This is an old story, which I am republishing. I will update every day, since I am a little too busy to update Deathstroke as fast as I would like. And don't worry, this story is already written, so it won't interfere with Deathstroke, which I will update sometime next week – The Force

-( - )-

Starfire spread the vanilla icing on the towering cake, all nine layers, while Cyborg supervised her with a watchful eye. The princess wielded the silicon spatula with an expertise that surprised the tin man, a true artist in her element. She touched up a final spot and after hovering away from the monstrous cake she gave it one final inspection.

"I am ready to commence the lettering."

Cyborg handed her the pouch with the green frosting. The cake was almost 5 feet tall, so instead of writing the inscription on the top, she skillfully placed it on the side, using stylish cursive characters.

'Happy 18th Birthday, Beast Boy', the cake boldly proclaimed.

"Good job, Star, it's perfect … Raven, Robin … you guys done yet?"

The sorceress was busy getting the other food items ready for the party, which included several tubs of ice cream, all sorts of candies and custard made from an Azarathian recipe she had found, but which Cyborg prepared as the sorceress was still a terrible cook. He even gave the alien dessert a name: Azaflan. For some reason, Raven didn't that was funny. Robin had just finished setting up the decorations.

"I'm going to call for him." The boy wonder announced as he whipped out his communicator. Before he could summon the changeling the elevator doors opened, and the green Titan emerged with an open newspaper, which he was busy reading and impeded his vision, completely blocking the birthday party scene from his sight.

"Did you guys see the news? Someone broke into a local lab and freed all the lab animals … again."

As he lowered the paper his friends shouted "Happy Birthday!" Well, Raven mumbled the congratulatory phrase, but at least she said it.

The changeling grinned and put the newspaper down.

"You guys remembered!" He shouted back at them.

"Like we would forget … don't act so surprised grass stain."

Confetti and streamers began to fly as Starfire placed silly hats on everyone's heads. Raven began to protest her headwear, but upon receiving a death glare from Starfire she fell silent. The Tamaranian then handed her a party favor.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" She protested.

"I believe you're supposed to blow." Robin answered as he blew on his own party favor, which made the customary vibrating whistle as it unrolled.

"I'm thrilled … can I go now?" She replied.

"Leave? But the party is just beginning!" Starfire enthused as she blew her own party favor in Raven's direction. The sorceress did not betray any expression on her face.

"Yeah, you can't leave Raven … the fun's only just begun." Cyborg interjected.

"I don't do fun."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Plus you have to give BB his present."

"It's already on the table, so if you will all excuse me, I'll just …"

"Nuh uh! Not that present." He replied as he pinned a large button on the changeling's chest. Beast Boy turned around, and the button, which was six inches in diameter and with flashing lights it proudly proclaimed its message: "Kiss me, it's my 18th birthday!"

The changeling wagged his eyebrows at Starfire, who giggled with delight as she clapped her hands and hopped on her feet. She then proceeded to lift the birthday boy form the ground and planted a kiss square on his lips. He blushed while she continued to giggle, and she then placed him in front of Raven. He smiled sheepishly while Raven frowned.

"I don't do kissing." She harrumphed.

"Say Raven …" Robin asked in a voice with a hint if mischief sprinkled on it "Have you ever … you know … kissed a boy."

"That's irrelevant." She answered in her most deadpan of monotones.

"Oh Raven … you should have told me … I have the magazines that could help you."

Raven sighed.

"I know how to kiss."

"Oh yeah, then how about you show us, little lady?"

Raven glared at Cyborg. She would make him pay for that remark later. Nevertheless, she knew she was cornered. Of course, she could just phase into the floor and disappear, but if she did that she would never hear the end of it.

"Fine." She moaned as she rolled her eyes.

She leaned forward and gave Beast Boy an imperceptible peck on his left cheek. Once again, the changeling blushed and so did Raven.

"Aw, c'mon Raven, you can do better than that!" Cyborg taunted her. "That has to be the wussiest birthday kiss I've ever seen."

Raven glared at him. "That's as good as it's going to get … anyway … aren't we supposed to sing happy birthday and eat cake now?"

"Will you be joining us in singing the happy birthday to Beast Boy?" Starfire asked.

"I don't …"

"Yes, we know, you don't do singing either." The four Titans replied in unison.

Raven frowned.

"Fine, have it your way. You do remember what happened when I sang at the Karaoke bar last year …"

Cyborg made a dismissive waving gesture with his hand.

"Their equipment was junk … your voice had nothing to do with it exploding."

"Yeah … riiiight." She replied. "Don't say I didn't warn you."

The party continued. Nothing blew up when Raven joined in to sing happy birthday to the changeling. The cake was perfect and a good time was had by all, even Raven. Soon they were lounging on the ubiquitous crescent shaped couch, finishing off the final remnants of the cake, and that was when the call came in. It was Police Commissioner Bermudez. Robin answered the call and routed it to the giant TV screen.

"Good evening, Titans … am I interrupting anything?" He said as he noticed the party decorations in the room.

"We were just winding down. What can we do for you, commissioner?" Robin replied.

"It's the lab break ins. We haven't been able to make any progress identifying the perps. The labs all have security cameras but whoever is setting the animals free is disabling the video. And any security staff present is always knocked out before they know what's happening. Sometimes it's gas, sometimes someone hits them, each time it's different."

He paused.

"We have no idea who's behind this …"

"Say no more, commissioner, we're on it. Whoever is doing this is as good as caught." The Boy Wonder bragged.

"Thanks, Robin, I'll sleep better to night knowing the Titans are on the job."

The call ended, the Titans removed their party hats and Beast boy removed his oversized flashing button. Playtime was over. The Titans quickly got down to business. Robin displayed a city map on the giant TV and pin pointed the remaining labs in the city, which were 17 in number.

"We can't guard them all, so …"

It was then that Beast Boy interrupted his leader.

"Hey, Robin."

"What is it Beast Boy?"

"Umm … do you think it would be OK if I sat out this mission?"

Robin gave him a puzzled look.

"We need everyone working on this. Is there a reason?"

The green Titan nodded.

"Well … you see … I … I think it's wrong to use those animals for experiments. I know it's the law and all that, but … I'd rather not be a part of that."

Robin paused and thought it over for a moment.

"The team can't work that way Beast Boy. We can't pick and choose which laws to enforce, just because we don't like them."

"Dude! Do you have any idea of what they do to those animals? Remember when I got soaked with those chemicals that made the Beast come out? They were going to use those chemicals on those lab animals. There's no way I'm helping to catch whoever is doing this. Heck, I'm actually glad that someone is busting those animals out!"

Robin gave the changeling an indignant glare.

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear you say that. And you need to put your feelings aside, Beast Boy; it's our job to catch criminals, no matter how much we might sympathize with their cause."

Raven cleared her throat.

"I disagree, Robin. Beast Boy feels very strongly about this. It would be wrong to force him to be involved. And to be honest, I share some of his feelings on this matter, just not enough to sit out the mission, but I would if I felt strongly enough about it."

Robin, slowly shook his head, clearly looking torn. He stopped shaking his head and sighed.

"Ok, I'll give you a pass this time, since these guys are probably just lightweights, most likely idealist college kids."

He then addressed the whole team.

"But I don't want this to become routine. The team needs to work together if we're gonna be effective."

The four nodded their agreement, and Robin proceeded with planning the mission.

"Since we can't be at all the labs at the same time, Cyborg and I are going to install some of his stealth surveillance tech in the labs. The intruders might knock out the labs' security cameras, but they won't be able to disable our own, since they won't know we put them there."

Robin continued.

"Star and Raven, you can stay with Beast Boy and hold the fort, in case there are any other emergencies while we're gone."

-( scene break )-

A week had passed and there had not been a single lab incursion during that time. In fact the whole city seemed quiet as the usual collection of villains seemed to be staying under the radar for the time being. It was the end of another uneventful day. They were having takeout Mexican for dinner, and the changeling scarfed down a bean burrito in nearly a single gulp, washing it down with a glass of root beer. He then made a funny face, after which he burped loudly.

"Eww" Raven protested while Starfire giggled. The Princess then followed up with a burp of her own.

"Not another burping contest!" The gray witch complained.

The changeling rose from his chair.

"Not today, Raven. I'm off to the comic book store. Anybody wanna come?"

The other four Titans declined his offer, and the changeling departed on his own. He spent a couple of hours at the comic book store. He was approached by some fans and signed a few autographs. After perusing through the countless stacks of new comic books, he selected a few, paid for them and headed back to the Tower, morphing into a pelican as he flew back across the bay to his T shaped home, with his precious new comics safely tucked away in his flappy beak.

As he approached the island he saw that several California sea lions were on one of the island's beaches. He flew down and landed near them, spitting out his comic books before reverting to his human form. The Sea Lions began to bark at him. He cocked his head trying to decipher what they were saying. Not making any progress in his human form, he morphed into a sea lion.

Hey, want to go explore the bay with us? One of the sea lions barked.

The green sea lion barked back his affirmation, and took off with his new friends.

He didn't return until just before sunrise.

-( scene break )-

Robin was sleeping in his bed, wearing his costume as he always did. If anything the boy wonder lived up to the Scout Motto: Be Prepared. And he was, as the Towers sirens began to blare a 2AM, and he instantly leaped out of his bed and ran to the common room. He arrived first, as usual, and his fingers danced across the console's keyboard as his teammates arrived.

"It's a break in at Muta-gene Labs." He announced as he continued to type.

"Isn't that the lab where Beast Boy was doused with those chemicals?" Raven asked.

Robin briefly looked up.

"I think you're right. Where is Beast Boy anyway?" He replied before looking down and typing some more.

"Probably still in bed, I'll go get him." Cyborg volunteered.

"Never mind, I just got a live video feed from the lab ..."

The giant TV came to life and was split into four sub screens. The first one showed three security guards, one slumped over his desk and the other two were supine on the floor.

"Sensors say they're only unconscious." Robin announced.

"Where are the thieves of animals? I don't see anyone."

"They have to be there somewhere." Robin growled. "Come on you cowards, show yourselves." He commanded the screen.

As if on cue a figure wearing a blue hoodie appeared in one of the screens. His back was facing the camera. He swaggered into the lab with a confidence that was borderline arrogant. He approached one of the banks of cages, kneeled down and began to unlock them. The animals all bolted and ran out via an open emergency exit to their freedom on the city's streets.

"Come on, turn around, you can do it." Robin cajoled the mystery man.

After opening all the cages he did turn around. While he was small he walked very deliberately, he was clearly a man on a mission and his body language expressed his pleasure with that night's outcome. One of the stealthy cameras was above the emergency exit and the stranger, his face still shrouded by his oversized hood, remained anonymous.

"Should we head out there?" Raven asked.

Robin shook his head.

"Too late, he's already leaving. At least we know it's a single person and he moves fast. Now we'll be ready when he strikes. It's too bad we didn't get a look at his face, maybe next time we will get …"

The stranger stopped at the door. To everyone's surprise, he removed his hoodie and tossed it into a dumpster on his way out. Robin resumed typing furiously at the console, rewinding the last few seconds of footage and playing it back in slow motion, hoping to get a look at the intruder's face.

"I think I got it." He crowed.

A blurry image appeared in the screen as the stranger was moving quickly as he left. It was but a single frame, but it would do. Robin resumed typing.

"Applying de-blurring algorithm … I think we got him … where's Beast Boy?"

The algorithm was powerful, but slow. The image updated slowly, one line at a time, putting the 4 Titans patience to test. After a few moments enough of the perp's face was visible to ID him. Starfire was the first to react, and she gasped loudly, following by Raven moaning her disbelief.

"No, it can't be." She groaned.

"Let me double check. He's gotta be in his room." Cyborg shouted as he ran off.

"Beast Boy? Please, be in your room." Robin whispered to himself as the three continued to stare incredulously at the screen. He resumed typing more commands.

Cyborg burst back into the common room.

"He's not in his room."

Robin dropped his head.

"He's not in the Tower, I just did a scan."

"So, our friend, our teammate …"

"I'm afraid there's no other explanation, Star." Robin pointed at the screen, which still displayed the changeling's form.

"It was Beast Boy" He announced in a disappointed voice.

-( scene break )-

One chapter and I started with a cliffhanger.

This won't be one of my super long stories, so hang in there!