The Second Curse: A TT Fanfic-CHAPTER 6

A/N: This is Chapter 6 of my OC Teen Titans Fanfic, The Second Curse. If you have not done so, please read the Prologue first, and then the chapters that precede this one. Note: there is no First Curse; this is not a sequel to anything. Hope you enjoy! : )

PS. Please note: this story supports the RobXStar pairing, not the BBXStar pairing. The whole thing with Beast Boy and Starfire in the car is just Starfire being Starfire.


Sabbath had just finished packing up from her practice session and was leaving the dump almost in the same condition in which she'd found it. Surely no one would miss those melted tires, and maybe no one would notice the soggy pile of crushed stone. But even if they did, Sabbath was positive she hadn't been seen.

There was nothing but crumbling, deserted shoreline between the dump and Titans' Tower. It couldn't really be called a beach because it was too rocky, and there were definitely no people there. But since there were no people around, Sabbath decided to fly to the tower. According to her iPod, it was fast approaching 1:30pm, and she didn't want to waste any more time. Plus, flying helped cool her off. She had worked up a bit of a sweat during practice (it had to be over 80 degrees, even that close to the ocean), and didn't want to show up at the Tower all sweaty and gross.

Once she got to the Tower's island, she touched down on a rock and took a minute to look the place over. It was a lot different than the last time she'd seen it, then again most things look different in the light of day. Eventually, Sabbath spotted what she assumed was the front door of the Tower. She walked over to it and looked for some kind of a doorbell, but there wasn't one to be found. There was a key pad and what looked like a handprint recognizer, but no doorbell. Terrific.

Sabbath crossed her arms and began to feel discouraged. Out of all the preparation she'd done for this day, this was the one aspect that she hadn't really given any thought to. After all, who doesn't have a doorbell? She was beginning to wonder if she should just give up when she heard voices yelling and cheering from the roof.

'The roof?' thought Sabbath. Confused and curious, she flew up towards the sounds. She stopped when she got there, her bottom half still hidden by the roof's edge, and flattened her hands against the roof's cement top for balance. The Titans were playing soccer (except for Raven, who appeared to be playing the part of reluctant referee). On the roof. In fact, they seemed to have a few different game set ups up there; a volleyball/tennis court, a couple basketball hoops, etc. For some reason, Sabbath wasn't surprised; she'd already suspected they were rich.

But the only game set up currently in use was the field with a net goal on each end. The set up was all the way across the roof from her on the opposite end. She watched the game for a moment, unnoticed by the Titans. It was sort of awkward, really. She didn't want to interrupt their game or be accused of sneaking up on them (the last thing she wanted was to come off as creepy), yet she felt like a stalker just hovering there. She was still debating what to do when the tall redhead, Starfire, gave a loud cry and kicked the ball, hard, towards the goal (were her eyes glowing?). Robin seemed to be the goalie for the opposing team. He lunged to the right, trying to catch the ball, but Starfire's aim had been a tad off. Instead of going in the goal, the ball hit the post and ricocheted completely off the field. Right in Sabbath's direction.

The Titan's watched the ball fly in amazement, and seemed to notice Sabbath's presence at the same time they realized the ball was heading straight for her face. Everything happened so fast, yet it all seemed to be in slow motion from Sabbath's point of view. The ball sped towards her. The Titans' eyes bugged out of their heads simultaneously. A couple of them shouted at her. Instinctively, Sabbath stopped beating her wings and ducked. She grabbed onto the roof's ledge at the last second to keep from falling out of the air completely (and just barely managing to keep her face from slamming into the side of the roof). The ball soared clear overhead, but Sabbath felt a few hairs get pulled back in the force of its wake. After a moment she faintly heard it bounce off the rocks far below and splash into the ocean.

That Starfire was definitely stronger than she looked.

Shocked, Sabbath simply hung there for a moment, catching her breath and trying to convince her heart and stomach, which seemed to have switched places, to go back where they belonged. She heard the Titans running towards her, shouting. Before they got to her, she pulled herself up onto the ledge and stood up. Playing it cool, she brushed a few specks of dirt off her skirt and said, "Yikes, I get it! I'll come back later!"

***Beast Boy's POV***

Beast Boy's heart was pounding, his mind reeling in shock. He couldn't believe it. It seemed like just yesterday Terra had been there, interrupting their volleyball game on the roof (who knew how long ago it had really been). And now, here was Jane, interrupting their soccer game. The similarities between the two situations stunned him. Plus, although Beast Boy couldn't put his finger on it, there was something familiar about Jane. She bore no real resemblance to Terra, but did she remind him of her? Well, if she hadn't before, she definitely did now…

He was ecstatic that Jane had come back; now maybe she'd finally tell them what her powers were? What he'd seen that night walking her home was unlike anything he'd ever seen in his entire life. He'd never admit it out loud, but he'd even dreamt about her once or twice since then, his unconscious mind trying to solve the mysteries she'd left him with. Man, Raven was right; he really was a pathetic mess…

***Return to Normal/Sabbath's POV***

Robin was at the front of the group when they got to her. He smiled, seeing she was alright, but felt the need to ask anyways. "Jane, are you OK? That was close."

"I'm fine," Sabbath assured him. "Sorry to come by unannounced. You guys don't believe in doorbells, huh?"

But before anyone could answer her, Starfire pushed to the front of the group, apparently the only one among them who still thought Sabbath was fatally wounded. Her eyes, no longer glowing, but still green, looked like they were going to explode with tears any minute now.

"I am so terribly sorry, friend. I did not know you were there until…until…" her voice began to waver, and it looked as if she really were about to cry.

"Starfire, it's alright. Look, I'm fine, see?" Sabbath said, raising her arms and spinning around to show she was still perfectly intact. "No harm, no foul," she continued, offering a smile.

"But…you fell," Starfire went on, barely holding back the tears now.

"Really, I'm ok, I was ju-" but Sabbath didn't get to finish that sentence, because Starfire chose that moment to envelope her in the world's biggest, most lung-crushing hug ever.

"Honestly?" Starfire asked again, hugging her tightly. "You are not injured at all?"

"Not…yet…" Sabbath gasped. "But…air…would be…nice!"

Starfire released her and gave a weak smile. Sabbath coughed a bit and replenished the oxygen in her lungs before straightening and returning the expression. Starfire still seemed a bit upset at what had almost happened, but looked to now believe that Sabbath would, in fact, live.

"So…" Cyborg began awkwardly. "What brings you 'round here?"

"Well," Sabbath started, wondering if she'd misinterpreted their previous friendliness as a genuine invitation to return. "The other week, you guys patched me up and all, and I just wanted to come back and thank you."

"Yeah, and I told her to come back and visit us once she healed up," Beast Boy added, rescuing what was becoming a rather awkward situation. "And I believe the lady also promised a show of her powers, since she wouldn't tell us anything the last time we met."

Sabbath, though she had made no such promise, played along. Expressing much more confidence than she felt at this point, she said, "Don't tell me you forgot about me," and grinned.

"No, of course not," Robin said.

Raven was eerily silent at the back of the group.

Sabbath remembered the Dark Man's words, 'give them a show.' Yet now she wasn't so sure. What did she really expect, anyway; for them to suddenly fawn all over her and become instant best friends? They'd only met her once, for crying out loud. She felt ridiculous. She suddenly got the urge to put on her sweatshirt, but managed to suppress it. Regardless, she couldn't help self-consciously tucking her wings firmly up against her back. "If you want me to come back some other time, that's fine," she said, quickly losing her nerve, "I have homework and stuff anyways and-"

Beast Boy cut her off and put his hand on her shoulder, an oddly intimate gesture considering the number of times they'd met. "Come on," he encouraged her. "Just stick around for five minutes. We don't bite." Then he whispered to her, "And Raven bet me you didn't have any powers at all."

Raven still said nothing and, although Sabbath doubted she could've heard what Beast Boy had said, she noticed a black energy emanating from Raven's eyes. Out of the corner of her vision, she spotted the same energy also enveloping Beast Boy's shoelaces and knotting them together, completely unbeknownst to the shape shifter. But before Sabbath could say anything to him, he turned back to the Titans to say something and tripped, landing right on his butt.

"D'ow!" he cried out, more surprised than hurt. He looked down to his knotted shoelaces. "Duuuude, no fair!" He said, continuing to mumble complaints under his breath as he set to work undoing the knot. There was a brief awkward silence (broken only by Cyborg's laughs at Beast Boy's expense) as he did so, and Sabbath had to stifle a giggle at the childish prank and Beast Boy's equally immature response. After a few moments, the green boy stood up and continued talking.

With a brief, dirty look at Raven, Beast Boy faced the Titans and continued, "Come on guys, she came all this way…and you can't tell me you haven't been just as curious as I was. You guys weren't there that night; you didn't see how awesome Jane's powers are! Let's give her a chance."

"Like he said," Sabbath chimed in, gaining confidence as Beast Boy stood up for her, "Five minutes, and I'm out of your hair. I promise you won't be disappointed."

"What did you have in mind?" Robin asked.

"Remember how when you asked what I could do I told you it was easier to show than to tell?" Sabbath asked. Robin nodded.

"Well," she continued, taking her bag off her shoulder and pulling out the mini-iHome she'd bought from Cook's. "I saw this music video today and it gave me a great idea. And since I've always sort of had a fondness for the theatrical…"

Robin cracked a small smile at the Batman reference.

Sabbath plugged her iPod into the iHome's dock and turned it on. Luckily, the iHome had come with batteries. "Like I said though, 5 minutes, and then you're rid of me. I just felt like we got off to a weird start the other week and wanted you to really know me before you made any choices one way or the other about me."

"Alright, well let's see whatcha got, little lady," Cyborg said with an encouraging smile.

"Yeah, you can do it!" Beast boy cheered.

Starfire was smiling now, too, and Robin looked approving. Raven was the only one who had yet to say anything, but Sabbath let it go.

Sabbath's confidence returned. She grinned and stretched her wings out wide. She knelt down to push play on her iPod, but paused and looked up at the Titans, whom she just realized were standing rather close to her.

"Um, you might want to step back a bit," she said. The Titans looked uneasy at that, but did as she asked. Raven seemed to be watching her more closely now.

Beast Boy, the last to retreat, quickly whispered to her, "Um, is this going to be safe?"

"Of course, it's fine; I just need a little space is all."

Unsure how to respond, but still trying to be encouraging, Beast Boy smiled as he joined the rest of the Titans (who had retreated back to the soccer field, though their game was long forgotten). "I'll be cheering for ya!" he called over his shoulder.

Pushing the play button, Sabbath took a deep breath. "Here goes," she whispered to herself. Suddenly, the sound of DHT's "Magic Melody" exploded in crisp perfection from the small speakers (the music video in the store had given her the idea, but she wanted to use her own music).

This is DHT/

We're gonna take you into a world/

Of darkness, and Magic.

Sabbath stood up and faced the Titans. As the music began to play, she raised her hands in front of her, the palms facing each other. A spark formed between them, and slowly it grew into a flame; first the size of a match's flame, then a candle.

Come to me children/

And follow my way/

It continued to grow to the size of a tennis ball, and bigger still. Eventually Sabbath dropped her left hand, leaving the flame—which was now bigger than her hand—perfectly balanced over her right palm.

Into the world of/

Darkness and magic.

With all my power/

I'll show you the way/

Her left hand now free, Sabbath made a sweeping motion over the side of the roof. When she brought her hand back up, four slabs of stone—clearly just sliced out of the massive rocks down below—followed the motion and hovered in a row about six feet away from her and a good four feet above the roof. The stones gave off a soft yellow glow, as did the hand controlling them.

To all your dreams/

Sabbath moved the floating rocks to form a neat row. Keeping her left hand outstretched towards them…

Hopes and illusion.

she hurled the flame from her right hand. It blasted clean through the first stone slab just as the song's tempo picked up, then turned back and flew through the one next to it. The two slabs now had flame-sized holes clean through their centers. The flame then dissipated and Sabbath carefully let the first two rock slabs drop to within an inch of the ground. Once she released them from her control, the glow left them and they fell in pieces; her power having been the only thing keeping them together after the flame hit them. She formed a neat pile of rubble on the roof between herself and the Titans before turning her attention to the ocean, keeping the remaining two slabs under her control with her left hand.

As the music continued, she reached out to the vast body of water with her right hand, summoning a long curl of water. It rolled into a basketball-sized orb above her palm, which now gave off a slight dark blue glow (darker than Raven's healing glow). Focusing and slowly tightening her fingers into a fist, the orb froze and became a solid ball of ice. Turning to face the stone slabs, Sabbath hurled the ice ball through the stones just as she had the flame. And, just as before, once she released the stones from her power, they fell apart into hundreds of pieces.

Come to me children/

And follow my way/

Ignoring the rubble pile for now, Sabbath turned her attention to the ice orb that had returned to her hand like a boomerang.

Into the world of/

Darkness and magic.

Quickly opening her fist, the orb instantly evaporated in a puff of steam (oops, hopefully the Titans wouldn't know that was an accident!), which she hastily condensed back to water.

With all my power/

I'll show you the way/

To all your dreams/

Hopes and illusions.

Throwing the water onto the rubble, effectively soaking it, Sabbath then reached into a pocket in her skirt and pulled out several berries she'd grabbed off the bittersweet vines at the dump. As a soft lull marked the halfway point of the song, Sabbath threw the berries onto the rubble pile and, both arms extended towards it, closed her eyes and concentrated with all her might. A greenish-yellow glow now encompassed her hands.

Darkness…

Magic…

Power…

The seeds within the berries began to grow, mere green sprouts at first, but they grew at an unnaturally quick pace and soon became over ten feet tall, standing straight up without anything but Sabbath's power keeping them there. The massive vines curled and waved, as if alive. They resembled massive hypnotized snakes more than vines, and the greenish glow of Sabbath's power gave them an eerie, alien look.

Dreams…

Hopes…

Illusions…

As the music picked up again, Sabbath opened her eyes. She made the vines reach down like tentacles, pick up particularly large pieces of rock from the pile, and crush them into gravel. After letting them go on for a moment, Sabbath sliced both of her hands down through the air. The glow left the vines, though not her hands. The plants quickly dropped to the rocks, withered and died; becoming thin, brown, crumpled remains in seconds.

Turning away from the rocks and dead plants, Sabbath now looked to the sky. A passing cloud grew into a storm cloud as she pulled it closer. She reached one hand up towards it and pulled a cyclone down over the rubble pile, sucking every last piece of stone and dead plant off the roof like a giant vacuum cleaner. Sabbath was careful to contain the cyclone, not wanting the Titans to be sucked into it as well. Giving it clear boundaries, the cyclone felt like no more than a strong breeze to the nearby heroes.

Sabbath then stretched out her wings and took off up into the air. The cyclone lifted up off the roof, gaining altitude as Sabbath did. Her palms facing it, she directed it towards the ocean. Keeping a couple feet away from the cyclone, Sabbath took off and pushed it far out into the ocean.

Come to me children/

And follow my way/

Into the world of/

Darkness and magic.

Once she was at least a football field's length away from the tower, she dropped her hands. The cyclone dissipated and dropped all the debris into the ocean. The second half of the final chorus began, and Sabbath turned back, making a bee line to the Tower.

With all my power/

I'll show you the way/

To all your dreams/

Hopes and illusions.

As the final words of the song played, Sabbath stuck her landing on the roof, exactly where she'd started, and took a deep bow (for fun and comic relief, and so she didn't have to see the Titans' surely stunned and horrified expressions right away).

The wake of air Sabbath had kicked up followed soon behind her, an impressive gust that, unfortunately, blew her hair up over her head. It hung down over her face like a curtain, parting messily when she stood up to face the Titans. Not wanting to break her concentration during her routine, she hadn't looked at them since she pushed play. Until now.

***Beast Boy's POV***

Beast Boy was stunned and, for once, utterly speechless. He couldn't believe it. Jane was more amazing than he'd ever imagined! But more importantly, her power…over the rocks…it was just like Terra's. But Terra was dead; he'd watched her turn to stone, and Jane looked nothing like Terra. So how…?

***Raven's POV***

Music aside, Jane just sucked the life out of those plants. And created a mini natural disaster right here in front of us. Are her powers nothing but destructive?

***Robin's POV***

Wow, that was amazing! Batman should've had a theme song like that…Hell, I should have a theme song!

***Cyborg's POV***

Well OK then. Hard to believe she was beaten by a net cannon! Hee, and a mini-van. I bet she could totally take Robin in a fight.

***Starfire's POV***

(String of Tamaranian babble. Indecipherable.)

***Return to Normal/Sabbath's POV***

Pushing her hair back with one hand as she stood, Sabbath smiled, hoping against hope that their reactions were positive. A blank look of shock and amazement was painted on each face (except Raven, who looked mildly uneasy), and for a moment there was just a stunned silence. However, as Sabbath's smile was beginning to falter, the Titans erupted in cheers and compliments.

"Jane, that was terrific!"

"Well alriiiight!"

"Stupendous!"

"Interesting…"

"Duuuude!"

Never having gotten this kind of reaction before, especially from a group, Sabbath was taken by surprise. Her strained, nervous smile became genuine and she could feel happy tears begin to prick at the backs of her eyes (though she did everything in her power to keep them from spilling out). Slowly, Sabbath approached the cheering Titans. "I've…I've never shown anyone that before," she said softly, unable to contain such strong emotions. 'This must be what acceptance feels like,' she thought to herself.

Her face was flushed and a light sweat had broken out across her skin, but the Titans didn't seem to notice. Robin and Cyborg, both clearly impressed, offered her wide smiles and strong high-fives.

"Hard to believe a little net cannon took you down," Cyborg said. Sabbath flinched a little before smiling back at him. It was hard to believe, as much as it was embarrassing to relive.

Starfire then approached, wielding another bone-crushing hug, and said, "Perfectly glorious!"

Beast Boy managed to coax Starfire to release her death grip so he could offer Sabbath his own brief, more human (though, due to the presence of his friends, a very manly) hug. "That was great, you really are amazing," he whispered in her ear before pulling away and high-fiving her with a louder, "Dude that was AWSOME!"'

"Heh, thanks you guys," Sabbath said, smiling (and luckily her already flushed skin hid the blush that resulted from Beast Boy's soft compliment). "Really." She began to feel slightly uncomfortable being the center of so much attention.

"On my planet," Starfire chimed in, "such magnificence and victory is marked with a feast."

"Star's right, y'all," Cyborg said. "Who wants pizza?"

"I'm in!" Robin said.

Raven was, again, silent. However, it seemed her approval was implied, since she didn't cry, leave, or start throwing punches.

"As long as it's vegetarian," Beast Boy said, although his tone said he knew very well he'd end up picking large amounts of various greasy meats off his pizza.

"You're a vegetarian?" Sabbath asked.

"Yep, %100!" the green boy replied, grinning. "Are you?"

Sabbath swore she saw stars glittering in his eyes at the mere idea of her being vegetarian. "Uh, no, not really," she said, hating to see the disappointment he tried to conceal. "Sorry."

"Ah, no biggie," he replied. "You probably just never had tofu pizza the way I make it!"

"No one ever should!" Cyborg chimed in, having overheard. "Jane, if he ever tries to make you eat anything with the word 'tofu' in it, just back away slowly." That earned him a dirty look from the shape shifter. Sabbath was beginning to suspect there was a long history of rivalry between the pro-meat and pro-soy teens. Beast Boy left Sabbath's side then to argue with the robot-boy.

Sabbath hung back a moment, watching the Titans walk towards the door leading down off the roof. They acted closer than friends, more like a family. A happy, close family. She wondered if she could ever really belong with them. It had been her experience that close friends like that were usually too tightly knit together and too used to each other's' company to allow any newcomers, even if they didn't consciously know it.

Suddenly, Beast Boy turned away from the group and called back to Sabbath, "Hey Jane, c'mon!"

"Yeah, what're you waitin' for, girl?" Added Cyborg.

'Maybe I was wrong,' Sabbath thought to herself. Out loud, she replied, "Right behind you!" as she pulled on her sweatshirt, stuffed the iHome back in her bag, and jogged to join the heroes as they descended the stairs.

Once they were out of the stairway, Sabbath recognized her surroundings. They all stood in front of the elevator she and Beast Boy had used the last time she was in the Tower. Somehow, she and all the Titans managed to pile into it comfortably (Sabbath would've sworn it was a much smaller elevator the last time she'd seen it). It also took a lot longer to get down to the garage than last time, too.

Once in the garage, Sabbath also recognized the two vehicles; the large, blue and white car and the red motorcycle. The Titans approached the car, and Cyborg said, "A'ight, pile in y'all! Yo, BB, no paws on the leather interior, huh? Ah! Star-careful- that's fresh paint!" He fretted over that car like nothing Sabbath had ever seen. Yet, everyone seemed to just ignore him and treat the car like a car.

Raven got in first, followed by Starfire and a canine BB (despite Cyborg's warnings). Robin took shotgun, and Cyborg took the wheel. Lastly, Sabbath slid into the backseat next to Beast Boy and shut the door behind her (carefully, so as not to agitate Cyborg).

Cyborg started the engine and pushed a button on the dashboard that opened the garage door. The car shot out of the garage and sped towards town at a pace that, to Sabbath, seemed kind of over the speed limit. But, she figured if cops could speed, so too could superheroes (plus, she imagined this car wouldn't look nearly as cool driving at grandma speeds). As they cruised down the road, Robin and Cyborg chatted, Raven ignored the world, and Starfire sat amused with the green dog that was now sitting in her lap. Sabbath wasn't jealous or anything though; nope, not one bit…

Sabbath leaned against the door and peered out the window at the unfamiliar landscape whizzing by. She must've hit something with her elbow though, because all of a sudden, the window she'd been leaning against was opening. By the time she realized she'd been doing it, it was all the way down. Feeling the sudden breeze blowing into the car, Beast Boy shot up out of Star's lap. He had his hind legs on the seat between her and Sabbath, and his front paws on the door where the window had just been. He stuck his head out the window, barking and drooling (eesh…Sabbath started to wonder how much of the boy's brain remained when he turned into a dog). This earned him a few shouts and threats from Cyborg, but if he understood he paid no mind. Beast Boy's tail was even wagging, hitting Star's arm. It looked like it would've hurt, at least a little, but she simply laughed like she was being tickled. Raven wasn't amused in the slightest, and simply turned further away.

Beast Boy stayed like that for a few minutes, and Sabbath couldn't help but smile. Even though she was more of a cat person, she decided this dog was alright.

"B! What did I say about droolin' on my car?" Cyborg yelled. He hit another button on the dashboard, and the window slowly slid closed, forcing Beast Boy back into the car. If there had been room for him to resume his human form, Sabbath didn't doubt he would have, just to yell back at Cyborg. So instead, he shot an angry look (if dogs could give angry looks) towards the robot boy before sullenly returning to Starfire's lap, his back facing Sabbath. When Star began scratching the dog behind the ears, Sabbath had to look away yet again.

Why was she feeling like this? It was ridiculous, really. She barely knew Beast Boy, if she could even say she knew him at all. Yes, he'd been nice to her, but maybe he was one of those people who were nice to everybody? She'd seen him twice now in her whole life; she had no business staking any sort of claim on him. Plus, she'd already learned how strong Starfire was when she almost took her head off with a soccer ball. She probably couldn't take her in a fight. But still, seeing him in Stafire's lap, even if he was in dog form, was painful.

***Raven's POV***

The increasing level of angst in the car was disgustingly overwhelming. Although she couldn't read minds word for word, Raven could sense the feelings Jane had for Beast Boy, as well as how much it pained her to see him in Starfire's lap. What was Jane's problem? It's not like she knew Beast Boy or anything. She'd seen him TWICE in her entire life. Was she an obsessive fan girl or something? Not that it mattered though. All that mattered was that Jane's angst was making it hard to breathe. Raven considered opening a window, but after seeing Beast Boy jump for the one Jane had opened (like THAT had been an accident), she instantly decided against it. The only solution left was to get Beast Boy away from Starfire, at least for the rest of the car ride.

***Return to Normal/Sabbath's POV***

Raven looked over at Beast Boy with a disgusted look on her face. "Beast Boy, you're drooling all over the seat. And me. Take your dog slobber somewhere else," she said, pointing away from her.

"Oh he better not be! BB..!" Cyborg warned

If dogs could look offended, Sabbath would swear Beast Boy did. He stood up in Star's lap and turned so he was now facing Sabbath. In the blink of an eye, there was suddenly a good-sized green snake coiled up where the dog had just been. Starfire tensed up and looked about to shriek. The serpent Beast Boy seemed to sense her discomfort and so slithered into Sabbath's lap instead.

Sabbath wasn't afraid of snakes or anything, but she'd never exactly held one before, never mind had one crawl on her. Her hands were in her lap, which put them in the snake's path. She withheld a flinch when he touched her skin. She'd always expected snakes to be slimy or gross somehow, but this one wasn't. In fact, it was just the opposite. Its smooth scales felt soft and dry. Instead of curling up in her lap, as she had expected it would, the snake took a sudden turn up her left arm. It slithered up the sleeve of her hoodie, across her shoulder, around the back of her neck, and down her right arm. It stayed like that, about a foot of it hanging off her left shoulder. She lifted her right arm to bring the snake's face closer to her own. A soft "Wow," was all she could utter. Apparently he could turn into more than just a dog. The snake flicked its tongue out once as if in agreement before turning its head to gaze out the window.

Finally, they pulled up to their destination. As Sabbath stepped out of the car (the Beast Boy snake still around her shoulders), she looked up and recognized the place from her late night flight ('Had that been just last night?' Sabbath wondered). It was the pizza parlor with a balcony shaped like a pizza slice. Once everyone was out of the car, the snake slithered to the ground, where it immediately resumed human form.

"I SO wasn't drooling!" fumed the shape shifter; his face darkening in what Sabbath assumed was anger. Or embarrassment. Sabbath had to stifle a laugh at such an outburst. The other people on the street gave him weird looks but, then again, the guy was green.

Raven ignored his anger and simply continued walking towards the pizza parlor, but Cyborg responded with a skeptical, "Uh-huh…" as he activated a complicated-looking alarm system on the car.

Before the green boy had a chance to come up with a good comeback, the car's lights flashed twice to show the alarm was set, and Cyborg called out, "Come on y'all, last one in's a rotten egg!" as he closed the car's door and took off running. Robin ran ahead of him, clearly determined to win. Raven stepped aside as she two boys shot past her at light speed, apparently not at all interested in their games. Starfire ran to catch up to them, laughing, although Sabbath suspected she didn't actually get the concept of the race. Beast Boy stalked towards the doors, arms crossed, muttering to himself about various aspects of the day he found to be unfair. Sabbath stood there a moment before following them in. She noticed this time that no one turned back to see if she was following. Would they really notice or care if she just turned around and headed home? 'Probably not,' she thought to herself. But then again, she'd come here to get to know them and get some answers; this was not the time for self-pity. So, hitching her bag further up onto her shoulder, Sabbath followed the Titans into the restaurant.

Inside, it was a lot busier and more crowded than she'd expected. From the outside she hadn't even imagined this many tables could fit inside, and each one of them was occupied by at least two people. However, none of these people were dressed like comic book heroes. How could they just have disappeared? Sabbath looked around in confusion for a moment before spotting a stairway labeled "PATIO" at the other end of the room. Squeezing her way between tables, chairs, and waiters, she finally made it to the stairs.

Fortunately, the patio was far more spacious than the main floor. There were maybe five or six round tables with red, pepperoni-like umbrellas. Only half of them were taken, so it was easy to spot the Titans. Sabbath made her way towards the teens, who were apparently right in the middle of a heated debate.

"Pepperoni is meat!"

"Is not! Steak is meat, ham is meat, but pepperoni is like hot dogs. And hot dogs ain't meat!"

"He's correct, Beast Boy. Earth hot dogs contain more bugs and factory chemical byproducts than actual meat."

"…"

"…"

"What about chicken?"

"Dude, seriously?" With that, Beast Boy became a green chicken. A real, live chicken, sitting right there on the table. It made its way towards Robin and stood on his menu, staring at him. There was an awkward pause as Robin began to sweat a little.

Unable to stand the silence and the chicken's cold stare, he finally demanded, "What?"

The chicken gave Robin's left arm a good peck.

"Ow! Hey, cut it out!" he cried, grabbing his arm. There were no holes in his glove from the bird's attack, but Sabbath (who was still standing off to the side a bit, not wanting to interrupt or be thrown into the middle of the argument) suspected it still hurt. "Alright, fine! No chicken!"

"I propose a large pizza with eggs, mustard, and pineapple."

Another lull in the conversation followed Starfire's strange comment. Sabbath decided then was as good a time as any to approach the table. Beast Boy was the first to notice her.

"There you are!" he cried, resuming his human form and taking his seat.

"Yep, here I am!" Sabbath replied cheerfully.

"We thought you got lost," Cyborg joked.

"Saved you a seat," Beast Boy said, waving her towards the empty portion of bench between him and Raven.

"Perhaps Jane can settle our pizza topping argument?" Starfire offered.

"Yeah!" Beast Boy exclaimed. "Tell these guys that chicken and pepperoni are meat!"

"Um…well, pepperoni, I'm not so sure about…but chicken is definitely meat," she replied.

"But you can't have a pizza without meat!" Cyborg cried.

"'Veggie Special,' right there, dude," Beast Boy said, holding up his menu and smugly pointing to where it depicted the aforementioned pizza. The other Titans (except Raven, who was keeping out of the whole thing) seemed somewhat disgusted by what they saw. Even Starfire looked a little disturbed. Sabbath looked where Beast Boy was pointing, and suddenly she couldn't blame them. It looked like a pizza, that is, it had a pizza crust and general shape to it, but other than that it was completely alien and just plain unappetizing. It was covered in green and purple things; cucumbers, olives, eggplant, cucumber, cabbage, and was that grass? It was an abomination and went against all that was good and natural about pizza. The cheese wasn't even visible.

"Um, Beast Boy," Sabbath began. "I think you could plant that thing and an entire garden would grow. Does it even have cheese on it?"

"Of course it has cheese! All natural soy cheese."

"Auhg, that's it!" Cyborg moaned, resting his head in his hands. "What is wrong with you?"

"What kind of pizza do you like, Jane?" Robin asked, ignoring Cyborg's wails of complaint.

"Well, it's a little weird, and most people don't like it…" she said, unsure as to just how strict these guys were about what was and wasn't allowed on pizza. However, her response had gained the attention of the rest of the team (except Raven). The two boys even stopped their fighting and turned to face her.

"What is it?" Beast Boy asked, ever the curious one.

"It involves pepperoni, so you might not like it Beast Boy," she continued. "But my favorite's always been pepperoni, onions, and jalapeno peppers. It's super spicy, and most people can't handle it."

Cyborg and Robin must've detected a hint of challenge in her voice, because they looked at each other briefly before simultaneously replying, "Sounds good!" with a glint in their eyes that said "challenge accepted!"

Eventually, it was decided that they would order a large, half cheese, and half pepperoni-jalapeno-onion pizza. With a side of mustard. Once the pizza arrived, the rest of the afternoon seemed to fly by. Sabbath had more fun with these people she'd just met than she could ever remember. Over the course of the meal, they all talked and got to know each other. Apparently, superheroes really existed all over the world. The Titans were the local branch, but they had a cousin team up towards the northeast called Titans East (because Titans North- East didn't sound nearly as cool). Starfire was an alien from the planet Tamaran. Robin really was the ex-sidekick of the Batman, who really did reside in Gotham City (the movies were made with his permission as a sort of auto-biography). Raven was the quiet one. Cyborg really was part robot (right down to his central nervous system). And Beast Boy was a shape shifter capable of turning into any animal in the world (and beyond). They'd established their group years ago, and had lived in the Tower ever since, protecting the city from abnormal criminals and villains whenever needed.

Sabbath was enchanted. She couldn't believe she'd moved to a town with real, live super heroes. But they didn't act like she imagined super heroes would, even teenaged ones. They bickered and challenged each other like siblings, yet always seemed to be on generally good terms with each other. Sabbath began to feel like one of them. She joined in their joking and story-telling. She mediated the fight over the last slice. She joined Starfire and Beast Boy in a vote as to who handled the spicy pizza the best. Overall, she had a great time. She didn't even feel the suffocating heat of her sweatshirt like she usually did (and luckily no one asked her why she was wearing it. The Titans didn't seem too big on probing questions. She liked that about them). It was the kind of day that was so much fun, it didn't seem like it could ever end. Yet all the while, Sabbath could feel the sun slowly beginning to lower in the sky. She knew, sooner or later, she'd have to go back to the Millers.

But for the time being, she decided to forget all that. She blocked out the world of homework, impatient parents, and a setting sun. Looking around the table, it seemed that's what the Titans were doing as well, although Sabbath suspected they lived every day of their lives like that. She doubted they had any problems at all; they had the perfect life. Looking around the table, she noted the smiling faces, laughter, cheering, belch contests, and harmless dirty looks. And here she was, in the middle of it all, even if only for today.

After what felt like only minutes, the pizza was gone, glasses were drained, and it was time to leave. They all stood up from the table and headed back towards the stairs off the balcony. However, no one had paid the bill. The waitress had brought it to them of course, and Robin had looked it over and quickly jotted something down, but had never produced any form of payment. OK, Sabbath didn't care how rich they were; no one could go to a restaurant and just not pay. Feeling awkward Sabbath hung back a moment, unsure how to handle the situation. Surely they wouldn't just ditch the check, right?

Once again, Beast Boy was looking out for her. "Hey, come on, what are you waiting for?"

"Um, don't we have to pay?" she replied awkwardly.

"Oh, no, it's cool. We have a deal with the city; we keep them safe from all the things the cops can't handle, and they pay us by not making us pay for stuff. Around here, a Titan's signature is as good as cash!" he assured her with a smile.

"Yo, come one y'all! Last one to the car has to do dishes for a month!" Cyborg yelled out. But before Sabbath could answer either Titan, and before anyone even reached the stairs, an inhuman, blood-curdling screech emanated from the next block over, freezing everyone's blood in their veins.