Disclaimer: I do not own Terra, formerly Tara Markov, for she belongs to DC Comics and was created by Marv Wolfman and George Perez. This particular version of the character belongs to Warner Brothers and Cartoon Network as well.

Author's Note: What is this? A chapter update? Can it truly be?

Man, I cannot believe how long it took me to write this chapter. I put it off at every opportunity, and I just couldn't get any words down when I tried to sit down and write. BUUUT how many months later, I finally completed this! Hopefully, it doesn't happen again.

Terra arrives in Jump City this chapter and she knows about the Teen Titans- but how much longer will it take until she meets them? Haha, like I'd actually tell you that. Read on and see!

Terra's map of the United States was now covered with ink blotches and scribbles of almost every colour imaginable. The frayed piece of paper showed every place she had passed, all the cities she had lived in and every hero she had encountered. While Kid Flash had been the last hero she personally talked to, there had been many others she had seen flying above the skies or patrolling the empty streets.

Now thirteen, people paid less attention to Terra when she walked alone in public. She got a second glance now and again if she was carrying her bag, but no one really seemed to find the runaway out of the ordinary. The clothes she had bought in Markovia no longer fit so she discarded them and bought new outfits that were deemed more westernized. With that and the need for nutrition, it seemed that the unthinkable had finally occurred. She was running low on money. Despite that she had spent the past four years doing everything in her power to stall the fateful day, she had no choice now than to accept it. Almost all the money she had taken from Markovia had been spent, and all her trinkets and jewels had been pawned off.

"You're toast," she told herself one cold night, watching the campfire dance before her. She licked her thumb and went over the five ten dollar bills that remained. "Yep. Dead meat."

That was another thing that changed about her. Even in her lonely thoughts, the language she spoke in now was always English. Her Markovian accent was absent and sometimes she felt as if she had been living in America her entire life, and not just a few short years. She was currently, if the signs were anything to go by, in California. Consulting her map, she knew that there were a few cities nearby but her eye kept drawing to one specific dot.

Jump City.

The fire flickered and then crackled as Terra clutched the blanket around her tighter.

Terra sometimes questioned her own sanity. Truly, a reasonable person who has already gotten herself in trouble with multiple groups of vigilantes wouldn't decide to make her next destination a city that she knew had not one- but five- superheroes at its beck and call. It was morbid curiosity that brought her on route to Jump City, wanting to see this new crime-fighting team in action. They had to be great for Robin to leave Batman, Batgirl and the rest of Gotham City behind.

'And Beast Boy...' Why had he left the Doom Patrol? For the same reason Robin had left his mentor?

She was driven out of her thoughts by an enticing aroma. Her stomach groaned with frustration and her feet began shuffling towards the scent. "French fries...and cotton candy...hmmm..." she breathed. Soon, her ears were met with a jovial tune set on a continuous loop, partly muted underneath laughter and multiple screams. "What the- oh, wow!"

The bright lights were blinding and it took her eyes a moment to get used to them. Terra walked past the crowds of people, gaping at all the colourful machinery. She had seen a few theme parks before -interior ones in malls and temporary ones that spent a weekend in a parking lot or empty field before being relocated- but never an actual amusement park. A 'MEGACOASTER' sign flashed from the corner of her pupil, highlighting a grand wooden roller coaster. A train of small yellow cars streaked with red zoomed past her, kids and adults alike were screaming at the top of their lungs.

Beside that was a carousel, where mostly children giggled and sat on revolving horses and carriages. The man at the ice cream cart caught her eye and smiled cheerily before handing a young couple a pair of popsicles. She could even see the top of a big Ferris wheel over other rides and game booths.

"Wow," she repeated under her breath.

"Pretty amazing, huh?" Terra jumped upon hearing the voice, which came just behind her. Flipping around, she saw an old woman sitting in a ticket booth. "This your first time, kid?"

Terra glanced around to make sure that the woman was speaking to her. "Yeah," she replied, "I've been to a few that were kind of like this but…wow. Never at night."

"I'll be sure to tell Manny you like his light work."

"Manny?"

A low chuckle was followed by the woman's reply: "he's our handyman."

Terra giggled at the thought, "and his name is Manny?"

"it fits," the woman smirked. Looking closer, she did not look as elderly as Terra had first thought. She had platinum blonde hair down to her shoulders and had a pink visor over her forehead, matching her light coloured t-shirt. There was a dimple mole on her left cheek and her eyebrows were drawn in with eyeliner pencil. Pink lipstick was pressed to her lips in a copious amount but it didn't look as bad on her as it would most women. "So, you going to buy some tickets?"

Terra's hand twitched closer to her pocket, even though she knew she couldn't afford it. "Um," the teen hesitated, "h-how much?"

"Depends on how many rides you wanna go on," the woman explained, and jabbed one long manicured finger at the price list hanging from the window. Terra scanned the list and quickly felt disappointment settling in. Her pinkie finger twitched again, the bitten off nail scraping against her money.

"Just two tickets, please," she said before realizing she had even spoken.

"That all, Hon?"

"I-I don't really have any more money," Terra said hastily.

"It's okay, Hon. You can just come back later. We're not going anywhere."

Terra shook her head. "I wish. This place is amazing...but I don't think that I'll be able to afford coming here again."

The woman clicked her tongue. "Huh," she said with a strange tone, "well, enjoy your stay at the park, Hon." With that, she handed Terra a pair of small blue tickets, stamped her hand and then waved her off with a sad smile.

Terra immediately went towards the line for the roller coaster, although she wasn't sure what it was about the fast moving ride that attracted her. When she reached the front of the line, she was ushered into one of the middle cars, along with another girl who was by herself. The unknown girl was around fourteen, with dyed jet black hair that was streaked with red highlights and went down to her shoulders. She was wearing ripped jeans, converse and a baggy t-shirt with a logo on it.

"Planning on beating your record, Gwenny?" The ride attendee smirked at her. He was around twenty years old, with blonde hair and the air of a troublemaker. He was wearing the same shirt as the girl, except his was newer.

"You know it, Jay," she teased back, "I just need to go in this ride two more times to make it an even twenty this week."

"Better watch it," he warned her, "you're going to get bored of this ride one day."

She scoffed. "Yeah, right. Just start the ride, Jason."

He shrugged and after securing everyone's seatbelts, he went to the controller and started it. As they started to slowly climb up the steep railing, the girl 'Gwenny' turned to her.

"Hi, sorry you had to see that."

"It's okay," Terra shrugged, "you come here a lot?"

"You could say that," the girl chuckled, "I live here. My grandpa created the park and my mom owns it now. I've been living here since I was born. What about you- this is the first time I've seen you around."

"I've been on the road," Terra said flawlessly, "just arrived in California a little while ago."

"Aw, cool." The girl looked impressed. "Name's Gwen, by the way."

"Nice to meet you," Terra grinned back, "I'm TERRAAA-AHHHH!" She was interrupted by the cart's sudden drop. She spent the next minute screaming at the top of her lungs, her arms raised high in the air. It was the most exhilarating feeling in the world- second to the feeling of geokinesis in her hands.

As the car slowed to a stop what felt like a lifetime later, Gwen helped her out of her seat. "Want to go again?" She asked, cocking her head over to Jason and signalling him over with a wave of her hand.

"Can't," Terra declined, "no money."

Gwen looked confused for a brief moment before scoffing indifferently. "Doesn't matter. Hey, Jay! Me and my friend here are going on the ride again, okay?"

Jason shrugged, "if your mom's cool with it, I can't stop you."

"She is!" Gwen marshalled Terra back to the seats and plopped back in their car, "strap in, Terra. This is going to be a bumpy ride."

"That's awesome." Gwen said, handing Terra cotton candy, "I haven't exactly had a normal lifestyle either but to live out there? No supervision, just travelling around the world? One word, lucky."

"I guess," Terra muttered. Her eyes lighting up, she turned the conversation back to Gwen. "Your life seems so cool too! Free cotton candy anytime you want! I have to scrap for my food!"

"Okay, okay. I admit I have it pretty good." Gwen agreed, "you wanna go on another ride? The Spin Cycle's pretty fun."

The sweet ball of fluff melted in Terra's tongue. "Is that a good idea?"

"Sure, no one will mind. Most of the carnies are runaways, so they know what's it like not to have money or a stable home. Plus, I don't get to hang out with kids my age a lot. I'm homeschooled."

"So was I," Terra exclaimed, feeling a sudden inkling to Gwen, "well, up to when I left home. The only people I could hang out with were my brothers and sometimes visiting kids."

"Ugh, play-dates?" Gwen scrunched up her nose. "No wonder you left."

The two girls were sitting against one of the game booths, watching everyone pass them. After going on the Megacoaster about three more times, Gwen had lead her over to a candy stand and ordered them some cotton candy- free of charge. Gwen was really intrigued by Terra's past and had spent the last ten minutes being impressed by any story Terra thought she could share. She also told Terra about her life at the park- which Terra found equally interesting.

Gwen seemed to exude coolness and a down to earth quality that Terra couldn't help but find endearing. She was usually drawn more to the energetic type but Gwen just seemed so open and accepting of everything that Terra immediately felt comfortable around her.

"Come on," Gwen grabbed Terra's wrist, "oh, you don't get nauseous, do you? Wait, you've never been on the ride, how would you know, eh?"

She started to pull Terra through the crowd.

"We could go on the Heartstopper. They don't call it that for nothing!"

Terra returned to the park every day of that week. The second day, she felt afraid at first, wondering if it had been a one-time deal but when she found Gwen, the other girl was quick to lead her over to the Megacoaster. When Terra told her about her worries, the brunette scoffed and waved them away.

"Don't worry about it," Gwen repeated once they got on the ride. Jason came over and helped buckle them in, and after sharing a small little joke with Gwen, the girl continued. "I asked my mom about it and she said you're welcome to the park as long as you want."

"But all the money I must be costing you," Terra argued, "doesn't that matter to you?"

"Dude, look around. We're fine on the cash front. Everyone from Jump City comes here. It's like their own personal Disneyland. The only time we have to worry is winter-time and when a fair comes to town." Gwen played with her bangs, which were slightly damaged from her hair dye. "So...calm down, okay? It's not like we're going to throw you out."

"If you're sure." Terra's lips curled together. She said nothing more because soon, the ride began and the only sounds she could muster were shrieks while adrenaline pulsed through her.

She and Gwen went on every ride- the most thrill-seeking ones more times than she could count. Gwen even introduced Terra to the other carnies, who were a quirky but fascinating group of people.

Besides Jason, whom she already felt like she knew from the quips and chats they had whenever they went to the roller coaster, and Gwen's mother- whom Terra found out was the ticket seller and whose name was Pamela, there was about fifteen workers at the park.

No, Gwen had corrected her, they were a family.

There was Manny, a robust man with brown hair and a trimmed beard. He spent most of the day designing rides or fixing them. The times that Terra had seen him, he had entertained them with captivating stories of his past while they helped him work. He had an assistant named Francis, but he was out of the country, visiting relatives in Europe.

Rhonda and a group of four teenagers headed all the game and food stalls. Rhonda was a thin woman in her late twenties- a college student who was trying to make a name for herself in business. The teens were high school or college students as well, wanting to have fun as well as earn money. Terra did not know their names, but they all seemed like pretty nice people. Along with Jason, there was an operator per ride- Andy, Bill, Kat, Leroy, Jade and Cal. Terra didn't know much about them either, except that Kat always wore a hat and that Leroy had a tattoo of a skull and crossbones on his bicep.

The only carnie that Terra had yet to meet was the mysterious Madame Xanadu. Gwen told her the woman was a travelling gypsy who used to own her own shop but had taken residence at the park as their fortune teller for about a year. Both girls agreed that the situation regarding the woman was creepy but Gwen assured Terra that Pamela was fond of Madame Xanadu and there was nothing to be afraid of even if the woman preferred to be alone.

"Gwen, I need you to take a shift at the ticket booth," Pamela stuck her head into the trailer, "your father just called and I need to go pick up Brian."

Gwen groaned but nodded nonetheless. "Sure, Mom." Noticing Terra's inquisitive eyebrow raise, she added, "Brian's my little brother. He was staying with our dad this weekend. I would have gone too but with Francis gone, I'm picking up the slack around here."

"Not to mention she's behind on her schoolwork," Pam smirked, "quick as a whip, Gwenny is, but she also procrastinates."

Gwen shrugged. "Everyone's got their faults. And it's not just Francis, Mom." She pushed herself away from the table, her chair scraping against the ground, "I heard that one of Rhonda's happy little workers is quitting. Er- Lori, I think. Her parents are moving to Metropolis."

Pamela sighed, "oh, right. We still need someone to head the stacked cups stand though." Suddenly, both mother and daughter locked eyes and slowly revolved their heads to look at Terra, who blinked back, her mouth bulging after stuffing it with a handful of popcorn.

"Huh?"

"How old are you, Hon?" Pamela asked curiously.

Terra swallowed her popcorn and met the older woman's eye. "Thirteen?"

"Hmm. Would your parents mind you having a part-time job?"

"My p-parents?" Terra repeated, "um...they wouldn't mind, I guess."

"Er," Gwen bit her lip, "Terra's kinda sort of a runaway. She's been living at a campsite just a few miles away." The two girls exchanged a glance and Gwen's voice raised an octave. "My mom wants to know if you'd like to head a game booth."

Terra's eyes widened. "A job?"

"Yeah," Gwen nodded, "it'd be fun to have you around. We could bet on who can last longer on the coaster without tossing their cookies."

Pamela coughed, turning all attention to her. "Listen, Terra, I know what it feels like to be by yourself- to be alone. We'd love to have you join our family. What'd you say, Terra?"

Terra looked from Pamela to her daughter and then finally, settled her gaze out the window, where she could see the lit up Ferris Wheel turn.

"I'd love to."

After this chapter, there will be a different tone to the story. Terra will no longer be jumping from one place to another, and therefore, the characters introduced in this chapter will be around for a little while. I'll be sure to expand on some of the characters more.

Young Justice! Oh, I love that series so much. Kid Flash and Robin's friendship is so bro-mantic, I love it. And seeing Miss Martian and Superboy animated makes me squee- even though I'm still not used to their relationship. xD I totally ship Wally/Artemis though. Oh my god, Artemis! I love her! AND the new Aqualad is so awesome and rawr. ;) He talks and I melt. Ah, and Roy! ROY! Roy is so bad-ass! DEM ARMS. I have nothing but good things to say about this series-even if Bart's not in it and it's nothing like the YJ comics. AND I FORGOT TO MENTION DADDY BATMAN. =3

Teen Titans is good again! Yay! Wish I could say the same about 'Titans'… but I've chosen to ignore that series for the time being. I also love that the Titans are getting some face time in the DC Universe Online Video Game. I've only seen certain cut scenes and battles on YouTube- but every time a Titan appeared, I squeed. Especially Donna. Donna's existence outside the comics make me happy.

AND BEAST BOY WILL APPEAR IN YOUNG JUSTICE. BEST NEWS EVAAAAH.

That was me- summarizing how much television/games/comics have been good to the Teen Titans in the past few months.