Chapter 12B

"Almighty Slide, Do Stand Aside"

"Raven! Raven!"

Raven mumbled in her sleep, pawing at her own face and kicking out her legs. Beast Boy was knocking furiously at the door, trying to wake up the sleeping empath before Cyborg knew what was up.

"RAVEN! Come on! Cy's gonna smell that jello or something sooner or later, and I definitely don't want it to be sooner!" the changeling shrieked. All he got in response was a discontented mumble.

"Stupid Raven," Beast Boy muttered to himself. "We're gonna get caught, and all because she can't wake up!"

"Rave, what's the password to your door?" the changeling yelled hopefully. There wasn't any response. He sighed and turned himself into a microbe reluctantly, sliding underneath the door in the miniscule form. He shifted back and looked at the peacefully sleeping empath. Her hair was spread across her face, and the way the sunlight hit her cloakless uniform made her glimmer against the shadowy contrast of her room.

Beast Boy absentmindedly felt his heart speed up at the sight of his snoozing teammate. He stumbled over to her and gently shook her shoulders. "Rave… Raven, come on, time to wake up," he whispered as she shifted and let out a tired murmur. Her eyes slid open, her dazed glance meeting the changeling's concerned one.

Raven immediately sat up, causing Beast Boy to back away in fear. She looked over at him before muttering something inaudible and pulling on her cloak. "What were you saying about the prank?" she hissed irritably. The changeling couldn't help but notice a tiny blush appear on her cheeks as she seemed to reconsider whatever dream she had been having.

"Uh, yeah, Cyborg is going to know something's up if we don't show up for breakfast," Beast Boy remarked. He checked the clock on Raven's shelf and winced. "Um, actually lunch."

Raven's gaze snapped over to her shelf. "It's eleven forty-five?!" she growled. "Why didn't you wake me up sooner?"

Beast Boy resisted the urge to facepalm.

The two made their way downstairs, Raven grumpily complaining about missing her cup of herbal tea until they reached the basement. Both Titans wrinkled their noses at the sight of several dead flies lying on the surface of the sludgy pool. "Aw, poor things," Beast Boy sympathized. "They must have wanted the sugar."

"Don't get off track," Raven warned. "You still need to set up an entire Slip N' Slide."

The changeling shrugged and went over to one of the boxes he and Raven had retrieved the day before, pulling out a multicolored slide. He set about to positioning it on the stairs while the empath dragged the pool to the foot of the landing. She looked up at the door near the top and mentally calculated how much force it would take to push Cyborg over the edge.

"Done!" Beast Boy shouted down cheerfully. Raven looked at the gigantic Slip N' Slide, flowing down the stairs neatly like a carpet.

"We could have saved by getting a tarp," she remarked dryly. "Besides, it looks like it's missing something," she added.

"What?"

She paused for a minute. "I don't know," she finally admitted.

"Oh, dude, I have an idea!" Beast Boy declared, flying out the door. He returned in a minute with a small jug of something in his hands.

"Maple syrup," he chuckled evilly. Raven couldn't help but smirk.

"You might be smarter than I let on," she complimented, taking the syrup from him using her powers. The empath tipped the jug until thick, brown sap flowed down the length of the Slip N' Slide.

The two grinned. It was so perfect. For once, nothing could go wrong.

Despite Raven's epic sleep-in, the two Titans made it to lunch more or less on time. Cyborg was already downing a gigantic meat sandwich with Starfire cheering from the sidelines, and Robin could be seen slowly chewing a granola bar by the table. Beast Boy pulled out a plate of tofu and started eating, while Raven put on a kettle for her tea.

"Friends!" Starfire paused from her encouragement to greet her fellow Titans. "Where have you been all the morning? Did you have the pleasant shlorvaks?"

"Totally," Beast Boy grinned, chomping a block of tofu. Raven shrugged without looking up from the stove.

"Glorious!" Starfire enthused. She pulled out a cup of mustard and started slurping away, turning her gaze back so she could keep watching Cyborg. Robin looked up at his girlfriend with a rare beam before taking a bite from his bar.

Raven looked at Robin. He was normally so serious, yet the Tamaranian seemingly erased troubles for him. She had no problem with embracing him, cuddling with him, kissing him, as long as he was happy. It was a strange phenomenon, and for some reason made Raven's heart ache slightly thinking about it.

She snapped out of her thoughts as the kettle let out a screech, scaring her considerably and causing her to leap a few feet into the air before she smacked at the handle to get it off the flame. Cyborg looked up at the commotion. "Geez, Rave, you seem kinda on edge today," he said worriedly.

"It's nothing," Raven replied monotonously. She poured her tea into a mug and sat down at the table, hearing Beast Boy polish off his last piece of tofu with a loud burp. Cyborg and Starfire cracked up at the noise.

"Oh, yeah, Cyborg, I've been meaning to ask you something," Beast Boy began casually. "It's about the pipes downstairs. They've been making this really weird noise at night and I wanted you to check them out."

"Sure, B," Cyborg replied. "Just let me finish this sandwich first." He shoved the remains of the bread and meat into his mouth, swallowing and beating Beast Boy with a belch of his own. The two started chortling, and Raven rolled her eyes.

Meh, Cyborg won't be laughing when he's cleaning jello mix and syrup out of his circuits.

Beast Boy starting making for the door, Cyborg and Raven trailing behind easily. Cyborg actually looked completely relaxed, and he seemed to not notice the furious staring contest the changeling and the empath were locked in. Suddenly, Beast Boy announced, "Uh, dude, I need to use the bathroom."

Raven raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Uh, yeah," the changeling confirmed sweatily. "You do, too," he added quickly, pointing at Raven. "So, can we, uh, check out the pipes later or something?"

Cyborg nodded. "I was planning on treating the T-car a bit," he assured. "I can wait."

Beast Boy gave a tiny nod and grabbed Raven by the cloak, dragging her around a corner and into the bathroom. He shut the door as fast as he could before leaning against it, panting.

"Beast Boy, what in Azar's name-"

"WE FORGOT CORNSTARCH!" Beast Boy exploded, staring Raven directly in the face. "WE WERE GOING TO TOTALLY GET HIM AND WE FORGOT!"

Raven took a moment to think. When she finally made the connection, she closed her eyes and slowly shook her head. "You know, I hate to say this, but I think we might have to go without it," she murmured. "I mean, jello's hard enough to clean, and it's not like it needs to be thick, anyway."

Beast Boy sighed. "I know, but I totally had this image of him just going 'splat'. I wanted to see that so badly."

"We'll make up for it somehow," Raven said very quietly. Beast Boy's gaze snapped over as her hand patted his shoulder awkwardly.

Raven immediately realized what she had done, and snatched her hand away embarrassedly. Beast Boy blushed.

"I mean, we'll find another way to really get him," she growled, trying to disguise her suddenly-high voice. "We don't much more time before Robin notices something's going on. I don't know about you, but I'm not wasting a perfect opportunity to see him get completely humiliated while he still can."

Beast Boy gave her a weak smile. "Yeah, I guess so," he responded. "But we only have a while to find something."

Raven smirked. "I think I have something in mind."

TT

Two hours later and the Titans were standing in the basement again. Raven had finished rigging up the sprinklers, and Beast Boy was standing near the stairs gloating about the idea.

"Oh, dude, it's going to be totally awesome!" he nearly yelled, before Raven slapped a hand over his mouth.

"Quiet down. We don't want Cyborg to hear us," she hissed.

"Sorry," Beast Boy giggled, snickers escaping his body as he walked up the stairs. "But, seriously, he won't even know what hit him." The green boy paused for a second. "You think he'll be ok?" the changeling added.

"He'll be fine," Raven muttered without any other real proof. She reached the peak of the stairs with Beast Boy at her side. "We have to wait for Cyborg to come to us, though. Otherwise he'll suspect something."

"Gotcha," Beast Boy grinned. "So, uh, I'll probably be playing video games, if you, you know, need me-"

Raven was already gone. Beast Boy sighed and sank down to the ground against the wall.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid," he moaned, really without knowing why. He looked down the hall to where Raven had disappeared. "She can't read and meditate all the time," he mused to himself. "I wonder what else she does in her room."

Little did he know, Raven was trying to fall back asleep.

Soon, Cyborg approached the green boy, who was playing Mega Monkeys 5 on the Gamestation. "Hey, B," he whispered behind his friend, causing the gamer to jump into the air with a surprised squeak.

"Finished with the T-car," he added, leaning against the couch. "Want to show me the pipes now?"

"Uh… sure!" Beast Boy announced uneasily. "Just… let me get Raven first."

"Raven?" Cyborg asked. "You've been spending so much time with her, you know. You sure you aren't past friendship?"

A cherry-red blush covered Beast Boy's face. "Uh, um, of course not!" he answered defensively. "She's all dark, and mean, and… creepy…"

"Something tells me you were going elsewhere with that thought," Cyborg smirked. "Nevermind, I'm fine with you bringing your lady friend along."

Beast Boy knew contradicting him would only lead to more one-sided arguing, so he just ran out of the room with a red face and shaky hands. He reached Raven's room and knocked on the door as fast as he could.

Raven opened the door. "Has he come back?"

"Yep," Beast Boy replied.

"Good." Raven shut the door behind her and followed Beast Boy down the hall. The two met up with Cyborg in the corridor one floor above the basement entrance.

"Pipes this way, Cy!" Beast Boy announced, starting down the hall. The two other Titans pursued him until they reached the fateful door. All three stood outside.

"Well, lead the way, Beast Boy," Cyborg invited.

"No, dude, it's way dark in there," Beast Boy replied. "You go first, you have the light on your shoulder."

"Alright," Cyborg gave in. He opened the door and took a step forward. Beast Boy bit his nails in anticipated and Raven got ready to shove him down the stairs with her powers.

"Psych!" Cyborg yelled, grabbing the two shocked Titans by their collars. They had nearly no time to react as Cyborg slung them in front, pushing them down the stairs. Beast Boy only had enough time to grab Cyborg, who was still holding the doorknob, before he slid down in the maple syrup.

All three Titans rocketed down the Slip N' Slide, screeching and yelling and flailing in the sticky mess. Raven banged her head against the railing a few times, and Beast Boy hit himself badly on a cement step. As for Cyborg, he was covered in dents by the time they reached the bottom.

Raven was the first to slide into the disgusting pool of jello and dead flies. She gagged and spluttered, managing to sit up for a second before Beast Boy came barrelling down on top of her. Cyborg flew over both of them and landed in the gross mixture, sending out foul ripples that lapped against the other two Titans revoltingly.

To make matters worse, Cyborg's hand had sent the door flying shut, sealing them all in complete darkness. Beast Boy would probably be ok in the dark, but the other two would have to depend on feel and hearing to find a way out. The only thing Raven felt at the moment was Beast Boy's repugnant uniform pressed up against her shoulders and face, and she slapped him off with a growl.

Cyborg slid out of the pool, coughing and yelling curses at the other Titans. The light on his shoulder slid out, but it was grimy and covered in dye from the pool. He stumbled over to what looked like the control panel for the overhead lights and opened it up.

"Wait! Cyborg! Don't-"

Beast Boy's plea was cut off as Cyborg flicked the switch for the boobytrapped sprinklers. Instantly, bags of sand poured onto the three metahumans trapped on the floor below, sticking to their sugary clothes and getting in highly uncomfortable places. Cyborg let out a furious yell and send an extremely rude hand gesture at the other Titans, who winced.

And then the water rained down. As Beast Boy had placed the night before, every droplet was multicolored and added a nice range of gradient color to the sand caked on their bodies. Raven let out an exasperated groan. Caught in their own brilliant plan.

Soon, the water stopped. The teammates were left dripping, sticky, gross, and angered and Cyborg turned on the real lights. He stood, glaring daggers at them both, in the burning artificial light.

"I knew you were planning something," Cyborg growled. "I knew it was bound to get me hurt, and that's why I pushed you forward. But I didn't expect it to be so rude, insulting, painful, humiliating-"

Beast Boy and Raven stared into the water, unable to look at their scolding friend.

"-Or well thought out, brilliant, and HILARIOUS!"

The teammates looked up in shock. Cyborg was bellowing with laugher, clutching his mechanical sides and rubbing his human eye with his least sandy hand.

"YOU GUYS TOTALLY GOT ME!" Cyborg yelled through his mirth. "That was great!"

Beast Boy nervously joined in the laughter. "So, dude, you're not like, mad at us?"

"Mad at you? I'm so mad I feel like throwing you off the roof!" Cyborg guffawed. "But you guys got caught in it, so it's not like I can do much more!"

"Aren't we forgetting the fact we just completely trashed the basement?" Raven asked quietly.

Cyborg gave her a smile. "Jeez, Raven, we'll clean it up. Can't we just have some time to laugh?"

Raven sighed, and let a smile slide its way onto her face. "Fine," she muttered.

Soon after, the three Titans set to work. Raven had made a point: if Robin and Starfire found out, there was a chance they would be put on some sort of evil punishment. So the empath took to cleaning the sprinklers, Beast Boy the pool, and Cyborg the enormous mess of sand.

It was hours before the great cleaning spree was over. The three met up in the center of the room, before Beast Boy finally initiated conversation.

"I'm not ever pranking you again, dude," the changeling moaned, wiping his brow.

"It was getting harder to come up with stuff," Cyborg admitted. Raven nodded in agreement.

"I wonder if Robin'll ever get over the ants," she mused, provoking laughs from her fellow Titans.

"Or you getting over the tarantula," Beast Boy added, making crawling motions to Cyborg, who slapped his hands.

"Don't forget that little sewer spa treatment of Rae's," Cyborg grinned. Raven glared at him, but Beast Boy chuckled a bit.

"So, prank war over?" the changeling asked.

"Prank war over," Cyborg agreed. The three Titans reached out their hands and took turns shaking with each other. Finally, Cyborg rubbed his head.

"Ok, I don't know about you guys, but I'm exhausted. I really need to go shower, and you should too. Besides, Robin will be suspicious if we don't show up for dinner."

"Yeah," Beast Boy agreed. He ran upstairs and found a towel in his room before hiking to the bathroom, where Raven was standing, waiting for Cyborg to get out. After a few minutes, the mechanical teen left the shower and went down the hall after the scent of grilled chicken. Raven and Beast Boy took their showers and met up with the rest of the team in the kitchen.

After dinner, Beast Boy found himself walking down the hall slowly. His head was fuzzy from the events of the insane day, and he was for once looking forward to bed. He heard footsteps behind him and saw Raven approaching.

"Hi, Rae," he greeted weakly. The empath simply nodded and fell into pace beside him.

"You ever regret everything we did to him?" she asked out of nowhere.

"Not really," Beast Boy admitted. "I mean, he did hook up the sewage line to your shower."

"Good point."

They reached Raven's room. She looked over at him. "Feels kind of nice that it's finally over."

"Yeah, I guess so," Beast Boy replied awkwardly. He could feel his face getting hot in such close vicinity to the beautiful empath. "I mean, it was fun, but it's kind of nice I don't have to watch my back anymore."

Raven paused. "That isn't necessarily true," she corrected.

"Why not?" Beast Boy asked, bewildered.

"Because," she took a step closer to him, "The battle might be over, but nobody really minds a small prank here and there, do they?"

"I guess you're right."

They were so close that their noses were touching. Beast Boy felt his eyes closing, his breathing slowing, his arms going slack. However, he immediately tensed up when he saw Raven shying away, opening up her door.

"I really should be going to bed now…"

He sighed quietly. "Yeah, me too, I guess…"

Raven looked at him. "You know, I never thanked you for staying beside me through that," she muttered. "I suppose I should."

"It's fine," Beast Boy assured her sadly. "I'll just go to bed…"

He stopped as Raven stepped in front of him. He looked up at her, his blush returning as she leaned forward.

The first technical time they had kissed, it had been an accident that the one to blame paid dearly for. The second time…

Felt like bliss. Beast Boy could feel every breath of air leaving his lungs as Raven's lips softly rested against his. It didn't last very long, and it wasn't really romantic, but it was a kiss, nevertheless. And it did feel very nice.

Raven drew back, a tiny blush spreading on her cheeks. "See you tomorrow," she murmured weakly, smiling.

"You too," Beast Boy whispered, still in a daze.

Raven nodded quietly and shut her door. She walked across the room and flopped down onto her bed. She could hear Beast Boy's receding footsteps down the hall, and she got up and closed the shades.

She went into her closet and got out the stuffed chicken. It really was too big to cuddle with, the way Starfire would do, and besides, Raven really wasn't one to cuddle. But even so, as the empath slid beneath her sheets, she affectionately punched the chicken before dropping it to the floor beside her.

"Goodnight."

A/N: WHEW.

12 at night and I'm done. I'm just the laziest person in the world, aren't I?

Well, I'm sad to say, but that concludes the epic saga of Sweet Revenge. I know, I know, it was super fun to write, but I do have other stories coming out. To everyone who was early on my account, I hope you'll be happy to know that Lost may or may not be the next story published. ;)

Also, if I do get to 200 reviews on this, the reward is a drabble and a piece of artwork done entirely on your prompt. Same rules as before.

And for this week's Titans Facts:

1. DID ANYBODY ELSE NOTICE THE SWEATDROPPING ATM IN CRASH?!

2. Animation error: Rorek the dragon in Spellbound seems to change size while fighting the Titans.

3. Despite what Brother Blood said in Titans East, it wasn't actually Socrates who said, "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em."