Terra, this is our chance. Let's find out where your memory went. The Robot may have stolen your memory traces and now we can get them back."

"This feels pretty scary to me," said Terra. "Raven, do you think this is safe? What if that Robot wakes up and attacks me? I don't have your powers to fight a creature like that."

Raven just smiled. "Let's see what we can find out. I'm sure the White Robot is unconscious now, so it’s pretty safe, and I'll be there to help if needed."

With that reassurance, the trio headed out of Beast Boy's room, and down the hall to Cyborg's lab. Terra trailed cautiously behind, still uncertain of the wisdom of her choice, but determined to see it through to find out if what Raven and Beast Boy had said was true. Could she really have once had super powers and been a Teen Titan?

Terra was shocked at what she saw upon entering Cyborg's room. A giant laboratory filled the space, and the White Robot was strapped down on what looked like a very large operating room table. Over his head and body several scanning lasers were pulsing with red beams that traveled up and down the robot's length, taking vital measurements and electronic readings in a continuous motion. But what frightened her the most was the empty operating room table next to the Robot's prone body. Without knowing why, she felt an icy dread creep over her body. Was this table for her? Did they really expect her to lay down next to that violent creature that had destroyed so much of the city?

"All the readings I have so far tell me that this creature came from the Brotherhood of Evil. It has the same pulsating camera-lens robotic red eyes and micro circuitry as the robots of the Brotherhood of Evil. But it is much more developed. There are signs here of advanced AI - Artificial Intelligence. This robot is capable of operating on its and making decisions without input from its creators."

"I thought that might be the case," said Robin. "But what is the purpose of its attacks on us?" he wondered aloud. "And why didn't we see and destroy this robot when we defeated the Brotherhood of Evil and all their robots with the Freeze Machine?"

Raven understood this line of questioning that Robin had begun, and she responded, "I think you are onto something here, Robin. Maybe we didn't destroy this robot in Paris when we defeated the Brotherhood because he wasn't there at that time. Perhaps he was already in route to our headquarters to destroy us?" she mused.

"Then why didn't he do that when he had the chance," said Starfire. "He had fantastic strength and the ability to camouflage himself, which made it very difficult to defeat him, except for his weaknesses."

At this, the team of Titans looked up at Starfire and asked in unison, "What weakness?"

"Don't you remember how disoriented he was in the jungle around the Metropolitan Zoo," she asked. "And even when he battled us, he seemed to lack a clear purpose to his mission, but I don't know why," she confessed.

"That's right, Starfire. Even with his strength and power, he wasn't truly focused on the attack. And he became even more disoriented as time went on. I suspect that he headed towards the Metropolitan Zoo because that place reminded him of his origins at the Brotherhood of Evil's lair, which was in a tropical jungle setting."

"So why did he become disoriented so easily? We hit him hard, but not that hard," said Cyborg.

As always, Raven's connection with the mystical helped her to resolve this question. "Because with the defeat of the Brotherhood of Evil, this White Robot lost his connection to his home base, and without that connection, he wavered in his commitment to his original mission."

"And what do you think that was, Raven?" asked Starfire.

"I think his mission was to destroy the Teen Titans, and then to return to free the Brotherhood of Evil so they could continue their mission to take over the world," Raven replied. "Fortunately, he ran into more trouble than he expected," she smiled mysteriously.

"Hey! I found the deepest memory traces in his secondary neuronal pathways. This is where the voice of Terra came from that we all heard. I think I can retrieve these memory traces, and return them to their original owner," he shouted enthusiastically.

Hearing this, Terra cringed. "But what if something goes wrong?" she asked. "What if those memory traces aren't mine? What if I end up with this creature's memories in my head?"

The Titans turned towards Terra, and Beast Boy tried to hold her hand and comfort her. "You've got to have faith, Terra." he said soothingly. "Cyborg is really smart and I know he can help you to remember who you were, if you give him a chance. Then we can all be together again," said Beast Boy.

But the look of dread in Terra's face was unsettling...

Terra approached the 2nd operating room table cautiously. She was scared, and everybody knew it. But she was brave enough to lie on the table and let Cyborg fasten the straps securing her to the table. He then placed electrodes in a crown around her head. She was starting to tremble when Cyborg said, "It's OK, Terra. I haven't done a memory transfer before, but I understand the theory. You'll be my first!" he said with a twinkle in his eye.

At these words, Terra closed her eyes. Tears began to roll down her cheeks. Beast Boy stepped up and took her hand. "Ahh, Terra, it's gonna be all right. I know it is. Cyborg was just joking. He's done this before, on monkeys, I think" said Beast Boy thoughtfully. "Anyway, I'll be right here to make sure everything goes OK."

"Yes, but what can you do if it all goes wrong?" thought Terra, but she didn't say those words out loud. She looked deeply into Beast Boy's eyes, and saw all the love and hope he had for her. She couldn't bear to disappoint him, so she only smiled bravely and nodded.

Robin asked Cyborg, "Are you ready yet to commence the memory transfer?" The other Titans crowded around Terra's operating table, all eyes were on her. The White Robot lay silently next to her, a hulking reminder of the power and terror they had all fought so bravely in the last few days.

"Ready, Robin," said Cyborg. "I need you to monitor Terra's reactions on the instrument panel as I begin the transfer of the secondary neuronal pathways. Too much energy too soon and we could cause damage," he confided softly to Robin.

As Cyborg threw the switch to begin the memory transfer, the room took on an eerie silence which soon grew into a song of pulsing, electronic vibrations, rising and falling as if it were breathing on it's own. Terra closed her eyes and felt the strangest surge in her thoughts, feelings and memories. It was an overwhelming sensation, like falling off a cliff but never hitting the ground. She saw things, or felt things, she didn't know she had ever experienced before. As the memories surged into her from the White Robot, she began to cry, remembering all that she had done and felt as a Teen Titan. She remembered how much she had loved Beast Boy, and loved being a Titan on the greatest team in the world. She also remembered her betrayal of the Titans, and how Slade had nearly caused her to destroy what she loved.

Cyborg yelled, "Robin, how's she doing on the Neural-Synapse monitors? Watch out that she doesn't get an overload. Shut it down before that happens," he commanded.

"I'm on it," said Robin, who studied the monitors as if someone's life depended on it, and Terra's life did, he knew.

Despite the safety precautions, things started to happen too fast. Terra heard a scream in the room, from far away, and she wondered what was wrong. The screaming didn't stop, and it came closer and closer. She was pulled out of her reverie and shocked to realize that she was the one screaming.

Cyborg yelled to Robin, "Watch it, the energy transfer levels are increasing exponentially."

Robin was on it, but didn't react in time. "We've got to slow it down," he yelled over the electronic cacophony and Terra's screaming.

As Robin was reaching for the shut-down controls, Cyborg's laboratory was rocked by a thunderous shock and flash of light. The White Robot was lifted off the table as a pulse of pure energy traveled from his body to Terra's, who was also levitated off the table by the energy surge. The Robot's body collapsed back down on the table and emitted a shower of sparks, flames and smoke.


To Be Continued in Part 4...

[ttwelcome]

As Robin was reaching for the shut-down controls, Cyborg's laboratory was rocked by a thunderous shock and flash of light. The White Robot was lifted off the table as a pulse of pure energy traveled from his body to Terra's, who was also levitated off the table by the energy surge. The Robot's body collapsed back down on the table and emitted a shower of sparks, flames and smoke.

Beast Boy cried out, "Terra, Terra..." He was as shocked as the other Titans to see her lifeless body collapse onto the table. Tears came to his eyes as he held her limp body in his arms, and no one dared utter a sound, so complete was the scene of devastation where only minutes before there had been such hope.


Raven was the first to speak. "Beast Boy, set Terra's body down, and let me examine her." Raven spoke soothingly and gently to the devastated Teen Titan. She knew how much he had loved Terra, and how much her loss would devastate him.

Beast Boy fell to his knees and sobbed. Starfire put an arm around his shoulders and led him to a nearby seat. Raven silently began her examination of Terra's body. Meanwhile, Cyborg and Robin had returned to the Robot's smoking body, and reapplied the electronic sensors that had been damaged in the power surge.

"I can't believe how fast that power surge came on," said Robin. "And that burst of light energy emitted by the White Robot, did you see that, Cyborg?"

Cyborg was silent for a few moments. "Yes, I saw that, Robin, and I'm worried that something happened that I don't understand," he confided. "And now, these sensor readings tell us that the Robot's primary and secondary neuronal circuits were destroyed by that same burst of energy," he said glumly. "I need to study the transfer recordings to understand what went wrong, but I don't think there is any way of recovering any of Terra's memory traces from the creature now."

The shocked and disappointed look on Robin's face said it all. Cyborg continued to study his instruments, while Robin went to look after his friend, Beast Boy.

"How is he doing?" Robin asked Starfire.

"I think he's in shock. He's not saying anything. He's too depressed, and I'm worried about him," Starfire replied.

"Beast Boy, don't give up hope yet. There's still a chance. Has Raven finished her examination of Terra?" Robin asked, hoping to somehow spark an interest in Beast Boy.

But Beast Boy remained silent and withdrawn, crushed by the loss of his beloved Terra.

Raven spoke next, and her voice was so soft and soothing that all the Titans present were transfixed. "Terra, Terra, can you hear me?" The question was unexpected and shocking. Wasn't Terra dead? Could she really have survived the power surge and that intense white burst of energy that levitated her off the operating room table?

"Terra, listen to me. I know you can hear me," said Raven. "Your heart beat is faint, but steady. You are in shock, but your vital signs are all intact. If you can hear me, please squeeze my hand."

But Terra did not respond. Her limp body gave no sign of life. "Beast Boy needs you now more than ever," Raven continued. If you can hear me, give us a sign," she pleaded with the unconscious figure on the table.

Still, there was no sign Terra had heard Raven's entreaties.

But Beast Boy had heard them. The Titans turned to see him stand and walk towards Terra's comatose body. Starfire wanted to protect him from more hurt, and stood to stop him, but Robin signaled her to step back.

The room grew even quieter as Beast Boy approached his beloved Terra. "Maybe you can hear me Terra, and maybe you are afraid to come back to our world. It's been a scary world for you, and maybe you felt safer when you forgot who you were, when you lost your memory and powers. But you've got to come back. You are a Teen Titan, and a great one. We will never be the same without you. Please come back. Please, Terra?" he pleaded.

But still there were no signs of life in the frail young blond girl.

Beast Boy choked back his tears and continued. "Terra, if it's too hard for you, I will understand if you want to leave this place and go on to what comes after. But I want you to know that I love you, and I will always love you whatever you decide." And with those words, he leaned over Terra's body, and gave her the most gentle of kisses on her lips. The Titans watched Beast Boy's tender expression of love with mixed emotions. Suddenly, there was an audible intake of breath in the room. As Beast Boy kissed Terra, her body began to levitate off the operating room table and his body rose up along with hers. Suddenly Terra opened her eyes, and the young couple descended back to the ground.

"Hello, Beast Boy. It’s good to be home again," said Terra, and gave him a big hug and smile. The Titans all cheered with joy and relief. Beast Boy's grin was the biggest of them all.

Robin said, "Welcome home, Terra. It's good to have you back on our team again."

As the Titans took turns giving Terra hugs, Cyborg joined the group and said, "Hey, I've got some news." But his news was swallowed up in the joyous celebration of Terra's return.

"Hey!" said Cyborg, I figured out what happened to Terra. I know what that burst of energy was that knocked her out and fried the Robot's circuits," he shouted over the din.

"Her memory came back OK," he explained, "but she got more than her memory back."

"I know," said Robin. "We just saw her levitate herself and Beast Boy right off that table."

"That's right," said Cyborg. "She has her memory and powers back, and more. The energy burst transferred not only her powers, but all of the White Robot's, too. With these combined powers, she can move not only earth objects, but herself and other people, too, like Beast Boy" he explained.

And with that, all the Titans started laughing except Cyborg. "Hey, what's so funny," he said.

And the laughter grew even louder as he tried to figure out what the joke was. But the tension had broken, and the Titans continued laughing with a happy joy that they had not felt in a very long time.

Later...

The sunset was spectacular as Beast Boy and Terra held hands on the top of Titan's Tower.

"It looks very peaceful out there," said Terra.

Beast Boy just smiled, because his heart was filled with peace and happiness now that Terra had returned.

"I promise to always be a part of the Titans' team, and always stay by your side, Beast Boy," said Terra.

Then Beast Boy and Terra looked in each other's eyes, and kissed on the lips.

The End.

A note from the author:

I hope you have enjoyed my story, The Return of Terra. I wrote it for myself and for my Teen Titan fan-friends, Sarah C. and Mrs. C., plus all the Titans fans around the world that like romance as much as I do.

A long time ago, I saw one of the episodes of Teen Titans, Episode #19, Date with Destiny. I didn't like the show because Robin insulted Fang and Kitten who were a couple, even if they were villains. Fortunately, I later saw Episode #23, Betrayal, where Terra and Beast Boy were romantically involved. I thought they made the perfect couple, even with all their problems. Hey, everybody has problems, right? I also loved Starfire and Robin together as a couple, especially in the movie, Trouble in Tokyo. Another couple that I really enjoyed was Kid Flash and Jinx, who fell in love on Episode #60.

Every great story touches us in special ways, and reminds us of who we are. I can't help but to identify with Beast Boy, who wants to have a romance more than anything. He likes to sing Karaoke like me, and tries to fit in even if he is sometimes an outsider. Beast Boy represents the kind hearted hero in all of us, sometimes silly, sometimes happy. I hope that one day we see a new episode of Teen Titans where Beast Boy and Terra are reunited.

- Kyle, author of The Return of Terra