Chapter 1: The Choice

Jump City Town Square

Mr. Garrett, as liked to be called these days, sat on a bench in front of the town square fountain. He adjusted his glasses to he could see the Sudoko puzzle on his lap. He was almost done with his third puzzle and he was getting impatient. Looking at the nearby clock tower he saw it read fifteen minutes past midnight. He snorted in frustration which fogged up his glasses creating a slight film of ice on them. He set his pen in his Sudoko book and set it down closing it. He removed his glasses and began to wipe the thin film of ice off. He kept his senses sharp as he waited for his appointment. He folded his glasses and put them away in their proper case.

Once he placed his glasses in there case he put them in his shirt pocket then leaned over to tie his shoe. With one swift motion he reached for a golden rod that was placed in a casing on his ankle and shot a stream of light blue mist into a wooded area to his right. He heard someone grunt as the mist struck it's intended target. A smile came to his aged face as he twirled the golden dowel in his fingers. Comically he blew on the tip of his weapon like a western gun slinger. He looked down at the sapphire ruby in the mouth of a solid gold Dragon's mouth. He encased the dowel back in its ankle holster and covered it with his pant leg.

He stood up straightening his jacket and running a hand through his long ice blue hair and headed off into the grove of trees, following the sounds of struggling. He stepped over the small chain fence humming to himself as he continued to his quarry. Looking up in the trees he found the one he was looking for, and coincedentilly it was the one he was waiting for. The young man, dressed in black like a ninja, was struggling against a thick sheet of ice that had him pinned by his chest, and arms. He threw his knee up trying to break the ice that had him trapped. Opon seeing Mr. Garrett approaching he growled at him, which Mr. Garrett responded with a simple chuckle and smile.

"I heard you were supposed to be good. I guess in your defense you can't bo much against someone with perfect sight, hearing, and smell." Mr. Garrett made sure to keep a safe distance for the kid kicking his feet.

The young kid stopped struggling for a moment. "Oh so you admit you cheated." he said glaring through his white skull like mask in a synthicised voice.

The older man shrugged. "Something like that." Mr. Garrett put his hands behind his back. "So your the infamous Red X i've heard so much about?"

"Heh yup thats me." Red X groaned.

Mr. Garrett looked the kid over. "You are quite difficult to get ahold-"

Suddenly a bright red explosion shattered the ice that held Red X bound pushing Mr. Garrett back slightly. Red X fell to the ground and lunged attempting to kick his new friend in the face. Even clearly being older then the common thief and slightly stunned, Mr. Garrett's reflexes were impressive as he dogded the kick, then continued to dodge his other attacks easily.

"Pretty good. You've got talent." Mr. Garrett complimented him as he moved around him dodging his every blow. Finally Mr. Garrett stood by a tree catching X's latest jab in his hand before spinning him around slamming him into the tree behind him.

Red X slummped to the ground, groaning he looked up. "Wow. Not many get the drop on me like that."

"Which is why I sought you out." He extended his hand to Red X helping him to his feet. "Don't feel to bad though i've had years of fighting experience. Many, many years. But I think you've past your audition."

Red X leaned against the tree holding his side. "Lucky me. Word on the street was you had a job for me. Now normally I don't take gigs but I was curious since I have never heard of you before in Jump. After all that, I'll give you five minutes."

The older man smiled. "First off feel free to call me Mr. Garrett. That might make things a little easier for you. Secondly, yes I do have a job for you. I was told you were the best thief this side of Gotham."

"Your to kind. That just earned you another three minutes."

Mr. Garrett smirked. "I need you to get something for me, a book to be more exact."

Red X snorted crossing his arms, all flattery aside. "Ever hear of a library?"

"Cute. No this book is a little bit more unique. It used to belong to a once dear friend of mine who turned out to be a treacherous little worm." Mr. Garrett began to pace looking at the ground. "Mr. X do you believe in magic?"

Red X remained emotionless. "I never used to, but i've seen some crazy stuff before so I have an open mind. Case in point the dark Titan witch."

Mr. Garrett chuckled. "It's interesting you mention the demoness. The object of my desire is not only in the Titan tower, but in her possession."

Red X was quiet for a moment keeping his body language straight and stiff. Finally. "You have my attention."

Terra's eyes snapped open taking a sharp inhale as she sat up on her bed. Once she had calmed down a bit, she looked around at where she was. With the curtains opened the moonlight came in illuminating the dark room. Luckily that scary guy wasn't anywhere to be found, but now she had a new set of problems, like where was she? The room she was in looked like a hospital of some kind, with a heart moniter that was slowly climbing down to match her heartbeat, and an IV drip in her arm. It didn't look like a hospital of any kind she had ever been to, minus the machine's she was hooked up too. It wasn't white or crowded, she didn't see any nurses or anything but her room seemed up to date on medical equipment, she assumed.

She grabbed the IV and pulled it out, along with the heart moniter tabs. She wasn't sure where she was but she didn't want to be there anymore. She wrapped the blanket from the bed around her and headed for the door, only to have two gentle hands stop her.

Terra looked up and recognized the dark red hair and pale skin. "Mom?"

Malundra smiled. "Yes dear." Terra let out a relived sigh and wrapped her arms around her mother.

After a moment she pulled away. "Mom where are we? Are we in a hospital? Where are the nurses?"

Malundra put a comforting hand on Terra's lips. "Clam down sweety, it's going to be okay. But first there are some things I need to tell you." Malundra turned to the door then back to Terra. "Why don't you lay back down." Terra tilted her head in confusion but sat back down on her bed while Malundra stood up and faced the door calmly. The door burst open to reveal a dark half metal teenager.

"Terra are-" He stopped spotting the women standing in front of him.

"Hello Cyborg. It is lovely to meet you, unfortuneately I have to have a few words with Terra in private. I'm sorry." She reached her two fingers to the metal teen's forehead. Cyborg closed his eyes and collapsed onto the ground fast asleep.

Terra scrambled unto the bed, unsure of what she just saw. "Mom what did-? How did-?"

Malundra turned around to her "daughter". "Don't worry sweety, he is only sleeping." She slowly made her way to the bed and took a seat on the edge. "Terra there are things I need to tell you. You probably wont believe me, but nothing I am saying to you is a lie. Do you trust me?"

Terra looked into her mother's green, kind eyes. This women was with her for the past two years. She was kind, she took care of her, gave her a home, and gave her, what Terra was sure was love. How could she not trust her? Slowly Terra nodded.

Malundra exhaled. "Terra you know i'm not your real mother right?" She nodded again bringing her knees to her chest. "I'm sorry to say I don't know who your real parents are, or where you are from. I found you wondering around the city a few years ago, and I guess I saw a lot of myself in you and I took you in." Malundra took Terra's hand gently. "Terra do you remember a while back a young green man told you that you were a Teen Titan?"

"Yeah? It was weird. Mom where are you going with this?" Terra was getting uncomfortable now.

Malundra's eyes started to water. "Sweet heart everything that young man said was true."

Terra's eyes widened, but suddenly her fear slipped away replaced with a feeling of peace. "Wh-what?" Even though she felt peaceful her eyes were still watering just like her adoptive mothers.

Malundra took Terra's hands in both of her's and looked her in the eyes. "Terra, there is a darkness coming, and the numbers to fight back are few, so I am about to ask something of you and I want you to think really hard about your answer." Terra's bright blue eyes couldn't look away from her green one's and not being able to find the words to say she simply nodded. "The reason you couldn't remember what the young green man said about your past is because I placed a barriar in your mind blocking out those memories, and your powers. The spell I used is powerful and can only be lifted by the one who cast it. In this case me. Now here is your choice sweetheart. I can remove the barriar allowing you to remember your past and how to use your gifts, or I keep that barriar, create new memories and you can continue your life as a normal teenage girl with me by your side the whole way.

Terra's mouth was agape, but she was able to form a question. "Why?" It was barely a whisper. Malundra assumed she was reffering to the spell.

"When I found you, you were histerical. I had never seen such conflict, confusion . . . . so much termoil. I couldn't believe it. I took a trip inside your thoughts. What I saw was . . . . " she placed her hands over her mouth, taking a few breaths to calm herself, "I did what I thought was best . . . " Malundra hung her head in shame. It wasn't right to use magic to solve this kind of problem, but at the time she felt it was the only thing she could do.

How could this be true? There was no such thing as magic or anything like that. But then how does one explain the Teen Titans or the Justice League, or that thing that kidnapped her? Confusion was swimming in her head as her adoptive mother spoke. She thought she put this behind her when the green kid tried to convince her of who she once was. A few days ago she already was a normal teenage girl and now her whole world was turned upside down. She wanted to scream and yell, but the feeling of calm inside her was keeping her from doing so.

"There is one more thing I should mention," Malundra continued. "In your past, you did horrible things. Hurt a lot of people. Made all the wrong choices," Terra wanted to feel horrified by what Malundra was saying, but she still had a feeling of peace so much she couldn't, "But in the end, you made the right choice, and chose good."

Now Malundra lifted her hand to Terra's face and began to gently rub a tear away from her cheek with her thumb. "The choice is yours sweetheart."