The muses have called to me once more, and I am powerless to resist. Not that I want to resist, because writing is my life, however pathetic it may be. Okay, the full summary of this idea: What if the Flying Graysons hadn't died? What if young Garfield Logan hadn't gotten that tropical disease? What if Angela Roth hadn't joined the cult that worshiped Trigon? What if there hadn't been an accident that destroyed Victor Stone's body and killed his mother? What if the King and Queen of Tamaran hadn't been forced to sell their daughters into slavery? In other words, what if none of the Titans had ever gotten their powers? What if the Teen Titans had never existed? What if they all met in Jump City anyway? What if they were still expected to save the world? We're about to find out.
So you don't get confused:
Robin- Richard (Dick) Grayson
Cyborg- Victor (Vic) Stone
Raven- Rachel (Rae) Roth
Beast Boy- Garfield (Gar) Logan
Starfire- Koriand'r
Terra- Tara Markov
I do not own the Teen Titans.
The Big Giant "What If"
---Chapter One: Normality---
Dick Grayson looked around his new school warily. Starting high school in his junior year after being home-schooled all his life had not been his idea, but his parents insisted it would be good for him to meet more people his age and not spend all his time with the circus folk. Never mind that they were circus folk. They wanted him to be normal. Dick sighed as he entered the office.
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Several of the students in Miss Sim's Algebra II class looked up when the door opened. They mostly looked up out of vague interest, because there generally wasn't any reason for the door to open in the middle of class. An embarrassed-looking boy with messy black hair and blue eyes came in. Miss Sim stopped scribbling on the chalkboard and smiled warmly at the boy. "You must be Richard Grayson. Welcome to Jump City High."
The boy didn't return the smile. "It's, uh, Dick, actually."
Miss Sim continued to smile. "All right, then. Dick, why don't you take a seat? We're discussing imaginary numbers today." Dick didn't look at his new classmates as he made his way to an empty desk near the back of the classroom, but they certainly looked at him. "He's cute," Tara Markov whispered to Rachel Roth as Dick passed between their desks. Rachel nodded vaguely, actually more interested in imaginary numbers but not willing to admit it lest she sacrifice her popularity. Victor Stone ignored the new boy, being too busy re-enacting his game-winning touchdown of the previous Friday night. Garfield Logan looked up for a moment but quickly returned to his Algebra book, feeling that the new boy would have no interest in becoming friends with the class clown/nerd. Dick sank down into his desk and opened his new book, paying complete attention as Miss Sim tried to teach the class a song to remember the rules that went with imaginary numbers. Not that the rest of the class paid their teacher such courtesy. Not that he cared.
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Garfield Logan winced as the back of his head was slammed against a locker. He hated this. Oh, how he hated this. The only reason the jocks liked to pick on him was that he was the only junior small enough to actually fit into a locker. It wasn't his fault he was short and skinny. They blamed him anyway. Gar had woken up that morning feeling today was destined to be different. At the moment, he wasn't holding out much hope for the accuracy of his intuition.
"Leave him alone," a serious voice said. The jocks paused in their activities, one of them with his fist three inches away from Gar's face. Gar turned as best as he could to see who had dared to stop the rulers of the school. It was the new kid, Dick Grayson. Gar sighed. This guy wasn't much bigger than he was, and he had no idea what he was in for.
Dick had been taught from a very early age to treat all people with respect, no matter how they treated you. He had also been taught that the world had more than enough bullies already. It didn't need any new ones bred in high schools. So when he saw several hulking guys beating up a boy from his Algebra class, he felt that he should do something about it. The jocks eyed him, sizing up his possible strength and abilities. And then they laughed, because Dick was not very tall or particularly strong-looking. They didn't know that he had trained as an acrobat since he'd learned to walk. They judged him as a normal kid. Their mistake. When the jocks had cleared out with several bruises each, Dick turned to the guy he'd rescued. "You okay?" The kid was roughly five foot five, with mousy brown hair and brilliant green eyes. "Yeah, now. Thanks."
"No problem. I'm Dick Grayson, by the way."
The kid grinned. "Gar Logan. Do you have lunch this period?" Dick nodded an affirmative. "Cool. I'll show you around."
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"Two hours at our school and already he's committed social suicide," Tara Markov said, shaking her head. "Such a shame. He had potential, if he'd fallen into the right hands." Rachel Roth turned to see what her friend was talking about. Dick Grayson was sitting at a table with Garfield Logan, the two of them talking as though they'd been friends for years. Rachel figured that Garfield would be a better friend than any of the popular set, but she didn't mention that. Tara instantly forgot the boys a few tables away. "Okay, what did you all think of the episode of our show last night? Rae?" Rachel spouted exactly what she knew Tara wanted to hear, kind of hating herself for it.
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Dick, however, had noticed the girls' casual glances and was now taking a moment to observe them. One was the perfect stereotype of the leader of a group of popular girls: long blond hair and big blue eyes with perfectly coordinated clothes and accessories. Her friend was no less well-dressed, but she had dark, possibly purple hair and eyes that were more violet than blue. Gar realized who Dick was looking at. "Forget it, dude."
"Who are they?" Dick asked.
"The blond one is Tara Louise Markov, most popular girl in school. Homecoming Court every year and elected Miss Jump City High her freshman year, a thing previously unheard of. The other is Rachel Veronica Roth, second most popular. Wins every lead in every play the Drama club produces, but by virtue of her friendship with Tara has avoided the label of 'drama geek.' On that note, Tara's more of a drama queen than Rachel is. Rachel's actually pretty quiet. They've been best friends since first grade, when Tara moved here. Rachel was nicer in kindergarten, but most kids are. Tara is so shallow that you won't even get your feet wet. As for Rachel… I think most people would either drown or be crushed by the pressure before they got down to where she likes to swim, but she pretends to be as shallow as Tara. They are surrounded at all times by a posse of Tara's clones, who monitor who gets near the main two and who doesn't. Tara has dated and supposedly slept with the entire football team except Vic Stone, who is reportedly her next target. Rachel doesn't officially date at all, but goes out with groups. They're like day and night. Basically they are out of our league in every possible way."
"How long have you had a crush on Rachel?" Dick asked with a smirk. Gar pretended that his cheeks didn't turn pink. "I don't know what you're talking about," he said squeakily. Dick smiled but let it go.
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Gym was his last class of the day. Dick actually looked forward to this class. He smiled to himself when the coach declared the game of the day to be dodge ball. The girls groaned, while the boys whooped in excitement. They were separated into teams, and the game began. Dick had no trouble avoiding every ball that came his way and less trouble returning them with perfect accuracy. His training with his parents paid off in games like this. At last there were only two players left, one on each side: Dick and a wide-shouldered African-American boy he vaguely remembered being in his Algebra class. His opponent threw the ball with good aim and a lot of power behind it. Dick leapt into the air and went into a beautifully executed spinning flip, throwing his last ball just as he landed. The other boy didn't even have time to dodge. "Out!" called the coach. Dick's teammates cheered and the other team moaned, but for their final player. He approached Dick. "Nice move, man." He held out his hand. "I'm Vic Stone." Dick smiled, recalling Gar's comment about Tara. He shook Vic's hand. "Dick Grayson."
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Rachel sat in her last period Theatre class, for once not paying attention to the teacher. She was a good student; it was part of the whole perfection personified package that went with being popular. She got away with breaking some of the rules because Tara was lenient only for her, but she knew that there was one rule she would never be able to break and still maintain her status. Lately she wondered if she even wanted to be what she had spent years becoming. As she watched Garfield Logan meticulously paint a set piece for the upcoming show, she felt that the answer was no. She had not forgotten what good friends they'd been in kindergarten, and she had not forgotten the hurt in his green eyes when she'd snubbed him in favor of Tara in first grade. Since then they had avoided each other. Now, eleven years later, Rachel did not like what she was. She despised the closet full of brand-name clothes that her hard-working, single mother could barely afford. She hated that her "friends", with the exception of Tara, had no idea she lived in a small two bedroom apartment in the shabbier side of town. Tara drove over there in her BMW and picked Rachel up everyday. Tara had not been such a snob when they met, but by the time Rachel realized what her friend really was, she also knew that Tara could destroy her social reputation for the rest of her academic career without even batting an eye. Rachel hated that she was a coward. For years she had cared more about what people thought of her. Now she hated herself, and she didn't want to. So she would have to do something about it. Gar felt her eyes on him and turned around. When he saw who was looking at him, he returned to the set piece quickly, blushing. Rachel gave a very tiny sigh.
---End Chapter One---
Now that Dick has met most of the team, the story can really get going. Starfire will show up, but I don't know when yet. But don't worry; I'm not leaving her out. Tell me what you think! I like reviews, especially nice ones!