Disclaimer: Pi does not own Teen Titans, etc. However, this storyline is Pi's, so no stealing!!!
CHAPTER TWO
It was a long walk to get to the city, but it wasn't so bad since the weather was slowly improving. It was still humid, but much less than before, and at least it was cool which allowed him to move faster without being uncomfortable in his heavy clothing. He slowed his pace and walked into a pizza shop, ironically shaped like a slice. It was a two story building, the majority of the top, an outside eating area. Inside, he walked upstairs and looked across the patio area. It was the basic eatery. Weatherproof steel furniture, each table with a large red umbrella that shadowed the entire eating area. It was still an overcast sky, but that didn't stop people from eating outside. He continued looking out on the patio and saw, sitting in the exact center of the triangular area, the very "Teen Titans" he had been thinking about earlier that day.
He froze and looked at them. They were just here eating their breakfast, nothing more, like average kids.
The only reason he had to worry was the fact that the method he had to go about to get his food which involved petty theft. Granted, it was a small time crime, it may still clock on their radar if they are at the scene.
He walked up to the counter where orders were filled, the scent of pizza rushing out along with the heat of the several industrial ovens inside. He could almost taste the pepperoni and the cheese of the pizza that was currently in the oven. It was going to take some work to pull this one off, especially under the ever vigilant eyes of the Titans.
He watched the timer on the oven with a cool calculating eye, and the man working on the next batch of pizza. He seemed to look back at intervals of about two minutes; at least that was the minimum. There was another man that occasionally came in, but it was rare, he was downstairs usually manning the pick-up and deliveries. The only time he came up was when he needed more supplies. That was when the young man knew of all the variables he needed to know. His eyes showed the twinkle of inspiration. He had taken everything into account and he was quickly forming a plan in his mind. He knew the door did not squeak and that the chef was distracted. As long as the Titans behind him didn't notice him, he would get away with this easily.
He waited for the chef to look back at the oven, its timer showed 5 minutes left, the chef shrugged and turned back to his work. That was when this young man made his move. He ducked into the door and slowly walked up behind the chef. Slowly, he opened the oven's door and grabbed a pair of the many oven mitts left. Sliding them on, he grabbed the pan and slid it quietly out. Closing the oven quietly, he walked towards the door. Upon opening it, he stopped in his tracks. Standing in front of him, no more than one foot away, was the masked caper himself, the famous Robin, leader of the Teen Titans.
"You plan on paying for that?" he asked with a confident voice, apparently proud that he had caught a young hooligan in the act of theft.
The young boy dropped his pan of pizza and shifted to the side quite quickly, evading Robin for a moment. He bolted off towards the ledge of the patio, towards the black metal railings that kept customers "safe". Robin was in hot pursuit very quickly, but not joined by the other members of the team. Apparently this boy was small time, so minute that the whole team need not do anything. But as the boy reached the railings, he apparently drew more attention as there was suddenly a mechanized man standing in front of him, blocking his path.
"Fuck," the boy muttered as he had to stop suddenly, sliding quite a few feet, right into the arms of Cyborg.
"Gotcha," the metal man said as he held onto the boy tightly letting Robin, who was a few feet behind, come to a stop in front of him.
"Didn't want to be caught eh?" Robin said smirking in triumph, "what's your name, kid?"
Apparently this boy had committed such a heinous crime that he was only entitled to the title, "kid", a notably disrespectful term among teens of similar ages.
He looked at Robin with nothing more than a slight narrowing of his eyes. These guys had grossly underestimated him, but they still had the upper hand at the moment leaving him with little choice but to play along. The degree of surprise would play into his hands soon enough.
"Patrick," he said shortly.
"So, Patrick, what made you think you could steal something right in front of us?" Robin asked.
"Does that really matter?"
Robin was caught a little off guard by Patrick's apparent lack of respect given the situation. He was used to it from hardened criminals, but most teenaged thieves would sooner shit themselves than face any member of the Teen Titans.
"So, are you going to pay for that pizza?" he asked, breaking the silence suddenly.
"I don't have any money, hence the reason I stole it."
"So get your parents to give you some."
Patrick looked down. What Robin had just said really struck a nerve. He was truly distraught, but did a good job of hiding it.
"I… can't." Patrick said quietly.
Robin stopped suddenly. He realized what was going on quickly, his smirk quickly turned to a sympathetic frown.
"Cyborg, let him down," Robin said with a solemn voice.
Cyborg nodded with understanding, he wasn't dense enough to question Robin's judgment in this matter. All the members of the team, spare Starfire, knew of Robin's past.
Patrick was dropped, his plan to escape from them dropped as well.
"If you're hungry, you could eat with us," he said trying his best to smile warmly to a fellow orphan.
Patrick's eyes had been glued onto the floor up until Robin had said this. His eyes met Robin's.
"I don't need your pity," he said angrily, "I can get by on my own."
This sudden surge of anger sparked a shockwave of powerful wind that extended from Patrick's body, kicking up the dust and dirt that had been on the floor of the patio. It was a peculiarly hot wind and was associated with the sudden reddening of his eyes. Once the dust had settled, Patrick was hovering a few inches off the ground.
By now, the whole team had assembled in front of him. Robin, however, forced them to stand down despite his surprise that Patrick possessed supernatural powers.
"Patrick, calm down, we don't want to fight you."
Patrick blinked and realized he had released his powers unintentionally. Shaking his head to clear his mind, he lowered slowly to the ground kicking up small amounts of more dust. As he approached the ground, he felt his eyes getting heavy. It came to his mind as he started nodding off that he hadn't slept in days. It had been easy to ignore until he had used his powers, they were very draining to use when he was tired. Before he had hit the ground, he was asleep, passed out on the hard concrete of the patio in the pizzeria.