TERRA FIRMA

By Remix17

CHAPTER ONE

Run So Far

Terra's feet beat the course desert ground as she escaped the small town that lay behind her. The earth beneath her boot soles trembled with each burst of fear that rushed through her body. Behind her, she could hear the roar of dirt bikes.

Tears streaked down her face as a sense of hopelessness overwhelmed her. She'd been doing so well these past two weeks; she hadn't slipped up once. She had thought...she'd dared to hope...

Terra felt her legs buckle beneath her and she tumbled to her knees, scraping them against the ground. She cried out a choked half-sob, not in pain, but in fear and despair. Bowing her head low to the ground, Terra’s gloved hands firmly gripped her hair as its tendrils brushed along the dust.

"No," she moaned, her voice rippling with anguish. "No...no..."

After she had left Titans' Tower, she had returned to her usual way of life, traveling from town to town, surviving on slim meals and the occasional kindnesses of strangers. In the past, almost everywhere she went her powers cause damage and destruction. Earthquakes, mudslides, avalanches...

This time, she’d caused a section of street to cave in. The cars on the road had pitched into the crater that had formed, while others had slammed on their brakes only to be hit by the vehicles behind them.

To make matters worse, small tremors had begun, rocking buildings and terrifying the town's inhabitants. A few of them had spotted Terra, her eyes glowing wildly, yelling as her powers surged unbidden inside of her. They had turned on her, and Terra had run, her fear triggering her powers even more.

And now they were mounted on dirt bikes, anger and vengeance blazing. The roars of the dirt bikes were getting closer.

Terra gritted her teeth, and she stood to face the men. At her command the earth started splitting, a fissure dividing Terra from her tormentors. The fissure widened, and the men were forced to bring their bikes to a halt or fall into the ravine being formed. One revved his bike loudly in frustration, and yelled violently at her. She heard the terms "witch" and monster,” words that had been spoken to her a hundred times to her before. Terra felt anger rise inside her hollow chest, and she turned and ran. As Terra left the once-peaceful town she felt tears drench her face once more, and as she ran the wind stung her wet cheeks.

She fled, not just from the ruined town but from herself, as if she ran fast enough she would she would leave her uncontrollable powers behind, leave all the pain and terror and guilt behind her in the settling dust.

"Why?" she screamed to the desert. "Why, why, why?!"

Why did she cause suffering when all she wanted to do was help? Why was she persecuted when all she wanted was to be accepted?

Terra collapsed to the ground once more, too tired and anguished to run any further. She lay to the ground, wrapping her arms around herself. Her heart thumped against the earth, resonating in her chest, and she squeezed her eyes shut as more tears spilled forth.

The desert sun beat down on her, and Terra didn't resist as she felt its rays burn against her back and shoulders. Surrounded by thick pillars and cliffs of rock, Terra felt a traditional feeling of emptiness. There was no one to hold her or keep her safe.

For two weeks, two glorious weeks, she had been in control, and Terra had dared to believe that she had conquered her powers. Now she knew the truth; she was as helpless as ever, that she was still at the mercy of powers to big and too strong to be harnessed.

This might be her life forever.

"Help me," she pleaded. Her voice was feeble and pathetic. Terra gripped loose sand in her palm, squeezing it inside of a shaking fist. "Someone, please help me."

"I'll help you, Terra."

Terra's eyes widened as a familiar voice spoke above her. A cold rush of fear traveled down her body as she got to her knees, looking upwards to see a familiar shape silhouetted against the morning sunlight.

It was Slade.

"No." Terra scrambled away from the man, getting to her feet. "Stay away from me."

"Now, Terra," he said, "is that how you treat those you merely wish to help you?"

Terra ran for it. Slade cut her off almost immediately and she jerked away from him; her eyes blazed an eerie yellow and the earth beneath his feet sank several inches, knocking Slade off his balance. Terra dodged past him and started to run for the canyons rising in the distance. But moments later she could hear Slade chasing behind her, swiftly covering the ground between them.

Oh, no you don't! Terra thought, and at her command pillars of rock shot up from the ground in her wake, putting obstacles between herself and Slade. Terra knew it would slow him down, but only barely--she'd fought Slade before, and the man had overcome nearly everything she'd thrown at him.

Terra chanced a glance over her shoulder and saw Slade still behind her, gaining. She put on an extra burst of speed and this time summoned a large plateau to cut her off from Slade. It was large enough to make him to grind to a halt but unfortunately small enough to run around and soon enough Terra heard his boots crunching behind her once more.

One thing was for sure: Terra did not want Slade to catch her. She needed a plan to get him off her tail, give her time to escape to the canyon that lay up ahead.

She had an idea, one that she hadn't ever tried before. But it could have promising results.

Terra continued to run, trusting the fact that Slade would eventually catch up with her. She was right; it wasn't long before she could hear him more clearly than ever, coming up behind her swiftly. When it felt like Slade was close enough to almost reach out and grab her, Terra made her move. A wall of rock shot upwards between them, and Terra heard a short grunt of pain as Slade crashed into it, not having enough time to react or slow his speed. Terra smiled, and ran for the canyon.

She made it into the large, shadowy trench between the rising cliffs and dared to come to a stop, bending over and gasping loudly as she tried to catch her breath. Her limbs felt weak and they trembled slightly. Terra felt drained after first being running out of town and then running from Slade—not to mention using her powers on both accounts.

She turned around to see if Slade was pursuing her again. Terra saw the rock wall she had created (and her plateau and pillars behind it) but she didn't see Slade. Was it possible that he had hit the wall fast enough to be knocked unconscious, even through his helmet? Terra wasn't sure. She watched the wall cautiously, waiting for him to appear. But nothing moved from behind it.

Maybe I really did knock him out, Terra thought. She began to walk further into the canyon, still facing the wall as she did so.

"Where are you?" she whispered slowly.

That was when two large arms wrapped around her, lifting her off Terra off her feet and pinning her against a broad chest. "Ah-ahh!" she yelped, writhing in terror. "Let me go! Let--me--GO!"

"Very good, Terra," Slade said into her ear. "I hadn't expected that little trick of yours at all. You're getting better."

Terra snarled in frustration, trying to pull herself free. She squeezed her eyes shut, and concentrated as hard as she could on the earth beneath them. The ground beneath Slade's right foot rose up, shoving him off-balance. He stumbled backwards, pushing Terra away to catch himself from falling. Terra landed on her knees. She scrambled away, turning around to face Slade, who had gone into a slight Kung-Fu pose.

"Stay away from me," she hissed. "Don't make me hurt you."

"Don't make me laugh."

Terra's eyes glowed fiercely. She raised the stray boulders lying in the canyon, drawing them up above her head, and flung them at Slade.

Slade dodged the first two boulders, diving beneath the second and using the third as a jumping point. He whipped out his bo staff in midair and flew down at her. Terra ran beneath him, spinning around to face him as he landed. Slade turned to face her, bo staff held out both threateningly and confidently.

He thinks I’m afraid of him, Terra thought. She went into a slight crouch, readying up her powers. And...he’s right.

Slade moved first, running at her. Terra held her ground, determined to face him. He swung his bo staff and Terra reacted, ducking below it as it swung over her head. She came up, summoning a nearby boulder. She flung it at Slade, and just as before he dodged it, then ran at her, delivering a kick to her chest. Terra fell back, her shoulders striking the ground. For a moment she couldn’t breathe. She gasped, rolling over onto her side. Slade’s boot steps drew dangerously near, and she rolled onto her back to see him raise his bo staff, ready to bring it down on her.

The canyon began to rumble. Slade stumbled, backtracking away from Terra and trying not to lose his footing. Small pebbles and chunks of rock rained down on them. Terra gasped, looking around her in shock. "No," she whispered, struggling to her feet. She tried to stop the power that was welling up inside of her. "No, no, stop it!"

"Losing control again, Terra?"

Terra tried to ignore him, focusing all the energy she had on containing her powers. It wasn't working; the canyons were filled with tremors, a boulder sailed down beside her, crashing to the canyon floor and spraying her legs with debris. Terra cried out, stepping away from it and closer to Slade.

"Stop it!" she screamed.

“Let me help you, Terra,” Slade told her gently. “I can make all of this go away.”

“I don’t want your help,” she returned. “I want you to go away!”

Terra’s legs buckled, and she sank to the ground. “No!” she yelled, not at Slade but herself. She pressed her palms against the earth, trying to stabilize her powers. The ground was shaking beneath her hands, and fragments of rock rained down on her.

Slade remained indifferent as they bounced off of him, but Terra cringed as each blow of the larger rocks struck her arms and shoulders.

Dust, dirt, and rock lifted into the air, spinning around them in dizzying vortex. She was reminded of their last meeting, of when she had been trapped in a smaller, similar vortex of earth.

“Don’t you want help, Terra?”

Terra let out a piteous moan, wrapping her about her middle and bowing her head in despair. “Yes” she sobbed. “Please...help...me.”

When Terra averted her tear-filled eyes from the ground, she saw Slade coming to kneel down behind her. He placed one firm hand on her shoulder. “Concentrate, Terra. Make it go away.”

Terra choked on confusion. “You said you would help me!”

“I am. But in the end the only person who can stop this is you.”

“I can’t!”

“Yes, you can. These powers are yours, Terra, and you can control them if you try.”

Terra stared at the vortex that trapped them. It was spinning so fast it seemed a solid wall, effective as any prison. Terra concentrated on stopping the wall, digging he fingers into the canyon floor for support.

“Take your time, and focus,” Slade spoke from behind her. “I can wait all day if I have to.”

Terra focused. She imagined the spinning barrier slowing, the dirt and rock dispersing and falling to the ground. She felt the last of her energy draining, but she gritted her teeth and clenched her fists and silently screamed at her prison to disappear.

The vortex began to slow. Terra’s brain felt like it was about to rip in two, but she pressed on. The earth stopped shaking, and the vortex slowed even further. The sand and dust and rock disbanded, and the vortex disappeared entirely. Terra gasped as white spots burst in front of her eyes and her body became lifeless. She fell forward to the ground, blacking out and going limp, unaware of Slade catching her before she hit the harsh canyon floor.