Chapter 3: chapter 3
When Terra opened her eyes, it was once again to the sight of her teacher. He was standing over her, his legs on either side of her waist, looking down at her. Terra wondered if this was a dream. If it was, she was going to play along. "Naruto! You're alive!"
Naruto just stepped away from her and pointed at something behind her. She turned on her stomach and saw that there was a box of cereal, a bowl and some milk. It looked quite ridiculous, just sitting there in the middle of a canyon. "Eat your breakfast. We are not done yet. You still have not thrown away your fear. You must try to kill me. Only then will your instincts guide you to greater power."
'Fuck that's it for speeches. I was right; ALL THESE PEOPLE DO IS TALK!' After his little inner rant, Naruto checked up on Terra and found her to once again be inhaling the entire box of cereal and the box of milk. She ate quickly with a spoon made of stone. Once she finished eating she stood up from her seat on the ground and turned back to Naruto.
"You ready apprentice? This time, you cannot hold back or I will kill you. fight too to your very last Breath never hesitate ,You must try to kill me.
But you said I would never be able to –" Whatever Terra was about to say was interrupted when with zero warning Naruto shot forward at her with his fist cocked back. She almost screamed as she jumped back. But it wasn't nearly enough. Naruto was drawing on more of his strength this time. His fist smashed the ground and the shockwave sent her flying. 'Shit, he really is trying to kill me!'
Naruto was already shooting forwards at her again. He opened his mouth and let out a harpy cry. "RHAAAA!" It scared her shitless and she created the biggest, thickest wall of earth to protect her. 'What kind of monster is he?' Somehow she knew that the wall wouldn't protect her. She created a column of earth to take her way up into the sky.
She wasn't even registering that her power was coming to her more and more easily. She felt Naruto impact the wall. In fact, just about everything in the entire canyon felt the impact. Naruto plowed through her wall as if it was tissue paper before continuing on to plow through her column. She made the top part of her column separate then fly away. Suddenly she felt a boulder being fired at her from behind. She spun around and made the boulder stop in mid-air, before firing it back at Naruto. Now she was beginning to notice the amount of improvements in her control.
Whoa, this feels great!" Suddenly out from the dust cloud where Naruto was a pink ball of energy was fired. Terra jumped off her ride. This time she was confident that her powers would aid her. Her eyes glowed yellow and she hit the ground as if it was water.
Naruto grinned. 'That's more like it, a hidden attack. Now let's see if she will actually try to kill me.' Suddenly two columns as thick as his chest rose up out of the ground and slammed into his sides. One on his left and one on his right. Bellow the crushing columns were Naruto's legs and above them were his shoulders and head.
Terra rose out of the ground in front of him. This time she didn't pass out. Instead she looked quite curious that he didn't look like he was in a hint of pain. And her two columns were definitely touching each other in a flat surface, she could feel it. So that meant his body was definitely crushed. Then Naruto started laughing. "Excellent work Terra. I will no longer call you apprentice or girl. You have earned the right for me to call you by your first name always. But now we get to the last part of your training. This part only ends when you die. Are you ready?" Terra blinked and moved the columns away, revealing the crushed upper body of her teacher. He put his thumb in his mouth and did something off of childish cartoons. He seemed to inflate himself. His upper chest and arms just popped right back. At this point Terra had just stopped being surprised and asked the important question. "So what's this third and final step?"
Naruto grinned evilly. "Training. Training your body and your powers. That is what we are going to do until to deserve the title Majin Terra.
Four years later…
"Rob, what's going on? My sensors are picking up tremors just outside the city." Cyborg was talking whilst checking at his display on his forearm. Robin was typing away at the computer, trying to track it to its source. "That's weird. The source of the tremors keeps changing. But it's always in the canyon outside the city."
"Please friend Robin, we will do the investigating? I do not like the shaking." Starfire was, as always, flying around Robin.
"That's right Starfire. Titans, move out!"
With Terra and Naruto…
"Come on Terra, you can do better than that." Naruto grinned as he playfully taunted her, making her shout and create a fist of stone that she sent at him. Naruto brought both hands behind his head performed a double axe handle, and sent the stone fist crashing down into the ground in front of him. Terra ran forwards and began exchanging blows with Naruto.
Four year of constant physical training had made her stronger than she had ever believed. No longer was she just skin and bone. Four years of eating right and constant physical exercise had built up her muscles and body. No longer did she look like the half-starved orphan she appeared as when Naruto found her. No, instead she was a slim young woman with great muscle tone and barely C-cup breasts. But that didn't matter in a fight. After exchanging a couple of blows which were dodged with contemptuous ease by Naruto, Terra created a pair of stone gloves. She seamlessly continued to fight despite her hands weighting a lot more.
Terra waited for the opportune moment and – 'There!' She made the ground move from underneath Naruto's left foot. This ruined his balance for a split second, more the enough time for Terra to nail him with a right hook to his face. Again the sight became quite comical, as her fist left a large impression in his head, causing all of his facial features to disappear. He wobbled a few steps back before reaching in and pulling his face back out. He let go of his nose and grinned. "Good Terra. Your control has improved dramatically. Heads up, we've got company."
Terra smiled mischievously. Four years spent travelling the world and training had made her teacher adopt some rather odd speech patterns. Well, odder than usual. He used many more clichés from watching in-flight-movies. She still didn't know how he got the money and she didn't feel like prying. As far as she cared, she had her lifetime wish: Companionship and control of her powers. She wasn't going to endanger things with petty questions. And to be honest, she didn't care. These past four years had been the best of her life. Well, the best of her life after activating her powers.
Naruto still said she hadn't reached the level of Majin. 'Honestly what kind of level is that? It seems almost unobtainable. Not that I'm complaining, I'm stronger than ever. But Naruto will just keep on pushing me until I earn the title of Majin. I guess that's why I love – no like, him. Keep it together Terra. Now, who are our uninvited guests? I've never had fresh sparing partners. I hope they're strong.'
Robin and the rest of the Titans felt a collective chill run down their backs as they climbed over a rise. "We are close now guys. Twenty meters and up that next rise is where the last quake happened." Cyborg was making frequent checks on his arm's display screen.
"Starfire, can you check it out?" Robin and the rest of the Titans were sneaking around. They suspected that the cause of the quakes were manmade. "Heads up guys, I've got a heartbeat. And, something else. I'm not sure what it is." Cyborg continued to report.
"Starfire?" Robin looked at her in askance again. She silently nodded. "Starfire, be careful." She nodded again and flew higher. Over the rise she spotted two people. One was a girl with long blonde hair and the other was a boy with spiky blond hair.They were both looking right at her. She eep'd and flew back down. "Starfire, what's wrong?" Robin was looking concerned. He was always concerned about her.
'He really has a soft spot for her,' Raven thought.
"Friend Robin, we are, expected. And friend Cyborg, there are two people." This caused them all to frown as they ascended the last rise. A person without a heartbeat? 'Probably a robot. I'll be ready.'
But when all the Titans ascended the rise, they did indeed see two humans. Before the Titans could move on to confront the pair, Raven yelled out, "Wait!"
"What is it Raven?" Robin asked as they all turned back to look at her. Only to see something they had never seen in their lives: Raven's eyes were wide open, and her entire body was shaking. Sweat was beginning to drip from her hands and face and she was almost kneeling. She looked terrified.
"Yo Raven, what's the problem?" Cyborg offered her his hand, which in another show of uncharacteristic behavior, she took.
"Ok seriously Raven, you're starting to creep me out," This was of course, Beast Boy. At everyone's flat looks, Beast Boy folded and put his right hand behind his head. "Ok, more than usual." Satisfied at making Beast Boy confess, everyone turned back to Raven, waiting for her to speak her mind.
"That boy, the one without a heartbeat, he is made almost totally out of Dark Magic. He feels so dark and… insane at his core. It's repulsing even my power." All the Titans were shocked. 'That blond boy?' They all thought at once. The Titans all turned back to look at the pair. Only for Robin to find the boy standing an inch away from him with an insane, toothy smile on his face why Hello there. And then they all saw his eyes. Jet black sclerae with red irises. Robin was usually used to such disturbing sights, living in Gotham kind of desensitized you. But something about this boy's appearance truly disturbed him.
This person looked only sixteen, a similar age to all the Titans, yet Robin felt as if he was looking at a cross between the Joker and the Scarecrow. It sure as hell freaked out the other Titans; as they all jumped back Beast Boy shat himself and Starfire freaked out and hid behind Robin. This was ironic because Robin was the closest Titan to the object of her terror. Suddenly Buu's arm shot out, way too fast for any of them to see. His right hand grabbed Robin by the throat and pulled him away from Starfire. Before any of them could even react, he threw the Boy Wonder into the Temeranian princess and sent them both flying towards their friends. Both were luckily caught by Raven's magic.
This just made Naruto stare at her intensely. Raven shivered at his gaze. Cyborg's arm shifted into its sonic cannon form that he aimed at him. All the Titans were surprised when he just started laughing. The evil sound of his laughter, both smooth and rough at the same time, made them all experience cold shivers. His laugher stopped abruptly for seemingly no reason at all. This put them all on edge.
"You'll do. Terra, get over here." He looked back at the blonde girl who was a twenty meters away and at the foot of the rise. She rose on a flying boulder that she created from the earth bellow her. She rode it up to meet them, hands glowing yellow outline. "Hi, I'm Terra. What are your names?" She smiled warmly at them. All the Titans were completely off-balance. This happy and cheerful girl was with this psychopath?
"Umm, hi. My name's Beast Boy. Umm, this is Cyborg and Raven trying too play off shitting himself and the smell,which obviously didn't work considering, the discussed humor on the blond evil dudes face,failed miserably.
Whilst the introductions were underway Robin and Starfire stood up after being caught by Raven. "Thanks for the save Raven." Robin turned back to the crazy kid, "What do you want? Why are you causing earthquakes." He started addressing most of this to Terra. 'She obviously has the power to move earth.' But Naruto responded. "I was training her. She has yet to reach the rank of Majin. By attempting to kill –"
"Defeat Master. I am not killing the Teen Titans." Naruto looked eerily at Terra, who met his gaze with equal intensity. They entered a minor staring match before Naruto conceded. "Fine; by attempting to defeat the Teen Titans, you will help her improve. Terra, how good is their teamwork?" This was the Yondaime speaking. Teamwork was key in Konoha. Terra had read up about all the local villans and heroes. Naruto honestly didn't care enough too put weak shits on his radar.
"Very good from what I have heard. If I defeat them will you finally give me the rank of Majin?" Whilst the pair was talking, the Titans were watching their conversation go back and forth like a tennis match; their mouths getting progressively wider. "Hey, don't we get a say in this?" Beast Boy was ignored by the pair. Still trying too cover up the smell Robin was busy observing them, hoping their clothing could give away something about their abilities away.
The male, obviously the blonde girl's master, was shirtless from the waist up and completely ripped. which made him a little self conscious about his own body He wore long; lose white pants that were tucked into black boots. He had a gold belt with an engraved M on the buckle. 'Could that mean Majin? What does it mean?' The girl, Terra, was wearing an unmarked black tee-shirt and yellow hot-pants. For footwear she wore a pair of brown hiking boots. 'That's probably the only clue about the girl's powers. Boots offering ankle support.'
"You'll have to find that out for yourself Terra. Now go." Terra's eyes glowed yellow and she powered up. Looking at the Titans, she said, "Try and make this interesting for me," before clapping her hands together. It unleashed a massive shockwave of earth in a crescent in front of her. All the Titans were forced to separate and dodged it in their own ways. Starfire and Beast Boy flew away; Raven created a black dome that took the blast and Cyborg and Robin smashed their way through, with Cyborg using his brute strength and Robin using his acrobatics and bo staff.
Terra grinned and ran right at the Teen Titans, showing that she wasn't afraid of close quarters combat. Robin swung his bo staff at Terra, aiming for her neck. But she ducked at an almost impossible angle and ran right under the strike. Her right arm lashed out and punched Robin's thigh, hard. She succeeded in deadening it, which would slow Robin down considerably. Cyborg fired his sonic cannon at close range straight at Terra. She created a hole to fall down in, which closed up behind her.
Robin, who was now walking with a slight limp, turned to their goth mage, "Raven, can you find her?"
Raven concentrated and closed her eyes before she nodded, saying, "She's underground, about twenty metres below us." Suddenly all the Titans were pinned to the ground, as if it was an elevator that was rising rapidly.
Back at ground level, Naruto grinned as her saw Terra lift the entire rise up and send it flying into the air. With a supreme scream of effort, Terra brought her fists smashing together and detonated the massive amount of flying rock. Out of the rubble emerged a flying Starfire, throwing starbolts at Terra. Terra gasped and made a dome of rock to shield her. This was then blown to pieces by Cyborg's sonic cannon. Cyborg was caught by a flying pterodactyl and Robin was caught by a flying Starfire, since the canyon didn't have much for his grappling hook to stick too. But what they didn't know was that Naruto was watching Starfire very carefully. 'Flying and ki blasts? Is she a Z fighter?'
As Naruto continued to watch the fight take place; he reached his own conclusion. 'No, but her abilities are very similar.' Naruto kept watching in amusement as Terra played whack-a-mole with Robin using his bo staff. Beast Boy turned into a snake and tried following her in. The moment he was underground Terra jumped out of a hole and closed all the holes whilst she was in mid-air. In response, Beast Boy transformed into a green gorilla; which smashed out of the ground. He sent a haymaker at Terra, which she back flipped and cart wheeled away from. Robin stepped up and launched his explosive disks at her, only for Terra to fires rocks right back at him.
"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!" Terra was finally struck down by Raven, whom she had ignored with all the action going on. Terra was smashed into a cliff by a black hand of Raven's power. The cliff had spider web cracks from the impact and Raven was afraid that she had overdone it. Until Terra just shook off the shook and started laughing. This laugh wasn't evil, or even twisted like her Master's. It was… happy. Robin suddenly had a disturbing thought. 'She's laughing as if she was happy to fight. As if she enjoys fighting… for the sake of fighting.'
Terra started speaking, showing no fear that she was being held by Raven's power. 'In fact, she doesn't seem injured at all.'
"Master, it seems five Titans are one too many for me to handle. So how did I do?" Terra turned her head to look at her Master.
Naruto began walking towards the Titans. "Ha…ha…ha…ha;" each laugh was punctuated with another slow step. "You did, adequately. I can't teach you anymore." The Teen Titans got into their fighting positions, except for Raven, who kept her spell on Terra. "The rest will have to be experience." Terra gasped. "Y-You're not leaving me are you?" Terra looked like she was about to cry. Naruto just looked surprised. "What gave you that idea?" Naruto was three metres away from the Teen Titans.
"Anyway… the Teen Titans. You have fought my apprentice. Now, show me what you can do against the master!"
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone