Chapter ~ 3
The thing is, Robin isn't all that shocked to find himself in a strange new world when he wakes up. The Titans aren't the first to travel universes, and Batman made sure he knew the signs by heart—just in case. Dark mists? Check. Sense of nausea? Check. Strange new clothing and lack of weapons? Unfortunately, check and check.
So Robin isn't really all that lost when he finds himself in the middle of what looks like a football field, dressed in dark jeans and a casual shirt. Batman's training kicks in instantly, and Robin feels his body take over even as his mind works to absorb the new situation. The first thing he does is check his utility belt, and when he realizes its not there—he deduces several important factors about his new situation.
One, the technology has not reached the point that batarangs and bo-staffs have been invented.
Two, he's going to kick Wally's ass.
Wait. Robin frowned. That last thought sounded less like him and more like—Raven. He closed his eyes, trying to sense where she was, to reawaken the mental link between them, but couldn't.
Three, no magic in this world either—or, at least, not the type that Raven possesses. Robin wondered where his team member was, and whether she's scared by the sudden vanishing of her powers. Standing abruptly, he heads into the school.
Time to get to work.
He manages to find a newspaper in what looks to be the principal's room, which tells him that he's in Lima, Ohio, (and actual place back on Earth, good,) the date, (well past the date of Bruce becoming Batman, so he doubts that this is a parallel universe, since the equipment he and his mentor rely on apparently doesn't exist), and no mention of magic, or superheroes, or anything that might suggest the existence of the Justice League.
Interesting.
"Psst, dude. You're not supposed to be in there." Robin looks up to see a big lanky boy with an open face looking at him worriedly.
"Thanks," he mouths back, and walks casually out of the office. "I'm Robin," he says holding out his hand, "I'm new to this school." (If his hunch is right, then he'll need an alibi to get the Titans home.) The boy shakes his hand gingerly, as if not quite sure that this is the correct behavior. "Hi, I'm Finn."
"Nice to meet you." Robin withdraws his hand and smiles, watching the other boy's face closely. Finn didn't seem to recognize him, which was good. The last thing he needed was a fan getting in the way. "I'm trying to find a friend of mine," he said affably, "Rachel Roth. She's new?"
"Sorry man," Finn looks apologetic, "Haven't seen her. It's like, lunch time though, so she's probably in the quad buying food. I can take you if you want."
Robin nods and follows the boy. As Finn chatters about football and what-not, he lets his eyes roam, memorizing their route in case they need to make a quick escape. They wouldn't have been the only ones to get transported into this universe—Monkey Master was somewhere here too.
He steps in something wet and grimaces, and as he stops to wipe whatever it is off, he hears a soft cry. Masculine, adolescent. Very frightened. Glancing down the hall, he catches sight of two large shapes crouched over a smaller one, and starts running towards them.
He may not have his uniform or even his mask—but he was still a Titan.
TGTGTGTGTG
Kurt Hummel, to put it mildly, was in trouble. He'd been having a good day—having narrowly avoided Rachel Berry's fate by sticking close to Mercedes, who people rarely messed with—until said diva had went to buy lunch and he, lulled into a false sense of security by his catastrophe-free day so far, lagged behind.
Azimo and Karofsky had found him not two minutes later. (He swears, the boys stalk him.) They'd done the usual, threatening him and throwing not very intelligent insults at him, and Kurt had thought they'd maybe shove him around and then go away. Not bad, all things considering.
He still isn't sure what makes him glance up, but from the window behind Karofsky he spots something metallic with a long tail and monkey-like features—and then it moves. He's too stunned to speak, and then it's gone and the other boys have gone very still.
"I think he likes you," Azimo's jeer breaks the silence, and Kurt feels his stomach clench. "He certainly likes gawking at you enough. How sweet, maybe you two will get married and…"
The insult isn't even that creative, and certainly not believable, but Kurt take one look at Karofsky's red face and knows that he's in deep, deep trouble. Oh, Barbara Streisand, what do I do?
He lets out an involuntary whimper as the two draw closer, and Karofsky balls his fist. Oh my god, he's really going to hit me this time—probably break my nose or arm or—
And then, the hottest, most unbelievably handsome guy with amazing blue eyes leaps in and blocks the punch. Really blocks it, like some martial arts master or something. Karofsky stares in wide-eyed disbelief as the slighter—but definitely more muscular—boy slams him up against the wall before coolly turning to Azimo.
The African-American boy blanches. "Wh—what the hell—"
His hero, doesn't wait for him to finish, but knocks his feet out from under him. Kurt, still on his knees behind the mysterious newcomer, gets a very good look at muscled calves before the boy straightens and says, very slowly, "I know your sort have trouble thinking, so I'll say this slowly. Don't. Ever. Go near him again."
Karofsky lunges from the side, and Kurt squeaks, but the boy ducks and rams the big football player right in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. And then Finn is there, and he's punching Azimo in the face and demanding what they think they're doing, picking on his brother, and Kurt feels so happy that he can't help but sniffle.
The two bullies run and Finn awkwardly helps him up, but Kurt only has eyes for the blue-eyed boy with crazy martial arts skills and the best muscles he's ever seen. "Hi, I'm Kurt," he manages to stammer, holding out a hand.
"Richard Grayson." His hand is cool and Kurt feels his knees weaken.
Barbara, I think I'm in love.
Then, the boy jerks his head to the side just in time to catch a small figure who's just hurtled herself at him. "Richard!" the girl cries, and Kurt feels a pang as he watches the Adonis swing the girl around before hugging her back.
"Rachel, I was worried."
Kurt barely registers the fact that Puck, Rachel Berry, and some other boy with bright green eyes have run up, asking questions and demanding to know why Kurt's on the floor and what happened. All he can think is that, once again, he's lost a crush to a girl called Rachel.
Sighing, he turns to the newcomers to explain, only to catch the green-eyed boy—mmh, he thinks—staring at the new Rachel and Richard with something like jealousy in his eyes. Oooh, this is interesting.
And suddenly Kurt the broken-hearted is gone and Kurt Hummel, McKinley's residential gossip queen is back. Whipping out his phone, he texts Mercedes. Grl, u don't want to miss this.
TGTGTGTGTG
"Why so affectionate?" Robin—or Richard—whispered in Raven's ear as he spun her, "Miss me that much?"
"You wish," her voice was just as soft, "Wanted to test something. Can you hear me?"
Richard didn't have to ask what she meant. He could hear her voice inside his head growing stronger. Wincing, he put her down, and the voice dimmed again. "Poor Wally."
Raven nodded in satisfaction, putting a hand on his arm. What do you know?
Not much. Richard turned, gesturing towards Kurt. "This is Kurt, the taller boy's Finn. I'm guessing their stepbrothers."
"No shit, Sherlock," Raven said dryly, and stepped away. "Rachel Roth, friends call me Raven. Nice to meet you." She held out her hand to the boy on the floor, frowned, and then knelt beside him. Kurt started, and she put a hand on his arm. "Wait, don't move."
Even without her powers, the touch seemed to soothe him, and he settled back, allowing her to pull up the sleeve of his sweater. The group hissed in sympathy at the cut, and Finn gave an uncharacteristic growl. Raven didn't move, but went to work. "It's not deep," she said finally after bandaging it with the materials out of Rachel Berry's first aid kit, which she just happened to carry around in her backpack.
"What the hell happened?" Puck demanded, and Raven glanced at him in surprise, reading the genuine fury in his face and voice. "You were supposed to stay with Mercedes when you weren't with one of us!"
Kurt stood up, indignantly brushing himself off. "Thanks, darling," he said to Raven before turning to Puck, "I did stay with Mercedes," he said, "She went to buy lunch, and the two Neanderthals cornered me."
"You should have stuck with the system," the Mohawked boy insisted, "What's the point of us freakin' comin' up with it if you won't even—"
"Wait, you came up with a system for Kurt?" Rachel Berry demanded, "He's not the one who gets slushied every day and sexually harassed by Jacob Ben-Israel!"
"He also don't carry 'round pepper spray," this was a new voice, and Raven turned to see an African American girl striding purposefully towards the group. "Mercedes," she said brusquely, and then turned to Kurt, "Girlfriend, I have to agree with Puck. You should have come with me."
"Ok, ok, I'm sorry," the boy said, throwing up his hands. He winced, and then put his cut arm down, and then looked at the newcomers. "Um, an introduction would be nice."
"Glee club's next period," Finn pointed out, "We can just—"
"Initiate our new members there!" Rachel's voice was just a bit too bright, "Come, let's introduce our new comrades to our safe-haven from those gorillas our peers worship." Spinning on her heel, she led the group forward. Raven leaned into Richard, letting her mind touch his again. Who said anything about being new members?
No one. But we're going to need to blend in if we're going to find the machine before Monkey Master.
Raven shot his a look, and he hurriedly added, I'll explain later, with Roy. Right now, just go with it until we find Wally and Jinx.
The feral look on her face was almost frightening as she smiled. "Yeah, I'm looking forward to that meeting so much."