April Fool

"Are you sure about this?" Kid Flash asked Beast Boy as they crept through Titans' Tower. "Pranking Raven this early might not do anything but get our butts kicked out of the Tower."

"Dude, trust me", Beast Boy said confidently. "As long as we ensure that Raven can't get out of her room, we're home free to carry out all our tricks without her interfering." They stopped at Raven's metal door and Beast Boy put his ear to it. "All clear." He nodded to Cyborg. "Let 'er rip."

Cyborg chuckled evilly and overrode the computer lock system on Raven's door, then punched the pad to make it open. It slid open smoothly, revealing the dark interior of Raven's room. Raven herself was still sleeping, as it was still rather early.

Snickering, Cyborg quickly configured a virus-like program into the mechanism that operated Raven's door. "There", he said, folding the tools back into his mechanical arm. "Once this door's closed, there ain't no way Raven'll be able to get out before I delete the program."

At that moment, Raven stirred and Beast Boy gasped.

"Quick, out the door and let's lock her in before she can do any damage!" he exclaimed, pushing Cyborg and Kid Flash. The trio exited the room and Kid Flash brought his fist down on the 'close' button. The door slammed shut, and after a few minutes, they heard Raven grunting and cursing as she discovered she'd been neatly locked in.

"Mission accomplished." Cyborg grinned.

"April Fool, Raven!" Beast Boy called through the door. He and his fellow pranksters laughed and exchanged high-fives on a job well done before scuttling off to find their next victim.

Robin, as was his habit, was already up and practicing his combat skills on a dummy bag in the gym. He barely spared a glance at Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Kid Flash as they entered – which, as it turned out, was a mistake.

"Hi, Robin", Kid Flash said cheerily. Robin grunted in reply and continued punching the poor dummy. Kid Flash then ran through the line of Robin's fists so fast that it was only after several punches that Robin realized he'd been hitting nothing but thin air. He spun around to see Kid Flash standing casually to one side with the dummy.

"Kid Flash!" he said indignantly. "Put that right back where it was."

Kid Flash examined the dummy critically. "I'm not sure I should, Robin. The way this dummy looks, the next punch you throw at it is gonna burst it. You really should take it a little easier with the training, you know."

"Kid…" Robin growled warningly. "Put it back."

Kid Flash shrugged and deposited the dummy in front of Robin within the blink of an eye. "As you wish."

Robin eyed him suspiciously before turning and aiming a punch.

Instantly the dummy split open, showering feathers and seeds on a startled Robin, who turned and glared murderously at Kid Flash.

"Told you so." Kid Flash sped away to the door of the gym before Robin could reach him. "April Fool, Robin", he added, as if in afterthought, as he exited the room before Robin could do so much as shake the feathers off.

"Dude!" exclaimed Beast Boy between spasms of laughter. "That was priceless." He and Cyborg were practically rolling in mirth, and Kid Flash wasn't far behind.

"So, how long do you think it's going to take him to come out the door to find this?" asked Kid Flash after he'd stopped laughing, eyeing the real dummy, which Cyborg and Beast Boy had cunningly sneaked out of the gym after replacing it with a previously prepared replica during Kid Flash's speeding.

"Probably not long at all", Cyborg answered as a shuffle of feet from behind the door reached their ears.

"Then I say we hide." Kid Flash checked his watch. "At least till eight-thirty. Robin's pretty mad, and none of our other victims are up yet, anyway."

"Let's do that", Beast Boy agreed, as the door opened. But by the time Robin had gathered his wits to severely reprimand the three jokers, they had taken to their heels and disappeared.

Pantha rose from slumber at seven-forty-five sharp, without the aid of any alarm whatsoever. She went to take a shower, as she did every morning, but when she turned on the tap, she found that someone had shut the water supply off. Only a single drop fell from the showerhead when she tapped at it. Grumbling, she pulled on some clothes and made her way to the main water tap, which she twisted anti-clockwise. She smiled in satisfaction as she heard water sloshing through the pipes.

When she got back to the bathroom, she prepared to enjoy her shower, but again, something foiled her plans. She stepped under the shower head, head lifted toward it, turned on the tap, and…

FWOOSH! A strong, concentrated spray of water forced its way out and streamed into Pantha's upturned face. Sputtering, soaking wet, and trying to dislodge water from her nose, she heard mirthful sounds from outside and when she peeked, saw Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Kid Flash all laughing their heads off.

"A prank!" she cried. "You!" she yelled at the trio. "You just wait until I get my hands on you. They don't call me the Champ for nothing! You just wait!"

"April Fool, Pantha", Cyborg declared, unrepentant.

The three pranksters dashed away and headed for the target practice room, where Speedy would soon be coming to maintain his skill with his bow. There, they swapped Speedy's regular quiver of practice arrows and replaced it with another container that looked exactly like it, but the 'arrows' in it were trick arrows – some were tipped with tiny, very bouncy balls; others were too heavy to string; and still others were extremely slippery. Beast Boy had purchased this quiver at his local joke store, and he'd been saving it for a special occasion. This counted.

"Quick – is that Speedy?" Kid Flash asked, hearing footsteps. Cyborg held up his built-in scanner and read the heat signature.

"Yep. Let's make ourselves scarce." They disappeared into a supply closet so they could watch the show. Speedy entered with his bow slung across his back and picked up the quiver of trick arrows, thinking it was his regular practice quiver. The arrow he reached for just happened to be a bouncy-ball-tipped one. He strung his bow and drew back.

"And in three…two…one…" muttered Cyborg.

Right on cue, Speedy released the arrow, which hit the target and then bounced straight back at him. The astonished archer just had time to duck before the arrow whizzed past his head, its feathered end striking the wall behind him. Unfortunately for Speedy, though, he'd dropped the fake quiver, and the slippery arrows slid toward him while the remaining bouncy ones hopped up and down around him on their ball tips. The three jokers in the closet had to stuff their fists into their mouths to keep from laughing too hard.

"Arghh!" cried Speedy, as a blunted slippery arrow slammed into his heel, point first. He ran out of the room to escape, yelping all the way.

Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Kid Flash tumbled out of the closet, laughing hysterically.

"Dude…" wheezed Beast Boy, between giggles, "Totally…awesome…"

"Did you see his face?" said Kid Flash.

"His eyes were as big as saucers", agreed Cyborg with a huge grin.

"Trick arrows? Are you sure?" a new voice from outside was asking. The three pranksters jumped and hid behind the targets just as Robin entered the room with Speedy.

"Sure I'm sure", grumbled Speedy, seemingly recovered from his shock. He bent and picked up an arrow from the floor. "Look at this – a bouncy ball tip. Someone exchanged my regular quiver."

"And I'll bet I know who it is", said Robin. "Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Kid Flash."

"Those three are really asking for a death sentence", Speedy remarked murderously. "I should have known they'd come up with something. It's the first of April – the day of fools. Looks like they're celebrating it."

"It is their day", Robing agreed.

"Hey!" exclaimed Beast Boy, jumping up. "I resent that. I am not a fool."

Robin and Speedy exchanged glances, then raised their eyebrows in unison as they turned back to Beast Boy and began to slowly advance on him.

"Uh-oh." Beast Boy cringed.

"I can't believe he just popped up right in front of us after he heard our conversation", Speedy remarked to Robin. "Are you absolutely sure you're not a fool?" he asked Beast Boy, cutting off any escape route.

"I'd be a fool to stick around", Beast Boy said, morphing into a fly and escaping overhead, leaving two highly annoyed Titans thirsting for his behind.

As the morning wore on, the tricky trio played even more pranks on their ever unsuspecting teammates. They stuck gum in Herald's trumpet and threw a spider into Kole's room. They snuck Silkie out of Starfire's room, hid him in the supply closet with a blanket and a bowl of food, and watched the Tamaranian princess hunt high and low for her beloved pet, calling him for breakfast. They gave a small, cleverly disguised metal box to Gnarrk and laughed till tears came out when he opened it and yelped when he found it full of wires. They tied padded mittens onto Mas' and Menos' hands so they couldn't super-speed, replaced Argent's dark-coloured make-up with bright, vivid lipstick and eyeshadow, dumped a whole load of earth into Aqualad's favourite diving spot in the sea, and doused Hotspot with three bucketfuls of ice-cold water, which had the Moroccan teen spluttering and spewing curses and oaths as he chased them all around the Tower for nearly half an hour.

"Yiiii!" cried Beast Boy, taking to his heels as a soaking wet Hotspot ran murderously after him. "Chill out, Hotspot – it was only three buckets! Or maybe you need more to cool you down? Yipe!" Beast Boy instantly realized his mistake as Hotspot sent a thin blaze of fire (all he could muster while he was still leaving puddles everywhere) trailing after him. "Sheesh, it was just a prank!"

"Just a prank?" roared Hotspot. "I don't care for ice-cold water being poured all over me in the morning or at any other time!"

"It's called an April Fool's joke, Hotspot", said Kid Flash, supremely unconcerned about the Moroccan's rage, knowing he wouldn't be able to catch him.

"How would you like to help us get away from this maniac?" Cyborg asked Kid Flash pointedly, activating his rocket booster speed.

"Hmm…" Kid Flash pretended to think about it. "Oh, all right, then." He ran around Hotspot in a blur of red and yellow, allowing his two partners in crime to get away and hide, before speeding after them.

Raven crossed her legs and closed her eyes and attempted to calm herself down by meditating, but the fact that her door was still locked down did nothing to alleviate her annoyance.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos", she chanted. "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos."

"Raven?" A knock on the door accompanied Starfire's voice. "Are you in there?"

Raven exhaled and tried to bring her temper under control. It wasn't Starfire's fault that Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Kid Flash had locked her in.

"Yes, Starfire", she called, in what she hoped was a patient voice.

"Could you please open the door so I may come in and talk with you?" Starfire requested politely.

At this, Raven's irritation grew, but she forced herself not to show it in her voice and kept her eyes tightly closed.

"I would, Starfire, but Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Kid Flash have downloaded some sort of virus into the locking mechanism, so I can't get out."

"They have imprisoned you in your room?" Starfire sounded truly puzzled.

"Yep."

"That is why we have not seen you all morning?"

"Uh-huh."

"And you cannot get out?"

"Nope."

Raven sensed Starfire's mood changing from casual puzzlement to annoyed understanding, even as her own blood pressure rose increasingly high.

"Those three have been playing 'the pranks' on everyone else all morning, too. Did you know, they have taken Silkie and hidden him away somewhere. I still can find no trace of him."

"He's in the supply closet next to the broken-down washing machine on the third floor."

"Oh, thank you, Raven, I shall go get him immediately." There was silence outside her door, but Raven could still sense Starfire lingering there. She finally opened one eye, then closed it again and sighed.

"What is it, Starfire?"

"I just…" Starfire hesitated. "Do you not think that some punishment is necessary for Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Kid Flash?"

This time Raven opened both eyes and kept them that way. "Punishment?" she questioned, the merest hint of amusement creeping into her voice.

"Yes", Starfire said. "Payback. Perhaps we should turn their tricks against them. You would be able to find out what they have planned, would you not?"

"Probably." Raven found she had to, again, bring her seething temper under control at the thought of those three miscreants and what they had done to her door. "What did you have in mind?"

"Cyborg!" Aqualad howled when he discovered that his personal deep-water pod – his pride and joy that he had gotten Cyborg to help him build several months earlier – was missing from its usual spot.

"What?" Cyborg poked his head out of his tool shed. Noticing Aqualad's glowering expression, he said, "Oh. That."

"'Oh, that?'"repeated Aqualad. "This is the second prank you three have pulled on me today, and all you can say about hiding my submarine away somewhere is Oh, that?"

"I swear, I don't know what's with everybody today", Cyborg grumbled. "Honestly, it's April Fool's day, for Pete's sake. Can't you guys take a joke? And it's not a submarine, it's a deep-water pod."

"It's not just a joke, Cyborg, it's a whole bunch of them", said Kole, coming around the corner with Gnarrk and Argent. "Tell me, who haven't you pranked?"

"Um, let's see." Cyborg lifted his head and thought. "Two people. Jinx and Bumblebee. But that's just because we haven't been able to find them. They've been avoiding all contact with us. But don't worry, Beast Boy and Kid Flash are working on it." He grinned.

THWACK!

"OW!" Cyborg yelled, rubbing his head. "What is the matter with you? It's not like we're pranking you at the moment."

Argent lowered her red plasma energy hands. "Sorry, Cyborg. April Fool."

Suddenly Cyborg got the feeling that he and his fellow pranksters were in deep, deep trouble.

Beast Boy the fly fluttered around the corner and morphed back into his real form. "Any sign of 'em?" he asked Kid Flash.

"Yeah, I found Jinx. She's hiding out on the roof."

"The roof?" repeated Beast Boy. "It's almost noon! The sun's blazing up there."

Kid Flash shrugged. "It doesn't bother her. She's got an umbrella with her, and she's cool as a cucumber." He grinned. "At least, she will be, until we pull the 'Jinxed' prank."

"I don't know", Beast Boy frowned thoughtfully. "That was supposed to be the last one on the agenda – a big blazing finale to end the April Fool's celebration. Are you sure you can't find Bumblebee?"

"Sorry, BB, no trace of her. Wherever she is, she's hiding well and truly."

"Drat. And we had such a good trick planned for her, too."

"Well, what do you say? Shall we finish off this April Fool's celebration?"

"Let's talk to Cyborg first, but I'm with you."

"I'm serious, guys, if we don't pull 'Jinxed' soon, we're not gonna be able to enjoy the fruits of our success", Cyborg was saying as he paced around his room. He swatted at an insect that came too close.

"Cyborg, that's exactly what we came to talk to you about!" Kid Flash said exasperatedly.

"Really?" Cyborg stopped pacing. "Then why didn't you say so?"

"We would have, if you'd let us get a word in edgewise." Beast Boy looked a little sulky.

"Look, it's either 'Bee Sting' or 'Jinxed', or, if we don't act fast, neither", pointed out Kid Flash. "All the Titans are pretty annoyed with us – way more than what we anticipated - and if we don't decide soon, we'll have to hide for the next few years without our grand finale." He slapped at his knee. "Who let that fly in here?"

"Tell me about it!" exclaimed Beast Boy. "They were supposed to be mad for a bit, sure, but then they were supposed to calm down and see the funny side of it!"

"I hate to say it, but maybe it might not be the best idea to pull 'Jinxed'", said Kid Flash thoughtfully.

"What?" exclaimed Beast Boy. "You're kidding, right? Tell me this is your idea of an April Fool's joke on us. Stupid bug", he muttered as he waved the insect away from his head.

"Sorry, Beast Boy, but no. I'm serious. Everyone's really rather mad with us, and if we pull any more stunts, they might just lose their temper, and we'd be in real trouble then."

"You think?" said Cyborg, rubbing his temple. "Argent flipped a few minutes ago and whacked me in the head with that plasma energy of hers."

"Ouch." Beast Boy winced.

"There's something odd going on here…" Kid Flash trailed off as something sparked in his eyes. "Be right back." He dashed off, avoiding the pesky insect still buzzing around.

"Now where is he going?" Cyborg wanted to know.

Beast Boy shrugged. "Search me. I don't even – ahh!"

"Just as I thought. Raven's annoyance at being locked in is empathically being projected to everyone else, and unfortunately, all of that irritation is directed at us." Kid Flash leaned against the wall.

"Dude!" complained Beast Boy. "Don't do that!"

"And you just came up with this out of the blue?" questioned Cyborg skeptically.

"Well…not really. It just occurred to me that the one person who wouldn't see the funny side of our tricks is locked up, but also an empath, and a lot of Titans have been taking pages out of Raven's book. So I just put two and two together and went to check it out, and Voila! – I was right. Raven's emitting wave after wave of annoyance."

"So what do we do now?" asked Beast Boy.

Cyborg grinned. "We pull 'Jinxed', of course."

Kid Flash added, "And then we hide."

"I've got news!" Bumblebee flew into the main room and grew to her normal size.

"Please tell me it's something we can use against three particularly prank-loving male Titans", said Jinx.

"Hey!" protested Speedy.

"Not you." Jinx waved her hand impatiently. "You know who I'm talking about.

"Por supuesto! Nos tomó veinte minutos de conseguir esos guantes estúpidos lejos! (Of course! It took us twenty minutes to get those stupid mittens off!)" exclaimed Mas.

"Fueron rosa! (They were pink!)" complained Menos.

"Oh, it is." Bumblebee grinned. "Apparently they got freaked out by the intensity of the reactions they've been getting and decided to execute their grand finale early."

"I'd like to execute them", growled Pantha.

"Gnarrk!" agreed said Neanderthal.

"Wait your turn", Robin told them. "Two of those jokers are my responsibility."

"And the third is mine", said Jinx.

"So what do we do?" asked Herald.

"Number one", said Kole, putting up a finger, "We release Raven and set her loose. Number two: We make sure their planned trick doesn't go as planned. Number three: We kidnap them and put them at our mercy. And number four: we toss them out the window."

"I like that idea", Hotspot declared.

"How're we going to get Raven out of her room, though?" queried Argent.

Kole dug into her pocket and produced her omni-tool. "Cyborg's not the only one who's handy with technology. I bet I can get her out."

"Gnarrk!" smiled her best friend.

Raven opened her eyes as she heard pounding, banging, and screwing outside her door.

"What's going on out there?" she called.

"Kole thinks she can get you out", was Aqualad's reply. "Well?" he asked Kole. "Can you do it?"

"It looks like Cyborg uploaded a sort of lockdown virus", Kole responded. "We can't get her out with the computer governing the mechanism. But if we switch to manual…here we go. Help me push", she said to Pantha.

"Allow me", said Starfire. With one hand she slid the door open and Raven stepped out.

"Finally." The empath looked around with her dark eyes. "Now how exactly are we getting revenge on those three pranksters?"

Beast Boy the bird carefully moved the rope connected to the bucket of goo with his beak while across the corridor, Cyborg slit open a packet of high-quality sneezing powder and then cautiously positioned it inside a crevice in the wall that he and Beast Boy had been digging out all month.

"Powder's in position", he reported.

Beast Boy, still a bird, didn't dare nod until he had draped the rope across the railing that ran across the ceiling, letting the end dangle down to create a makeshift pulley. He turned back into a human and squinted at the rope.

"Hmm…you can still see it", he observed. "I think we got it in the wrong color – it's a shade too light."

"No problem", declared Cyborg. He produced a roll of dark-colored duct tape and proceeded to plaster the rope to the wall. "There! Unnoticeable."

"Yeah, but how're we going to pull it with tape sticking it to the wall?" demanded Beast Boy.

"Just yank it", Cyborg replied. "The tape isn't that sticky."

Just then Kid Flash sped into view. "The trip wire's in place, and so's the basin of water."

"Excellent!" said Beast Boy with relish. "Is that everything?"

"Yep", answered Cyborg. "Now all we gotta do is lure Jinx this way."

"Leave that to me", Kid Flash stated confidently.

"What are the exact details of their final trick again?" Aqualad wanted to know.

Bumblebee threw her hands up. "I don't know! They didn't exactly discuss it. All I know is it has something to do with Jinx."

"That means they'll probably be sending Kid Flash to lure her into it", Argent concluded.

"Ha!" snorted Jinx. "As if I'd fall for that, the way they've been pulling pranks all day."

"Maybe you should fall for it", said Bumblebee thoughtfully.

"Excuse me?" Jinx cupped her hand behind her ear. "Did I hear you right?"

"Yes", said Bumblebee. "See, they're probably expecting you to hex them with your bad luck powers, and they're also probably planning to dodge the jinxes in such a way that it hits the rest of us instead. How they're gonna do it, I haven't a clue, but if we can make sure that your curses actually hit them…"

"I see your point", said Jinx dubiously. "But we have no idea what they've planned. I'm not going to expose myself to their jokes unless we can come up with something better – and maybe not even then."

"I've got an idea", said Speedy. "Listen…"

Kid Flash came around the corner and found Jinx in the living room, reading a book. "Hey, Jinx", he called to his girlfriend. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Oh, no, you don't", said Jinx, not looking up from her book. "I'm not falling for that. Do you have any idea how many tricks you've played today?"

"Thirteen", Kid Flash replied instantly. "The unlucky number which is your lucky digit."

"Perfect", said Jinx. "Now go away."

Instead, Kid Flash dashed over to her and stuck his head beside hers. "Aw, come on. It'll be fun."

"No, thank you."

"You'd be entertaining people."

"Even more reason not to."

Kid Flash sighed. "I thought you'd be like that, but I was really wishing you wouldn't."

"Why's that?"

"Because now, I have to do this." And he yanked her book away and dangled it in front of her face, then gave her hair a gentle tug just enough to sting, and chanted, "Catch me if you caaan." Then he ran away in a streak of red and yellow.

"Kid!" Jinx yelled. She had to breathe deeply in order to not let her temper get the better of her. If she let her anger get in the way, their plan for revenge wouldn't work. "Get back here!" She started throwing hexes, but she purposely aimed them too much to the side or too high up.

"Missed", said Kid Flash, as a pink streak flashed by him. Another one shot high above his head. "Missed again. Gosh, Jinx, I've never seen you so sloppy."

Jinx said nothing, but she kept throwing hexes which missed while thinking to herself, Just you wait, you prankster. You may not see the purpose of these jinxes now, but you will…soon.

A tiny buzzing insect caught up to her, and she listened as Bumblebee told her about the traps Raven had sensed in store for her.

"Thanks for the heads up", said Jinx. "Tell Argent and Starfire they can start rounding the fellows up."

When Bumblebee relayed the message, the two energy-throwing girls blasted the hiding places of Cyborg and Beast Boy – whom Raven had also located – until the two were forced to vacate.

"Yo! What's the deal?" demanded Cyborg. "How'd you know where we were?"

"Oh, quiet down", said Argent, enveloping the both of them in a red plasma energy field.

Then Herald popped onto the scene and blew his horn (out of which Kole and Gnarrk had finally gotten the last vestiges of gum) just as Kid Flash came barreling through. The super-speeder dashed straight into the doorway Herald had opened, and Argent tossed his partners in after him before she followed with Starfire, Bumblebee, Jinx, and Herald, who then closed the portal after them.

The gateway landed them all right in the middle of the main room, where Robin, Raven, Speedy, Aqualad, Mas, Menos, Pantha, Kole, Gnarrk, and Hotspot were waiting. Raven trapped Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Kid Flash in a black sphere and watched them scrabble at it hopelessly in a futile effort to get out.

"Don't bother", she told them. "I'm taking very special pains to keep you in there."

"Hey, it was just a few jokes", said Beast Boy, trying to plead his case. "I'm sure after a few hours, we'll all look back and see that it was funny after all. Right?" He looked up hopefully, and Robin had to repress a smile.

"Sorry, Beast Boy, but I'm actually finding this funny."

"This isn't a prank!" Kid Flash protested.

"Oh, it is." Hotspot smiled evilly. "But the joke's on you this time. April Fool, guys."

"Si", agreed Mas and Menos.

Aqualad eyed the three pranksters. "If you tell me where my submarine is, we'll let you go."

"For the last time, it's not a submarine", exclaimed Cyborg exasperatedly. "It's a deep-water pod – I told you so when I built it. And it's buried under the mud in your diving spot."

"Mud?" cried Aqualad. He turned to Raven. "Toss them out the window."

"Hey!" objected Beast Boy. "We had a deal! We told!"

"I lied. And anyway, that was before I found out you'd buried my submarine in mud. Raven, if you'd do the honors…"

"My pleasure." Raven transported all the Titans to the roof to watch the show, then moved the black sphere over the sea and negated it. "Happy swimming", she wished them as they fell.

Then everyone added, above the howls and protests of the three falling Titans, "And April Fool!"

A/N: So, here's my April Fool's fanfic, as promised. I know it's probably not very funny, but for some reason it just wouldn't go any other way. Still, I hope you liked it. Happy April Fool's, guys. May the pranks be with you!

Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans.