32 Productions Presents…

A Teen Titan Fan Fiction The Teen Titans in…

"Normal Equals Boring"

Chapter Two

Algebra

Kori felt so dirty. So very, very dirty. How could this have happened? How could SHE be dating…HIM? And what of Robin? Where was he? Oh, he would be furious when he found out the cruel hand that THIS reality had dealt her. Her…with…him…how? The…the body odor…HOW, I ASK YOU HOW?! It defied logic. Not to mention it was making it really hard to concentrate. Her mind kept drifting back. Not that it was a big deal. She already knew all of it. Hell, she memorized pi to the fortieth decimal just for the hell of it. Most people thought she was a moron, but she was simply ignorant of Earth's cultures. Mathematics are the same wherever you go. 1 plus 1 will always equal two. Suddenly the teacher boomed.

Teacher: Mr. Logan! Give that MP3 player to me right now!

Mr. Logan…? Garfield Logan?! Kori's head shot up, looking for the person the teacher was yelling at. There! A boy with blonde, spiked hair was handing over the offending device. But…it couldn't be him. The spiked collar…torn clothes…the piercings…how could this ruffian possibly be Beast Boy?

Gar: Go ahead, I got, like, twenty more.

Teacher: Just because your father is rich, Garfield, doesn't…

Gar: He's not my father! …and my name is GAR!

It WAS him. How? Why? It made no sense! What was going on? There had to be an answer. Kori watched in stunned silence as the boy that she remembered being a cheerful, joke loving individual curse out the teacher before storming from the room, slamming the door behind him so hard that the glass cracked. Kori covered her mouth. What in the hell? After class she was packing up her stuff when one of the students approached her. …he looked familiar…but…who was he? Bald…odd looking eyes…X'hal, it was GIZMO! Only he wasn't a dwarf! He was six foot if he was an inch! What kind of insane backward world was this? What was his name…Mikron?

Mikron: Okay, Kori. I'll do your homework for the usual price. Meet me in the boy's bathroom around the hall.

Kori raised an eyebrow. That didn't make sense…

Kori: But if it is the boy's bathroom, I should not be there…

Mikron: Like you haven't been in there before.

Something clicked in Kori's head. It was in a movie she once saw. A comedy. It joked about a girl…her eyes widened. No…no, she wasn't that type of girl! She couldn't be! Kori shook her head.

Kori: That is alright. I can do this assignment myself.

Mikron: Pfft. You can't count to eleven without taking off your shoes.

She picked up her stuff and stormed away. Absurd. He was mocking her. That had to be it. The very idea that she…her stomach turned. Kori ignored all sounds, all sights. She just wanted to get out of this building. No…that wasn't true. She wanted to go home. Her real home.

P.E.

Of all the stupid…why did THIS have to be on her schedule? Rachel detested this sort of activity when she had her powers. As she exited the locker room, everyone stared at her. Even the teacher…who looked as though she could stand to run a few laps herself…looked shocked. Confused, Rachel looked herself over.

Rachel: What? Is my uniform torn?

The girls whispered, the boys snickered. What in the hell was so amusing? The teacher finally spoke up.

Teacher: Finally decided to change for class, Ms. Roth?

Why wouldn't she? If she didn't, Rachel would fail, wouldn't she? That was the basic rule of high school. Rachel decided to play along with it.

Rachel: Well…I decided to just give it a try.

Again, more whispers and snickers. What was so damn funny? The teacher shrugged.

Teacher: Well…get in your spot.

…crap.

Rachel: And…um…where is my spot?

Teacher: Been that long, huh?

Rachel was shown her spot and she sat down. One of the girls, someone she didn't recognized leaned over.

Girl: I can't believe you're actually going to participate.

Rachel: I just felt it was time to change things.

Girl: Last time you tried, you failed miserably and left the gym in tears, remember?

Say what?! What kind of submissive dork was she? Shrugging it off, Rachel did the stretches and warm up crap with the rest of the class. The teacher stood in front of everyone and began the lesson.

Teacher: For the last week we've been practicing all the aspects of volleyball. Today we'll be playing an actual game. Now…um…Mr. Grant and…Mr. Stone, pick your teams.

Rachel's ears perked. Stone? As the two students approached the front to start picking, she realized that the tall, muscular dark skinned boy was indeed her friend Cyborg. Thank Azar. …yet something was wrong. He was even bigger then before. Dangerously big. Rachel's eyes narrowed. Signs of treated acne…chapped lips…sporadic facial hair growth…er…unusually…large pectoral area…these were the signs of steroid abuse. No, that was absurd. Cyborg had always been good at what he did. He didn't need any stupid performance enhancing crap. She dismissed the notion, refusing to believe it. The number of students dwindled. …nobody was calling her. That was okay. Apparently she rarely participated. It only made sense for them to hesitate. Finally she was the last one. The other captain sighed.

Grant: …well, come on.

Rachel nodded and joined her team. While sports wasn't her thing, she knew how to play. When she moved to hit the ball and knocked it over the net, it hit the floor as all the other students stared at her in shock. By the end of the game, her team won. Not that it was all her doing, but she helped. The girl from before patted her on the back.

Girl: Damn! Who are you and what did you do to Rachel?

Rachel: …all I did was hit the ball when it came to me.

Girl: You used to run from the ball!

As class started to wrap up, Rachel approached Victor. She had to drop a hint to her identity. Maybe he just couldn't see it in her face like Kori did.

Rachel: Nice game.

Victor: Get lost, dork. You think you doing crap changes anything? You're still the dork nobody would date on a bet.

What the hell was that?! Rachel backed up. There was fury in his eyes. …roid rage. No, it wasn't possible. It wasn't.

Rachel: I…I didn't say that it did. I really mean it. You were great. Like a machine or something.

A lame attempt, Rachel was aware, but she couldn't just say, "Hey, Cy, it's me Raven." …well, actually she could. In fact, she probably should.

Victor: What did I just say?!

Rachel: Cyborg, it's…

He stomped off, looking furious. No recognition at all. …but why? Why didn't he remember? Sighing, Rachel went back to get changed.

Art Class

Now here was a class Derek could get into! Drawing was something he thoroughly enjoyed. …'course that wasn't what he was doing, because in art class you don't actually DRAW much. Instead he was molding clay. But that was okay too! He had great motor skills. He molded shadows for crying out loud. He was molding a wolf's head, howling at the moon. So intently was he working, that he didn't notice the stares from the students around him. Their surprised whispers didn't register as he carefully drew in the tiny lines for the fur along the neck with his fingernail.

Teacher: Um…that's very…good, Mr. Knight.

Derek: Thanks.

Distractions…like Derek had time for compliments. It was almost done. He carefully fixed the large canines into the perfect curve. …but then the bell rang. Swearing, he sighed. Oh well…if he was still…human tomorrow, he'd finish it then. As he gathered his crap, he finally took notice of someone. Now Derek wasn't good with names. This was a fact…but faces…faces he knew. Scents, he knew better, but his stupid human nose didn't work as good. Yet despite the obvious lack of something, Derek knew right away who he was looking at. Despite the addition of something, he knew. It was Robin. …what was his real name? Ricky? Ronald? Richard! That was it! Richard Graystone. …no, no, no. Richard…Grayson! ….in a wheelchair. Derek wasn't too bright…well, actually he was, but for some reason he could only use that intelligence every now and again. Like when he engaged in a rare philosophical discussion with Raven. Raven would always stare at him with wide eyes afterward before shaking her head and asking if he had been possessed recently and if so what did she have to do to keep the being inside him. …he missed Raven. But enough of that. Derek could tell from the despondent look…the lack of any motivation at all…that Richard didn't remember anything. Robin doesn't give up. No matter what. He could be missing both his legs AND his arms and still wriggle to his goal. Still…how screwed up was that? Robin, the nimble, well trained machine that he was, reduced to putzing around slowly in a wheelchair. Whoever did this to them had a sense of cruel humor. As he picked up his book bag and headed for the door, he accidentally bumped into one of the smaller kids in the hall. Probably a freshman.

Derek: Sorry ab…

Freshman: Aaah! Don't hurt me, just take my money!

Wow, there's a paranoid guy. Derek held up his hands.

Derek: Whoa, whoa, whoa. It was my fault for not paying attention.

The freshman looked at him with wide eyes.

Freshman: So…you're not going to beat me up?

Derek: The hell would I do that for?

Freshman: I heard you broke someone's nose for looking at you funny…

…did he do that? Obviously he had no recollection of that. He shrugged.

Derek: You can't believe everything you hear.

Freshman: But everyone knows you get suspended almost every other week.

He did?! …damn it. That was the last thing he wanted to be known for. As Shade, Derek was violent, that was true…but never without cause, even if that cause was only in his head. Yet now he was only…it just wasn't right. It was a sign that he was everything he never wanted to be. Using his talents to hurt people for the sake of hurting them. That was why he became a superhero. It was just so…not him to do that. Sighing, Derek shrugged.

Derek: Whatever. I'm…

Rachel: Stop it!

The shout of frustration and distress sent familiar spikes of rage through Derek's body. He knew that voice. He had heard it shout at him more times then he'd like to count, though never with such a tinge of helplessness. Dashing down the hall, pushing through other students, he found the girl who shouted being taunted by two of the other students. She looked ready to scream, already on the floor and wasn't being allowed to stand back up. Not from being picked on, but from her sudden inability to stop it. Instantly he knew who she was. There could be no doubt. So saying, Derek cracked his knuckles loudly. If that freshman was any indication, that should serve as a sign. When they saw him, however, they didn't react the way he expected…or hoped.

Bully: Yo, Derek. About time. You almost missed her daily tormenting.

Other Bully: You should have seen it. She was walking around, acting all brave…

The girl he knew to be Raven stared at him with horror in her blue eyes. He could almost hear her thoughts, though he knew this time it was only his imagination combined with a sense of knowing how she worked. She was afraid he wouldn't know her. Derek clenched his teeth.

Derek: Leave her alone.

Relief spilled over her features. The bullies, however, didn't look so pleased.

Bully: What? What are you…?

Derek: I SAID…leave her alone.

Apparently, however, Derek had made an error as to his placement on the "chain" so to speak. The larger boy, the first bully, stepped up to Derek's challenge.

Bully: You little piece of crap…who do you think you're talking to?!

Other Bully: Kick his ass, John.

John: Shut up! What the hell is wrong with you, man? Why are you defending her?

Derek: You going to take a swing already? I'd really like some provocation before I lay your ass on the floor.

That did it. CRACK! Derek took a blow across his face. His human body wasn't as tolerant as his real one…but for such a wimpy blow, that didn't even factor into it. He didn't know how he fought in this world…but he didn't care either. Nobody threatens Raven. Not even him! …wait…what? Whatever, it didn't matter. Despite the reduced speed and strength, Derek still knew how to kick some ass. It didn't take long before John was sprawled out on the floor. Derek wiped his bleeding lip. He adjusted his sunglasses before glaring at the other one.

Derek: Get lost. Now.

How about that? This time it worked. Derek shot similar glares to the crowd. Amazing how no teachers showed up. Oh well. Reaching down, he helped her up.

Derek: …you okay?

Rachel: …no.

Derek: What, what's wrong?

Rachel: They kept my drops. My eyes are killing me.

Oops… Derek rubbed the back of his head.

Derek: Sorry…

Rachel: It's okay. I'm just glad you remember.

Derek: Yeah, you too. Thank god.

Rachel: We're going to be late. Let's meet after school, front of the building.

Derek: You got it.

After School

Rachel tapped her foot impatiently. Where the hell was he? Kori sighed.

Kori: Rachel?

Rachel: Hmm?

Kori: I believe I may be the hussy.

Rachel raised an eyebrow at her.

Rachel: Pardon?

Kori: I have reason to believe my…human self has very low morals and inhibitions regarding sexual conduct.

Rachel: …and apparently I'm a loser nerd. I liked it better when people thought I was just creepy.

Derek: And I'm apparently an asshole.

Jumping, Rachel turned to see Derek behind her. She scowled at him.

Rachel: Don't DO that!

Derek: Now you know how everyone else feels.

…oh yeah, she did have a habit of startling people that way, didn't she? …oh well. No matter.

Derek: When the teachers heard that I was defending you, they didn't even believe the fight happened. …oh…and I saw Robin.

Kori: Truly?! Is he well? Does he remember?

Derek: No and no. …he's in a wheelchair.

Kori covered her mouth and Rachel scowled.

Rachel: And Cyborg is a steroid user…

Kori: I saw Beast Boy…he is the delinquent.

Rachel: Bad?

Kori: He told no jokes and was very rude.

Rachel: No jokes? I could get used to that. What about Terra?

Derek: Haven't seen her.

Kori: Nor I.

Rachel: Okay…we need to think this through. We all remember our lives before, so this isn't just a delusion.

Derek: …crap!

Kori: What?

Derek: I just remembered. I'm supposed to visit Krystal at the insane asylum today.

Sighing, Rachel shook her head.

Rachel: Whatever. I'm late for chess club.

Derek: …god, you ARE a nerd.

Rachel: Shut up.

Rachel squeezed his hand. Kissing him now would only cause problems, she was sure. Derek squeezed back before departing. Kori sighed.

Kori: Why is it that your friend who is the boy recalls the truth while mine does not? That is most unfair.

Rachel: We'll figure this out. If for no other reason then so my eyes stop itching so damn much. Hold on a second…

Rachel pulled out a piece of paper and scribbled down something before handing it to Kori.

Rachel: Here's my address. I'm probably listed in the phonebook too. Look for Roth, Angela. If something comes up, give me a call, okay?

Kori: You seem most prepared for this.

Rachel: Many nights I'd go to bed, wishing to be normal. That stopped after I defeated Trigon, of course. Some time later, I'd realize it was a stupid wish. I'd miss you guys too much. So saying, I came up with a plan in case my wish ever came true and I regretted it.

Kori stared at her.

Kori: …you have too much the free time upon your hands, my friend.

Grunting, Rachel turned and headed back into the school. At least her fellow club members should prove a challenge.

END PART TWO