Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans or Danny Phantom.
Author's Comments: Ha, I'm not dead! I just fried my laptop. Hence taking so long to post anything. Just a reminder, chapters 1 and 2 of Teen Titans: Universal Threat have been posted! Remember to take part in the character poll once you've read them! Thanks to The Hidden Girl for her idea! And of course, thanks Phantom5656 for being such an amazing co-author! I love you man! Hugs and a cookie! He makes a cameo appearance in the chapter.
Chapter 7 – Technical Difficulties
"Well it looks like it's going to be another sunny day here in Amity Park," the meteorologist proclaimed. "Although it would probably be good to bring an umbrella because we've got some rain-clouds heading our way. Back to you Jim."
"And that was Lance Thunderwith the weather," Jim Steel told the microphone. "In latest news, local Ghost-hunter Danny Phantom has…" He was cut off by a power surge that caused the room to go black. "Uh are we still on?" He asked unnerved. "What happened?" The lights crackled, and gradually turned back on. "Uh, as I was saying…" Jim cleared his throat, but a flash of white light cut him off again. From out of a nearby electric socket, Electus emerged. Jim paled, and quickly searched for an exit. Electus jerkily made his way over to some of the recording machinery.
Electus rubbed his hands together gleefully, and reached out for one of the sound recorders. Blue energy shot out, into his fingertips. Electus was surprised by this, but enjoyed the feeling of the energy streaming into his body. The electric villain placed his hand on the surface of the machine, and blue energy snaked up his arm, and absorbed into his body. A horrible smile creased his face, and Electus latched onto more equipment. His body pulsated with blue energy before reverting back to his normal appearance.
"Whoa!" Electus exclaimed. "I feel good." He hesitated. "I knew that I would now. I feel good. I knew that I would now. So good! So good! I got you!" The song was met by silence. Electus blinked, turned, and noticed Jim sitting next to the microphone. The radio host was glued to his seat in fear. "Boo!" Electus waved his arms at Jim. The radio-host gave a shriek, and ran off. Electus chuckled, and turned his attention back to the machinery.
- Scene Break -
The lunch-bell rang. Danny, Sam, Tucker, Cyborg, Starfire, Robin, and Raven were all seated at one of the tables in the lunchroom. Raven stared suspiciously down at her lunch. The doors swung open, and Raven felt her eyes widen. Beast Boy shuffled in. The Titan was covered in spots of green powder, ash, and dough. A faint tendril of smoke snaked its way off of his hair. Heaving a heavy sigh, Beast Boy sat down at the table beside Raven. For a moment, all the Titans simply stared at him.
"Uh Garfield?" Robin finally broke the silence. "What happened to you?"
"Don't ask," Beast Boy grumbled.
"But friend," Starfire piped up. "You are covered in…"
"I don't want to talk about it!" Beast Boy snapped at her. Starfire's eyes filled with tears, and she looked down at her hands.
"Oh come on man," Cyborg encouraged. "What happened?"
"I managed to blow up something in every single one of my classes okay?" Beast Boy practically snarled. "Or could you not tell that from the fact that my hair is smoking?"
"Hey I was going to say it was a smoking do!" Tucker piped up. Sam elbowed him in the ribs, causing the young man to let out a yelp.
"Needless to say," Beast Boy scowled. "I'm not in the greatest of moods right now."
"What could go wrong huh?" Raven crossed her arms and raised one of her slender black eyebrows. Beast Boy glared at her.
"Well friend, I believe I have just the thing to cheer you up!" Starfire gushed. She brought out a paper bag filled with the cookies that she, Robin, and Danny had made. "Taste!" She stuck one in the angry Titan's mouth. Beast Boy's deep-green eyes bulged, and he spat it out.
"What is that?" he demanded, clutching his throat.
"Cookies of the chocolate chip," Starfire replied, a confused expression on her lovely face.
"Uh Cory," Robin piped up. "Danny and I have been meaning to tell you…"
"You put salt in the cookies instead of sugar," Danny finished the sentence. He and Robin looked at each other, turned a sickly shade of green, turned, and fled the cafeteria. A loud growl caught the attention of the remaining Titans, Sam, and Tucker. Beast Boy had a sheepish expression on his face.
"Dude, I forgot," he exclaimed. "I didn't have breakfast this morning! And I forgot to pack a lunch!"
"Here Garfield," Sam piped up. "You can share with me if you want." Beast Boy's eyes lit up and he quickly got up and sat back down beside the Goth-girl. Raven blinked. She felt tears prickling in her eyes. Angrily, Raven denied the tears. Instead, she turned her attention to her lunch.
"Hey there," Raven glanced up at the voice of a young man. "You're that new girl in Ms. Minster's class. Rachel right?" The young man had black hair with long bangs that hung in his face. He wore a black shirt that said 'Bite Me,' and black pants with chains hanging from them.
"Uh yes," she replied.
"My name's Damien," the young man introduced himself. "I sit in the back of your row. You didn't see me?"
"No," Raven replied shortly.
"Well I definitely saw you," he exclaimed. "It'd be hard to miss such a beautiful young lady such as yourself." He winked at her as he said this.
"Beautiful?" Raven repeated doubtfully.
"Don't act so surprised," he grinned down at her. "I'm lucky to be the first guy to talk to you. What say you and I hang out some time?"
"Uh, I don't know," Raven felt her cheeks begin to burn, and she looked down at her hands.
"You don't have to answer now," he assured her. "Think about it, and then tell me when you want me to pick you up on Friday. Later." He took her hand, kissed it, turned, and walked away. Raven sat there with a slightly dumbfounded look on her face.
"Uh Raven?" Beast Boy's voice snapped her back to reality. "Who was that guy?" She thought that she detected a hint of jealousy in his voice.
"Just some guy from my poetry class," Raven replied. She faked indifference by shrugging and keeping her voice flat. Beast Boy didn't seem to completely believe her, but Raven didn't really care. She wanted him to be jealous, like how she had felt jealous because of his actions with Sam. Raven was startled at her own thoughts. Thankfully, the lunch-bell rang again signalling the start of classes. Everyone grumbled, got to their feet, and parted ways.
- Scene Break -
The smell of paint hit Raven's nose as she walked into the room. All the other students were already in small clusters chatting amongst themselves as they collected materials. Raven spotted younger man standing over in a corner talking to a student. He had glasses, and lengthy strawberry-blonde hair that was kept out of his face by a red bandanna. Raven walked over, and waited for her turn to speak to him.
"That's fine," she could hear the conversation now. "Just ease up on the glue a little." The student nodded, and walked away. The teacher turned to face her, his brown eyes regarding her curiously. "Ah, you must be Rachel." He said at length. "I'm Mr. Davison, hi there." He reached out his hand in greeting.
"Uh hi," Raven shook his hand briefly. Upon pulling her hand away, she was dismayed to see a paint smear on her fishnet glove. She reached over for a paper towel, and wiped off the paint.
"Oh, sorry," Mr. Davison grinned sheepishly.
"Don't worry about it," Raven replied evenly.
"As you can tell," he brushed a rogue strand of hair out of his face, smearing paint on his forehead. "This is art class. We work differently than most other classes. You can sit wherever you want, and you can talk as much as you like just as long as you work." He then proceeded to show Raven around the classroom. "Okay so this is the stack of drawing paper, the paint closet, brush cupboard, clay closet, and the student storage cubby's. That's where you put your works in progress." Raven nodded her understanding. Mr. Davison snapped his fingers. "Oh! I have to get you your starter pencils and things!" He darted back to the closet. "Just sit anywhere." He encouraged. "Make a friend or two."
"Yeah right," Raven muttered. She checked a nearby seat for paint or glue before sitting down. Glancing around, she took in the various works of art that littered the room. There were a lot of paintings. Varying from oil, to water-colour, to acrylic.
"So," he asked at length. "What kind of project would you like to try?"
"I'm not sure," Raven admitted. "I don't do much art. I don't really have much free time and besides, I doubt that I have any amazing artistic ability."
"Well I find that difficult to believe," Mr. Davison countered with a broad smile. "Everyone has the ability to create art. They just have to find the right outlet." This being said, he went over to his desk and began to root through some papers on his desk.
"Looking for something?" Raven asked dryly.
Mr. Davison frowned as he continued to root about, "I know I'm supposed to remember something else." He replied. The door opening interrupted him. Both Raven and Mr. Davison looked up to see Beast Boy standing in the doorway. Raven stared at him in surprise. "Oh that's right!" Mr. Davison exclaimed. "I remember now, I was getting two new students!" Raven raised one of her slender black eyebrows.
"You forgot something important like that?" she asked sceptically. Mr. Davison grinned sheepishly.
"I'm a little scatter-brained," he explained. Beast Boy made his way over to them.
"Uh hey Rachel," he stuffed his hands in his pockets. "I didn't know you were in this class."
"Well I didn't know you'd be in it either," Raven countered. Mr. Davison looked from one Titan to the other, a confused expression on his face.
"So I take it you two know each other?" he ventured.
"You could say that," Raven replied. Beast Boy scuffed his foot on the floor, refusing to make eye-contact with her.
"Oh," Mr. Davison scratched his head and turned to Beast Boy. "Well I guess I should introduce myself to you then. Hi, I'm Mr. Davison, it's nice to meet you." He extended a hand towards Beast Boy, but remembered the paint, and switched to his other hand.
"Garfield," Beast Boy shook the outstretched hand.
"Like the cat?" Mr. Davison asked excitedly. "He was my favourite when I was growing up!" Raven and Beast Boy simply stared at him. Mr. Davison blushed slightly, and laughed nervously. "You know, from the comic strip?" The two Titans continued to stare at him. "I'll just go get more supplies." Mr. Davison announced, and darted off. This left Raven and Beast Boy by themselves. Raven sat down and began to organize her supplies. Beast Boy remained standing, and fiddled with his hand in his pockets. Raven gave an exasperated sigh.
"If you're just going to stand there, you may as well sit down," she said dryly. "I can't think with you just standing there." Beast Boy muttered something inaudible, and consented. He slumped back in his chair, and crossed his arms over his chest, refusing to make eye-contact with her. Raven ignored him, and continued to organize her supplies.
Beast Boy glanced up, and watched her carefully sorting her supplies. He scowled, and looked away. As he did this, Beast Boy began to bob his leg up and down. He snuck another glance at her, and hurriedly looked away. He repeated this action several times. Each time, his leg bobbed faster, and faster. He could feel the frustration building in his system. Finally, he could no longer take it.
"Why aren't you mad?" he shouted at her. The entire class turned and regarded him with surprise. There was a thump in the closet.
"Ow!" came the muffled cry of Mr. Davison. Beast Boy smiled sheepishly.
"Uh sorry everyone," the Titan laughed nervously as he addressed the class. "As you were." His face turned red with embarrassment, and Beast Boy slumped down in his chair. Raven sighed, and finished sorting her supplies.
"What's with you?" she asked at length.
"Nothing," Beast Boy answered sulkily. Raven shrugged, and turned her attention back to her supplies. Beast Boy grumbled softly, he could feel his cheeks burning from his outburst. Eventually, he leaned foreword. "Why aren't you acting mad at me?" He asked her softly.
"What would I be mad about?" Raven asked pointedly, her dark eyes flashing.
"You know?" Beast Boy shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "At lunch? We had an argument remember?" Raven shrugged in response. "Oh come on Ra – Rachel!" Beast Boy exclaimed in frustration. "You can't have forgotten that quickly!"
"Forget about it," Raven replied bitterly.
"How can I?" Beast Boy asked angrily. Raven did not respond. Beast Boy gave an exasperated sigh, and smacked his forehead against the table. "You know Rachel, you're one difficult person to argue with." Raven looked away so that he wouldn't see the hurt that his words had caused.
"I don't understand why you're making all this fuss," Raven stated at length. "Damien's just a guy from my poetry class. End of story. Besides…" She glanced up at him, and hoped madly that her face did not show the amount of hurt that she was presently feeling. "What does it matter to you?"
"You're my friend!" Beast Boy exclaimed. "I just…" He hesitated, trying to find the right words. "It's hard to explain." He admitted. "I just have this uneasy feeling about him."
"If that was your attempt at an apology, I'm not terribly impressed," Raven stated dryly. Beast Boy sighed.
"Neither am I," he replied softly. "Alright." He said at length. "I stand by my opinion. But I am sorry that I over-reacted."
"Don't worry about it," Raven replied with a shrug. She couldn't explain it, but she felt flattered that Beast Boy had over-reacted. Obviously, he cared about her a great deal if he had reacted this way over such a small thing.
"Just like that?" Beast Boy blinked a few times. "You're just going to forgive me."
"Sure, why not?" Raven allowed a small smile to light up her dark features as she shrugged.
"Thanks," Beast Boy smiled back at her. Instead of his usual toothy grin, he simply curled up the sides of his lips.
"No problem," Raven smiled again, and Beast Boy mirrored her expression only to be startled by a pile of art supplies being dumped in front of him.
"There you go," Mr. Davison grinned widely at the two startled Titans. "Your starter stuff." He rubbed the bump on his head, and grimaced.
"Thanks," Beast Boy grinned his usual grin up at the teacher. When he noticed the lump forming on Mr. Davison's head, Beast Boy's deep-green eyes widened. "Whoa, how did you get that?" He pointed at the bump.
"Oh this?" Mr. Davison asked. Beast Boy nodded. "A box of tissues jumped off of the shelf and attacked me." The two Titans stared at their teacher. Slowly a grin etched itself across Beast Boy's face. Soon he was chuckling heartily at Mr. Davison's statement. A grin broke out on the face of their teacher, and soon they were both laughing uproariously. Raven rolled her eyes.
"Great," she muttered. "Now there are two of them. Only one's an adult. This is going to be a long class."
- Scene Break -
Raven couldn't help but be a little bit excited about her next class. She had come into class, and received a few strange looks. She was one of the few girls, but the only Goth. She sat down at the front, and tried not to look too enthusiastic. When she had read her schedule that morning, the name 'Ms. Annabella' had meant nothing to her. However, since art class, the name now had a meaning. A young man in glasses leaned over to her.
"You new?" he asked. Raven nodded. "Well I think you'll like Ms. Annabella. Most of the male student body, not to mention staff, have the hots for her. She's an awesome teacher. Unorthodox, but very good." The door opened, and any talking that had been present, immediately ceased.
Ms. Annabella had short black hair that framed an extremely pale face. Piercing grey eyes stared intently out at the classroom from underneath a pair of glasses. She was dressed entirely in black, and had several piercings and tattoos. She was extremely short, just over five feet in height.
"You must be Rachel Roth," Ms. Annabella's voice was gravely, and reminded Raven of her own voice. "Welcome to Physics!" Raven immediately liked Ms. Annabella, and knew that she was going to enjoy the class. "Alright, today we're going to learn basic Newtonian Physics." Ms. Annabella stated. "Who can tell me what Newton's first law is?" Many hands shot up. Ms. Annabella reached into a bucket and pulled out a piece of paper. "Johnny?"
"Objects in motion tend to stay in motion," replied a boy from directly behind Raven, "and objects at rest tend to stay at rest unless acted upon by an outside force."
"Excellent," Ms. Annabella smiled. "His second law? Mary?"
"The force of an object is equal to its mass multiplied by its acceleration," a girl at the very back piped up.
"And last but not least, his third law?" Ms. Annabella prompted. She glanced at Raven. "Rachel?" Raven wracked her brain for a few moments, but was interrupted by a knock on the classroom door. "I'll come back to you." Ms. Annabella assured the telekinetic Titan. Then she went and opened the door. Principal Ishiyama was standing in the doorway with a slightly dazed looking Beast Boy in front of her. "Hello Principal Ishiyama." Ms. Annabella regarded the Asian lady curiously. "What can I do for you?"
"Hello Ms. Annabella," Principal Ishiyama replied. "I'm sorry to have to disrupt your class, but I have a bit of a dilema that I need your help with."
"Fire away," Ms. Annabella replied. The Asian lady cleared her throat.
"Well, it seems that we are having a problem with one of our new students," she glanced down at the dazed form of Beast Boy. "Young Mr. Logan here seems to have, how shall I say this, bad luck with certain classes." Ms. Annabella simply raised her right eyebrow at this statement. Beast Boy looked down at his shoes, his hands in his pockets. "In several cases, Mr. Logan's actions, though accidental, have resulted in explosions." Ms. Annabella smiled smiled slightly, and nodded. "Needless to say, this has caused several of the faculty members to refuse to have Mr. Logan in their class." Ms. Annabella frowned at this statement. "Luckily we were able to find him new classes for the most part." Principal Ishiyama continued. "However, I find myself in a troubling situation. He needs one more class for the last period of the day, and you have room left in your class. So I was wondering if you'd mind terribly…"
"I would be thrilled to have him," Ms. Annabella interupted with a broad smile.
"Ah, very good," relief was plain on the principal's face. She turned to Beast Boy. "Mr. Logan, Ms. Annabella will be your new last period teacher. I hope you do well, and please don't blow up anything. We have enough equipment to replace as it is."
"Yes ma'am," Beast Boy replied quietly, still staring at his shoes. Principal Ishiyama gave his slender shoulder a squeaze and strode off.
"Well, welcome Mr. Logan," Ms. Annabella smiled down at the dazed young man.
"Thanks," he managed a smile back at her. "So what class is this?"
"Physics," Ms. Annabella replied as she ushered him into the classroom.
"Okay," Beast Boy replied. "That sounds…" He trailed off as he realized what the teacher had just said. "Wait." His deep-green eyes widened in horror. "Physics?"
"Why don't you take a seat next to Rachel," Ms. Annabella offered, "and we'll get you all caught up."
"Okay," Beast Boy sat down in a daze.
"Now Rachel, what is Newton's third law?" Ms. Annabella returned to her original question.
"An object acting on another object has an equal and opposite force," the telekinetic Titan replied. Beast Boy raised his hand.
"Question Mr. Logan?" Ms. Annabella inquired kindly.
"Is this the same Newton dude that made the cookies?" he asked seriously. Raven wanted desperately to dissapear.
"Cookies?" Ms. Annabella inquired. Beast Boy nodded. There was dead silence in the classroom. Finally Ms. Annabella broke the silence with a laugh. "Oh no." She answered him. "This is Sir Isaac Newton."
"Oh," Beast Boy's cheeks turned red. "Was that the dude who got hit in the head with an apple?"
"That's the one," Ms. Annabella replied with a laugh.
"Okay, I think I get it," Beast Boy grinned triumphantly. Raven groaned softly, and wished more desperately that she could disappear. Although, she did have the advantage that no one in the class knew that she knew Beast Boy.
"Great," Ms. Annabella smiled encouragingly. To Raven's horror, Beast Boy leaned towards her.
"And you thought I was dumb," he whispered to her. "I totally knew who Sir Isaaih Newton was."
"That's Sir Isaac Newton," Raven growled through gritted teeth, emphasizing 'Isaac' and wishing even more that she could disappear.
"Oh, right," Beast Boy laughed nervously. "Him." He paused. "I'm impressed that anyone understands this stuff. Except for you that is. You're smart enough to understand all that magic stuff, so this must be a piece of cake for you." Raven shushed him violently, terrified that someone might have heard him. "Oh, right." Beast Boy smiled sheepishly. "Sorry." He turned back to the monstrous text-book that Ms. Annabella had handed to him upon his arrival, and tried to make sense of it. He couldn't wait to tell Cyborg that he knew who Sir Isaaih Newton was. Beast Boy scowled, and reminded himself that it was Isaac not Isaaih. He sighed inwardly, this was going to be a long class.