Disclaimer – I own three goldfish but not the Teen Titans :(
…
Beast Boy was an extremely curious teenager. He liked to know everything, and often had trouble drawing the line at what he should and should not know. It was impossible to count the number of times he had bugged Robin about Batman to the point where the Boy Wonder had actually locked his teammate out of the room, or how often Raven caught him snooping in her library, or whenever Cyborg had to chase him out of the garage because the green teen was picking through everything. Beast Boy never seemed to learn his lesson, and apparently found no shame in satisfying his curiosities. Of course, if he was entertained for whatever reason, none of the other Titans were worried.
So when the changeling in question flopped over on the couch with a loud groan and an "I'm BORED!", a good portion of the team disappeared into another corner of the Tower, not wanting to become the focus of Beast Boy's entertainment. Raven retreated into her room, Robin locked the door to his office, and Starfire suddenly became very busy with Silkie. Cyborg, on the other hand, was in the garage when the cry rang out through the house, and did not hear. Beast Boy smiled when he successfully pinpointed his target. Cyborg had been in the garage all day, which meant he had to be working on something cool.
Shifting into a spider, Beast Boy climbed into the vent in the corner of the ceiling. When he had first started seriously snooping, he found that the ventilation system was the best way to get around the Tower completely undetected. Sure, he probably should have let Cyborg in on this security flaw, but why would he give away his best sneaking trail? And besides, hardly any villains cold shrink to that size anyway, and any that could were too stupid to figure it out.
After free-falling a good ten stories down the main shaft (attached by a web, Beast Boy wasn't that crazy), the changeling cut the hair-thin string and skittered down the pathway leading to the main garage vent. Through his thin legs, Beast Boy could feel the vibrations of loud music coming into the vent. Briefly, he thanked the fact that spiders did not have ears. Whenever his best friend's music was this loud, Beast Boy usually stayed a good distance away. His sensitive ears could only take so much.
The little green spider crawled out through the slits in the vent and paused on the wall. He took a moment to survey the scene. Originally, Beast Boy had imagined that a spider's eyes would be perfect for spying – there were eight after all. However, it did not take long for him to find out that spiders viewed the world in a very grainy gray, with lighter bits around movement. A pretty big letdown.
Cyborg was sitting on a stool next to his little lab station. The T-Car sat off to the side in its usual parking space, covered with a large dust cloth. Spider Beast Boy began to slowly lower himself closer to Cyborg, dangling precariously from his silk. The half-robot was surrounded by test tubes, Bunsen burners, and other chemistry stuff Beast Boy had never taken the time to learn. Currently, Cy was securing a piece of cloth to a glass slide, his brow furrowed in concentration. Set aside by his elbow was a smaller slide, this one with a dark spot in the center. In his current form, Beast Boy couldn't determine the color, but he was certain it was liquid.
When Cyborg finished preparing the second slide, he put it by the first and leaned back in the stool, his chin tilting up slightly. In a panic, Beast Boy shifted into his fly form and zipped away from where he had been hanging as a spider. He knew from painful experience that both Cyborg and Robin were not too keen on eight-legged insects, not hesitating to smash them. Cyborg barely noticed Beast Boy's transformation, and was instead staring at the ceiling, biting his lip. Fly Beast Boy landed carefully at the edge of the table, hoping the half-robot would not notice a new-comer.
Cy was now pulling a small pot from the other side of the lab table. Some sort of liquid sloshed around inside. Feeling curious, Beast Boy took off from the table and began to circle above whatever was going on, wanting to get a bird's – or more appropriately, fly's – eye view. From what he could tell, the little pot was filled with something that looked remarkably like water, apart from the gold hint. Cyborg mumbled something and fumbled for what looked like a steel eyedropper that seemed adamant on rolling away from his fingers. The metal man finally captured it, and slowly dipped the silver tip into the gold-hinted water.
Beast Boy landed against the wall, taking a moment to rest his wings. Cyborg took the now full eyedropper and hung it above the smaller slide. Beast Boy could now see that the spot of color in the center was a deep red. Definitely blood. Whose, he could not be sure. Slowly, carefully, Cyborg squeezed a single drop of liquid onto the blood. After a few seconds, it disappeared completely. Cyborg pumped his fist and let out a thunderous "BOOYAH!"
In his current state, this was the equivalent of a tiny earthquake for Beast Boy. He sprung from the wall, intrigued by the experiment Cyborg was conducting. The half-robot's triumph had been short, and his face had gone back to his previous look of intense concentration. Beast Boy landed on an empty tube about two feet from Cy's face. Cyborg was now holding the eyedropper over the square of fabric. His massive hand barely moving, he squeezed a second drop, and it landed on the fabric. Beast Boy held his breath, unsure as to what would happen. An explosion would be cool, if it didn't burn him to a crisp. It would more likely disappear like the blood had.
Nothing happened. Cyborg stared at the fabric for a least two minutes, his human eye barely blinking. Gradually, his interest turned to impatience, which then turned into anger. Letting out a string of expletives Beast Boy knew for a fact Robin had banned from the tower, Cyborg slammed a fist onto the table, making everything jump. Unfortunately, this also included the changeling, who was thrown off his perch and much too close to Cy's face.
Cyborg immediately glanced up at the buzzing from Beast Boy's wings, his mouth twisted in a scowl. "If that's you Beast Boy, you have three seconds before I open a can of –"
Out of what was mostly panic, Beast Boy immediately shifted into his human form and toppled over his best friend with a yelp. Cyborg remained in his sitting position, looking down at the changeling's sprawled form on the concrete ground. Beast Boy gave him a tiny wave and a rather nervous chuckle. The half-robot appeared to be in no mood for shenanigans.
"Eheh…hey, Cy."
Cyborg's human eye narrowed. "How the hell did you get in here?" he said stonily. Beast Boy pouted his lip and crossed his arms, the classic look of a child who had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
"Like I'm telling you," the changeling quipped. Cyborg continued to stare disdainfully at his younger friend for a moment, and then returned his attention to the table. Beast Boy, realizing he was out of hot water, rolled off his back and onto his feet, leaning an elbow on Cy's large metal shoulder. "What are you doing anyway?"
Cyborg let out a long sigh through his nose. "You know, there's a reason why I lock the door to the garage when I do this sorta thing."
The changeling's attention had been drawn to the pot of gold-tinged liquid. It was even stranger looking up close and with normal human eyes – flashes of other random colors danced over the surface. Feeling curious, he extended a gloved finger to touch it. Almost immediately, his hand was painfully slapped away.
"Ow! Was that necessary?"
"B, I have no idea why you feel the need to touch chemicals," Cyborg said. A hint of humor had returned to his voice, but he still looked relatively serious. "One day you're gonna lose body parts."
Beast Boy flapped a hand dismissively, his gaze still trained on the colorful liquid. "Science runs in my blood, dude! Just tell me what this is and I promise I won't touch it." As if to seal the deal, Beast Boy pulled the glove off of his right hand and extended his green palm to Cyborg. The half-robot looked at Beast Boy's hand, one eyebrow lifted. Then his gray and red eyes shifted upwards to meet his friend's.
"BB, I'm pretty sure I can write a book from all the times you've said that and then gone and touched it anyway," he deadpanned. Beast Boy flattened his ears. Cyborg had been spending much too much time around Raven lately.
"Oh, really?" the green boy sniffed. "When have I ever done that?"
Cy leaned back, a half smirk on his face. He held up one metallic finger. "After the T-Car's new paint job."
Beast Boy flared his nose, trying to hide the shame blush on his cheeks. "Okay, that's one time, but –"
"The casserole dish I had just taken from the oven."
"It looked too good and I had to taste it."
"And don't even get me started on the control room fiasco…"
Beast Boy waved his arms. "Okay, okay! I'm stupid and I like to touch stuff." He took a breath, ignored Cyborg's smug look, and changed his tone to pleading. "Can you just please tell me what it is? It will make my curiosity go away, I know it!"
Cyborg seemed to think it over. He chewed his lip, eyes focused on the pot of liquid. His shoulders deflated with a large breath. "I'll tell you B, but only because I think this is the coolest thing ever." Beast Boy pumped his fist in the classic yes motion, which made Cyborg snicker and roll his human eye.
"Alright." He waved Beast Boy to come over. The green teen turned into a spider monkey and hopped onto Cyborg's round metal shoulder. The half-robot pointed at the pot. "Robin commissioned me to work on a serum that will turn him and his costume invisible for a certain amount of time." Beast Boy's ears pricked, and his tail curled up in excitement. He gave his friend an excited monkey smile. Cyborg laughed and picked up the two slides. "This one," he began, holding the now clear-looking slide up, "is the organic component: Rob's blood. It took me a few tries, but I managed to create a mixture that works perfectly." He held up the other slide, the wet piece of cloth. "This is a piece of one of Rob's old costumes. It's the inorganic component." Cyborg's jaw set into a decidedly frustrated line. "And I can't for the life of me get this to disappear!"
Beast Boy hopped back onto the floor and morphed into his human form. He leaned over the table, his face directly above the watery mixture. "So, it only works on the…organic part?"
"Yeah," Cy sighed. "It's a work in progress. Right now, it's practically useless. Unless Robin wants to spy naked." Both boys burst into laughter at the image. Robin was notoriously uncomfortable with nakedness in general. Even if he was invisible, he'd probably be too embarrassed to leave the bathroom.
Cyborg stood up and stretched, his metal joints creaking as he did so. "I'm starving," he commented. As if to agree, his stomach grumbled loudly. "I'm gonna grill some hot dogs. Want me to throw in some tofu dogs too?"
Beast Boy's eyes widened. It wasn't often that Cyborg offered to cook what he believed to be the most disgusting thing ever. "Yeah, dude!" Laughing and playfully shoving each other, the two teenagers raced to the elevator.
…
Normally, Beast Boy kept promises he made. All of the Titans agreed that he was very trustworthy. But if Cyborg really thought that Beast Boy wasn't going to try out the "invisible sauce", he was very much mistaken.
After filling up on tofu dogs and starting up a video game with his best friend, Beast Boy sneaked back down to the garage. Of course, he went down through the vents again. Cyborg would find it suspicious if he went into the elevator.
Arriving at the garage, Beast Boy crawled out of the vent and promptly morphed back into himself. He hit the ground almost silently, legs crouched beneath him and fingers splayed to remain steady. The light had turned on with motion, and he had to squeeze his eyes shut while adjusting. A few floors up he picked up Cy yelling at the television. A football game was on. Beast Boy smiled. Perfect.
Standing, he padded over to the little pot, which sat where Cy had left it. A small lid covered the top. He picked it up and stole a glance at the liquid. There was definitely enough so that Cyborg wouldn't notice the small amount missing. Replacing the top, Beast Boy set to work on removing his shoes.
Nakedness had never been something that bothered him too much. Beast Boy was comfortable in his own skin. Considering that animals didn't wear clothes, it was sort of a requirement. Of course, if he happened to be caught naked or very suddenly become naked unwillingly in his human form in front of people, he'd be extremely embarrassed. But then again, wouldn't anyone?
Removing his last piece of clothing – a pair of purple boxers – Beast Boy realized how incredibly weird it was that he was completely naked in the garage. It was kinda cold. Rubbing his hands over his arms to try and warm himself up, he turned back to the pot. Now for the hard part.
Gingerly, he took off the lid. The pot was large enough that he could fit both of his hands into it without much trouble. Taking a breath, he shoved them in. The serum was lukewarm, and didn't immediately give him an unpleasant feeling. Beast Boy cupped his hands and brought the gold-tinged water substance up to his face. He screwed his eyes shut and splashed it over his face. He quickly rubbed it all over his face and ears as well before moving onto his neck. Another handful of the liquid effectively covered his torso, and another two covered his arms and legs. At some point, his skin began to tingle slightly, which probably would have worried anyone else. But Beast Boy was too excited about the pranks he was about to pull to worry about any adverse effects.
Once his whole body was successfully wetted, Beast Boy opened his eyes and looked down at himself. A wide smiled cracked his lips as he watched the last of the green fade away to show the concrete below him. He was completely invisible. And also naked. Which was beside the point. Some legendary pranks were about to go down.
…
Robin was victim number one, mostly because he was the easiest to find. All Beast Boy had to do was follow the sound of blasting dubstep to the gym, where his leader was laying waste to a punching bag. Beast Boy stood in the open doorway, watching Batman's protegee land hit after hit on the now mostly-duct-tape bag. Robin was totally oblivious to the presence of Beast Boy, something that was already a success. It was a serious challenge to sneak up on the boy wonder.
A prank quickly formed. Holding back a giggle, Beast Boy slunk into the corner of the gym, where the boom box sat. Stacks of CD's surrounded it, separated into everyone's different work out tastes: classic rock for Cyborg, rap for Beast Boy, pop for Starfire, electronica for Robin, and deathcore for Raven. And then of course there was a small pile of albums they all liked and could work out to.
Beast Boy flattened his ears as the computer-generated beat berated his hearing. He could enjoy this type of music, but it was played so loud that Beast Boy had a genuine worry that his ears would start bleeding. Reaching out a finger, he pressed the pause button.
The music abruptly stopped. Robin whipped around, still breathing heavily. The leader surveyed the room, one eyebrow raised suspiciously. He shook his head, a few drops of sweat falling from his thickly gelled hair as he did so. Grumbling something about glitches, the Boy Wonder trekked over to the radio and pressed the play button. The music returned in full force. Robin nodded and started walking back to his previous post. Beast Boy waited until he was halfway to hit the pause button again.
Robin stopped mid-step. He turned slowly back to the boom box, his eyebrows drawing together in confusion. "What the..?" Beast Boy stifled another giggle. His leader stomped over to the CD player. He leaned in close, as if something would tell him why the machine wasn't doing what he wanted. He pressed the play button, and the music immediately came back.
"Weird," Robin murmured. His eyes were narrowed behind his mask. Beast Boy stuck his tongue out at Robin, well aware that he'd never be able to do this in any other circumstance. The leader rubbed his chin thoughtfully, and then went back to the punching bag. When Beast Boy hit the pause button again, Robin shot an annoyed glance at the boom box but continued his routine.
The disappointment that this didn't get a rise out of Robin didn't last long with Beast Boy. Instead, the shapeshifter took this as a chance to quietly change the CD. Once the exchange was made, Beast Boy pursed his lips against the laughter bubbling in his throat and pressed play.
It would be an understatement to say Robin was shocked when "Call Me Maybe"began blasting from the speakers. Thankfully, the blast of noise covered up Beast Boy's peals of laughter. The forbidden CD, as the leader had dubbed it, had lain dormant at the bottom of Starfire's pile for much too long. Beast Boy knew for a fact that Robin would be humming it for the rest of the afternoon.
…
When it came to pranking Starfire, Beast Boy generally steered clear. Ever since the incident with the motor oil and the whole "klorbag" thing, Beast Boy tried not to piss the alien girl off. Even if she was ridiculously easy to prank. But now that he was invisible, Starfire would have no clue who was pranking her. No harm, no foul, right?
Beast Boy stared at her bedroom door, which was closed. Inside, he could hear Starfire humming something probably Tameranian. Every few seconds she would let out a piercing giggle, and Silkie would chortle in return. Beast Boy wanted to formulate a plan that would confuse and possibly annoy the princess, but not cause her any harm. It would probably not bode over well for him if Starfire started firing starbolts in random directions, which is what she usually did under "surprise attack" circumstances.
So he did what first came to mind: he knocked.
Starfire immediately stopped humming. His ears twitched as he listened to the shift in air currents, a telltale sign of Starfire's movements. She slid the door open, a cheerful smile plastered to her face. Beast Boy held back a tiny giggle as this smile was quickly replaced by a confused expression. "Hello?" she chirped. Her bright green eyes stared right through Beast Boy. "Is anybody here?" The alien quirked her head to look down both sides of the hallway, and shrugged when she saw nothing. The door slid shut.
Beast Boy waited for her to start humming again before he knocked a second time. The currents shifted again; she was moving faster. He barely had time to stumble back before Starfire opened the door, her smile returned. "Friend! You have –" Her words cut off as soon as she realized she was speaking to no one again. One of her small, red eyebrows jutted up in suspicion. "Perhaps someone is playing "the joke" on me," she murmured, apparently to herself. Beast Boy bit his lip to keep in a laugh. The poor teenager was so confused. Starfire began to close the door, her eyes narrowed.
Before it could close, Beast Boy loudly rapped his knuckles three times on the wall next to her door. Starfire squeaked in surprise. She opened the door all the way and looked up and down the hallway. Her pupils were wide and her mouth was slack. She patted a slender hand down the spot where Beast Boy had knocked. As if on a whim, she slammed her fist through the wall. Okay, Beast Boy hadn't been expecting that reaction. It was a good thing he would get away with this, or else Cyborg would kick his butt all the way to Tameran.
Starfire inserted her hand into the wall and dug around a little. "Hello?" she whispered into the hole. "Is someone stuck?" When no answer came, she took her hand out of the wall and wiped the dust off onto her lavender skirt. Beast Boy couldn't help it – a tiny laugh escaped his lips. Immediately, he slapped his hands over his mouth, eyes wide.
Starfire turned her attention to where Beast Boy was standing, but still looked incredibly confused. Suddenly, a realization dawned on her pretty face. "Oh, Zhal," she whispered. "This is…the PARANORMAL ACTIVITY!" A loud screech followed these words past her lips, effectively covering Beast Boy's burst of laughter. Starfire slammed through the closed door, sending it to the floor, and grabbed up Silkie in her arms. The maggot let out a surprised gurgle. Still screaming, Starfire used her eyebeams to blast a hole in the window and swooped out, taking Silkie with her.
Apparently, forcing the Titans to watch that movie the previous Friday (it had been his turn to choose, after all) had been a good idea.
…
Pranking Raven was about as easy as nailing jello to a wall. The empath was, number one, extremely hard to find when she wanted to be left alone, and, number two, virtually impossible to sneak up on. But Beast Boy had a natural knack for tracking, and hopefully his current invisibility would cover him a little. Also, it was probably only a matter of time before Cyborg went down to the garage and found the changeling's clothes. Beast Boy had to make the most of the time he had left.
After following traces of her scent until he found the most recent, he followed the trail straight to the little library/reading room. The door was shut, but the smell – lavender and chamomile – was strongest here. Raven was definitely in this room.
As quietly as possible, Beast Boy slipped his hand into the handle of the door and pulled it open. There was barely a squeak, and he applauded himself. Raven's hearing wasn't necessarily superb anyway, especially when she was engrossed in something. Beast Boy slid the door shut behind him. The reading room was dark, but in the corner he picked out soft candlelight. He began to tiptoe over the carpet towards the light source.
Raven was sitting cross-legged on a beanbag, her cloak spreading out behind her. She had her hood up, but he could just barely see the glint of her violet eyes reflecting the candlelight. Her long, pale fingers were wrapped around a large, old looking book. Beast Boy wrinkled his nose. Why Raven liked spending her free time hanging with ancient, dusty books was anybody's guess. If she sensed him in the room, she made no move to mention anything.
Beast Boy crept around and behind her, trying to decide how to confuse the sorceress without getting his butt kicked. He knelt down behind Raven, his face level with the short table beside her. A row of white-ish candles lined the center of the table. Taking in as big a breath as he could muster, Beast Boy blew them out.
Almost immediately, Raven snapped her fingers and the candles relit. Beast Boy cursed under his breath. He moved slightly, so he was crouching above Raven. Quickly, he snatched her hood off her head. Her violet hair ruffled a little in the sudden change. As soon as Beast Boy let go of the navy fabric, it became encased in a black aura and lifted itself back over Raven's head. Beast Boy nearly audibly growled. He could picture that smug smirk on her face.
Ultimately, he decided that the best way to use his invisible time with Raven was to sit in front of her and make faces to amuse himself. He clambered around the sorceress and plopped down in front of her. He had to admit, it was a little weird to be sitting naked on the carpet in front of Raven. He probably would have never guessed this would be happening when he woke up this morning. Raven's eyes didn't move from the pages. Beast Boy stuck his tongue out at her. He pulled on his ears and crossed his eyes. He tried out every face he could think of. About two minutes in, Raven's eyes glanced up.
And immediately met his.
"I appreciate the quiet, Beast Boy," she rasped. "But are the faces necessary?"
Beast Boy was absolutely dumbstruck. His jaw hung slack, and his heart began to speed up with a very sudden panic. Raven rolled her eyes. "Also, clothes are appreciated in my presence. This isn't the wild or whatever."
The changeling swallowed. "You…you can see me?" he stuttered.
Raven nodded slowly, her eyes re-glued to the book. "Too much for my liking."
Beast Boy looked down at himself and let out a squeak of surprise. At some point during his time with Raven, the invisible sauce stuff had worn off. And here he was, sitting in the full buff on the library carpet. In front of Raven. In sudden panic over his appearance, Beast Boy shifted into a mouse and scuttled as quickly as he could for his room.
As he was running out, he could have sworn he heard a soft chuckle.