Hey Everybody! It's me again! Okay, brief moment to explain the title- not only are they Jumping To Conclusions, but they live in Jump City! XD Sorry about that but it just thoroughly amused me. Anyways, I was reading Coulrophobia by BlatantBookworm the other day and was totally inspired. I wanted to use her plot except, when Beast Boy dresses up like a clown, he actually looks like the Joker and freaks Robin out (because I, personally, like to believe that a boy growing up in the circus wouldn't be afraid of just any clown). So, after confirming with her it was okay to use her idea, I went ahead and wrote this. I hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I actually don't think I own any of this. Teen Titans is the product of Cartoon Network and this plot is mainly BlatantBookworm's. (Who rocks out loud)
To be honest, Beastboy didn't even think his plan would work. Honestly, even when he first noticed it, he thought he was wrong because it just seemed impossible that the fearless boy wonder would fear something as ridiculous as this.
Clowns.
And, in a way, I guess he was right in the fact that he was wrong (if that even makes any sense). As the Titans learned, eventually, it was ridiculous to even think that a boy who actually grew up in a circus would ever fear clowns. But that was exactly the problem that got Beastboy into such a mess. Robin didn't exactly fear clowns… just that one.
*Thankyou*BlatantBookworm*Thankyou*BlatantBookworm*
It had all begun a few days before the actual incident. What had seemed a routine mission had led the team on a chase to the abandoned grounds of an old circus. The place was deserted and there seemed to almost be something close to nostalgia on the face of their leader (something perfectly understandable, when they all found out). To them, the fairgrounds seemed creepy and nightmarish, but looking at Robin's face… laughter seemed to drift out of the fluttering fabric that made up the walls of the half-collapsed circus tent.
Their leader returned to his poker face when the laughter of their villain was heard coming from inside the tent. Signaling quietly, Robin gestured for the team to surround the dilapidated home of the circus. At the sound of his battle cry, the team burst in, hoping to finally catch Mumbo. Instead of finding an abandoned tent inside, the circus was in full swing. Mumbos flipped around on trapezes above while Mumbo clowns squirted each other with flowers in the center ring. Starfire and Raven were entertained this time, as they were made part of the audience after admitting they had never seen a circus before. The boys, on the other hand, weren't as lucky. Robin was forced to be the trapeze artist (after being carried up by Mumbo's clown henchmen), Cyborg was the circus strongman, and Beastboy was the lion Mumbo attempted to tame. It took a while to find the real Mumbo, a magician entertaining the crowd of Mumbos instead of the ringleader as they first suspected, and to finally end the insane circus. After they went home to Titan's Tower, Robin locked himself in his room and refused to come out, saying he had experienced too much "emotional stress" at the circus and wanted to be alone.
And this is Beastboy's first evidence for his ridiculous conclusion.
*Thankyou*BlatantBookworm*Thankyou*BlatantBookworm*
This next day Robin bought the team tickets to go see what he called "a real circus." After yesterday, Robin thought that team deserved at least that (also, the fact that Haley's was in town and he was just looking for an excuse to go also helped). The first few acts seemed amazing to the titans but when the clowns came out (and the trapeze artists used them as a distraction to get to the top of the ladders for their turn without being noticed by the crowd (not that Beastboy noticed that)), Robin excused himself and didn't come back for the rest of the show. As he exited his old home, one of the clowns spoke to a stubborn audience member who refuse to laugh, and seemed to echo after their retreating leader, "Why are you folks so darn serious?"
A quote too perfect for Robin.
Once Beastboy got home, he analyzed the situation. When you have (or had) scientists for parents, it's hard to believe in coincidences, and Beastboy wasn't an exception to this rule. He then decided that this was solid proof that Robin experienced coulrophobia, or a fear of clowns.
*Thankyou*BlatantBookworm*Thankyou*BlatantBookworm*
It was the third day that Beastboy came up with his plan and was able to put it in action. After a good night's sleep, Beastboy woke up ready to prank his leader using the information he had unearthed the night before. He went to both the girls to search for make-up but was only able to get some lipstick from Raven, who had only gotten it after a trip to the mall with Starfire and didn't want it back. After a brief internal debate, Beastboy decided to let Cyborg in on his plan. Until he got his moped or he could mimic a flying animal with a pouch, he would need to get someone with a car. Anyways, Cy was always able to make pranks better with his insight. This included going about getting the clown make-up in a discreet way (like getting it while going for groceries) so they didn't tip off Robin.
After acquiring the clown make-up, both Cyborg and Beastboy utterly failed at putting it on him. The white powder was kind of thin, so they had to keep applying it until Beastboy's face was pure white to hide his green coloring. They ended up having to do that to his hands and neck also, to cover all the green. They also kept messing up the eye liner and ended up giving Beastboy two black eyes. In an attempt to give himself a clown's smile, Beastboy covered his lips and had his smile continue up the sides of his face.
When it came time to complete the finishing touches, Cyborg realized that he had forgotten to go out and find a wig and costume. They were able to find Beastboy's purple pimp suit that he planned to wear for Halloween and stole some of Robin's hair gel to make an afro. After spiking up his hair and making it look like a clown afro, they both realized that his pointed ears ruined the image. They attempted to pull it down again, and now it hung in long greasy strands past his earlobes, successfully hiding his ears and creating an insane looking clown. (Ok, imagine Heath Ledger as the Joker, except, instead of Heath, Beastboy)
Now that Beastboy was ready to prank Robin, it was time to get into position. They thought it would be hilarious if they invited Robin downstairs for a boy's night out to the movies and he came down the stairs to see a clown helping Cyborg finish repairing the last damages on the car from a few missions ago.
His face would be priceless.
After running down to the garage while Robin was distracted by Starfire's cooking, Cyborg called Robin on the communicator to meet them down their so they could leave for their night out. He quickly agreed (so he could get away from Starfire's food) and grabbed his helmet before going down the stairs. The smile on his face vanished and he paled when he saw Beastboy's makeover. Trying to hide his laughter by crouching on the other side of the T-car, Cyborg asked for the wrench, as they had planned on earlier (to continue the disguise that this was normal and they were just fixing the T-car). The clown, Beastboy, took the crowbar he had been twirling (like he had seen the police officer twirl his baton at the circus the other day) and passed over the top of the car and accidently dropped it on Cyborg, which knocked him out. (When I say this I mean that the crowbar slid over the top of the car and hit the mechanical part of Cyborg's head which made him reboot. It just seems to Robin that he knocked him out.) This caused the clown to bend over laughing in a high, hysterical way. When the clown turned around, Robin had no doubt in his mind and went into full panic mode. At the expression on his leader's face, Beastboy copied the clown from the day before with a semi-maniac smile.
"Why so serious?"
*Thankyou*BlatantBookworm*Thankyou*BlatantBookworm*
At the time, Beastboy had never truly appreciated how strong their boy wonder was. Or how fast. And truly, they were –still are- quite impressive. But it wasn't until his completely human friend practically flew down the stairs, grabbed his wrist and threw him across the room (And that was even over the T-car and the still-rebooting Cyborg lying on the ground) that he came to truly understand the training Robin put himself through every day. It had quite amazing results.
While Beastboy tried to stop the world from spinning around him, Robin had already run across the room and over to where he was laying. Over the roaring in his ears and the pounding in his head, he could barely make out Robin's rant about… shooting him? WHAT?And leaving Batman? What was Robin even talking about? He was about to ask when Robin's fist flew out and slammed his head into the wall behind him.
While Beastboy slumped down on the wall, Robin finally took a moment to analyze his apparently KOed opponent and quickly noticed something was very, very wrong. The Joker's mouth had opened to show almost fanglike teeth in the back. And, although he had grown, Robin knew that he wasn't supposed to be taller than the Joker yet either… Robin's fears were confirmed when the clown- no, his friend's head shifted and the hair fell to the side, revealing very pointy impish ears…
Robin fell back and almost screamed at this revelation. He had just beat up one of his best friends. He hadn't even considered that it might not be the Joker when he attacked, or wondered why he was here. And the resemblance was almost uncanny when Beastboy dressed up like that… Robin didn't have much time to ponder why Beastboy looked like that when he realized exactly what he had done to Beastboy. He immediately picked up the changeling in his arms and ran up to the infirmary, shouting at Starfire to go retrieve Cyborg from downstairs and for Raven to meet him in the infirmary to heal the other two titans…
*Thankyou*BlatantBookworm*Thankyou*BlatantBookworm*
It took Cyborg two more hours for his systems to finish rebooting and for him to come back online.
It took Beastboy twelve.
Robin refused to leave his bedside, even after he woke up, and would not stop apologizing for mistaking him for the Joker and beating him up. Thinking he would finally leave the room if he started asking questions about who, exactly, the Joker was and why he has anything to do with Batman, Beastboy pestered him for answers on what he remembered from Robin's rant earlier. What he didn't expect was Robin's guilt that led him to answer everything- starting at the beginning of who he was and how he came to be. Beastboy could only laugh afterwards, which offended Robin (or should I say Dick), until Beastboy explained why he dressed up as the clown in the first place, and then they laughed together. After Beastboy's acceptance of his past, Robin gathered his courage and his friends in the living room, and then explained to them what he had already told Beastboy, and Beastboy explained their prank to those who didn't already know. Everyone was silent afterwards, quietly contemplating the series of events. Cyborg, unsurprisingly, was the first to break the silence.
"Man, I think I hate clowns."
Thank-you for reading! Please review (You know you want to!).
(Oh, and, if I didn't mention it before, THANK-YOU BLATANTBOOKWORM!)