Do not read the following story without first having read the introduction, "Tea With Terra: Prelude to Torture" by Mint Dragon. Otherwise, it will make absolutely no sense, because this is merely the conclusion to that fic. You have been warned! Go read the prelude first!
Author's Note: We would like to make it clear that "Tea With Terra" was not written by a single author. While it is under Alys' account (The Sage of Story), the story is co-written by her sister Aliute, especially where comedy is concerned. Heck, Aliute basically wrote the whole thing—Alys just took notes. XD Also, kudos to Mint Dragon, who wrote our marvelous, torture-ridden prelude. Thank you! So now that we're clear on that...we would like to apologize to any contributors who didn't make it into the fic for some reason. We tried to fit everybody in the best we could, but we lost a few contributions along the way and it all got very confusing. If you don't find yourself in the story, and you were supposed to be, please don't take it personally. We did our very best.
Warning: Anyone who loves Terra with a passion...leave now. This could get gory. (And by the way, yes, we realize that she is a cartoon character and that there isn't a reason to torture people who are non-existent, and you may think we have no lives, etc...but please, if you feel this way, don't even bother reading the story. We don't want flames from people who'd be better off without it. A little fun never hurt anybody. Thanks!)
A huge thank you to our guest stars, many of whom you will recognize: Mint Dragon, SuNsHiNe10, Toast, Fireruby, Timid Raven, Change-Of-Heart2, Animagus Brushtail, Sweet Nymph, Brave Raven, K9 and Co, Blackfire, Nightling, Darkfire, telekinesis, ROBINROX, and RenityTheWinsune.
Disclaimer: We doesn't own the Teen Titans. If we did says we owns the Teen Titans, them producers they would make us not live anymore.
Tea With Terra IThe two girls headed hastily for downtown, one of them still unpleasantly moist from her jolly little boat ride. Around them, the setting began to take on drastic changes as the buildings became more clustered...the alleys more narrow...the sirens more frequent...the one-way conversation on Chinese water torture more...er, lovely...the deep male voices in the shadows louder and louder...
"Gimme all your money! Or I'll make you not live anymore!"
Raven gave an eerily calm smile. "Bet you never knew that simple drops of water—"
Several rapid-fire machine gun shots were heard.
"—could dissolve a person's sanity."
Terra looked nervously around her, eyes wide with fear. "N-no, I...d-didn't know that..."
"Oh God! Help! Someone help me, please! AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!" Bang.
Raven nodded. "Few people do."
Unbeknownst to them, lurking in one of many alleys, was a dark figure. A really dark figure. A really, really dark figure. A figure as dark as the night, black as blood, opaque as the lumps of coal Slade sadly found in his stocking every year. A figure so dark, that it wasn't really very light at all, now was it?
So anyway, the dark figure approached Terra, stalking close behind her, following the huge puddles of water that were left behind from her soaking-wet clothes and hair. Unfortunately, he wasn't too subtle.
"R-raven, this part of town seems kind of...uh..."
Clang!
Terra gasped as her comment was cut short. She whirled around, only to see a trash can with a hat. (Ha. Ha.)
Apparently ignoring the, uh, clang, Raven replied coolly, "Don't worry, Terra. You're just not used to such a crowded city. After all, you've been living in a cave for...how long was it?"
A cricket chirped. A hobo coughed. A cat shrieked bloody murder.
"Never mind," Raven objected. "Let's go."
Just as they were about to trudge forward again, Terra felt a tap on her shoulder.
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!" the girl screamed as she jumped, turned, and preceded to back into Raven.
"No need to be alarmed, miss," the dark figure spoke with his half-mutilated face. He lifted his hat a little so that she could see his empty left eye socket. "I have a number of items which you could purchase today."
Terra stared wide-eyed. The dark figure continued.
"Oh, but...if anyone asks," his one eye darted around the alley in caution. "You didn't get them from me."
The man opened his coat to reveal several pockets, in which there were knives, guns, and other painful-looking devices.
"Just keep walking, Terra," Raven advised, giving her teammate an unnecessary shove in the opposite direction. "Don't look him in the eye." Terra willingly did as she was told and walked away from the figure.
"I'll take that one," whispered Raven, pointing to a serrated dagger in the left pocket of the cloak.
"Good choice," chuckled the figure sadistically as Raven gingerly removed the dagger, shoving a one hundred dollar bill in its place.
A few minutes later, the girls reached their destination, signified by Raven's random remark of, "Oh look, we're here."
Terra looked up, and sure enough, before them loomed a large, run-down, decrepit, ramshackle, crumbling, rickety, shabby, old and neglected...ship.
Coming out of the roof of a café.
Carved into the side of the protruding boat, in rough, chiseled lettering, was the title:
"The Write Ship?"
Raven turned her gaze sharply at the decaying hull, her voice taking on a nostalgic tone. "You see, Terra, this ship used to reside at the bottom of the ocean. It was just a legend before the owners found it there and restored it. How did it sink, you ask? They say that a treacherous wench tried to get between the captain and his girlfriend, who ran the lighthouse. When she found out about the affair, she hijacked the ship and took the traitor with her to safety, claiming to be her friend. When they were far enough out into the ocean, the lighthouse owner rowed back to shore on the only lifeboat, leaving the inexperienced wench to steer the ship. Of course, she had no idea what she was doing, and slowly the ship drifted towards some rocks near an island, leading her to her own violent and bloody demise. To this day, no one really knows whether she was shredded on the rocks, consumed whole by sharks, or simply drowned to death."
Terra stared in horror.
"Anyway," Raven continued. "Since so many people come here to write poetry, it's called the 'write' ship. The owners thought it would look cool, just kind of...you know...sticking out of the roof like that."
There was an awkward silence. A pigeon landed on the bow of the ship and presented a lovely little gift to an unfortunate passer-by.
"Yep," nodded Raven.
"Uh-huh," agreed Terra.
"Shall we go inside?"
Terra examined the exterior of the building skeptically. "Well...I guess it doesn't look too bad..."
Just then, an ill-looking youth stumbled from the door of the café, weeping uncontrollably. He slowly reached into his pocket and pulled out a pistol, raising it to his left temple.
"No!" screamed Terra in alarm, flapping her arms in the air like a demented bird. "Don't—!"
But it was too late. Bang.
As the anonymous fellow dropped to the cement, a group of juveniles casually stepping over the obstacle, another head popped out of the café, followed by two bags of garbage.
"Not another one," sighed the Write Ship's janitor, as he dutifully shoved the body into an empty Hefty bag and took it to the side of the building with the rest of the trash.
Terra gulped. "Um...Raven? I'm not feeling so well. Maybe we should just go back to the Tower..."
"You're just uncomfortable because you're wet. Come inside. They'll dry you off." With that, a black cloud formed around the edges of the door, and it magically swung open. Careful not to slip on the lingering pool of blood, the girls stepped inside the place where, unbeknownst to one of them, they would never come out.
To Be Continued