~RavensMind~
For the Excluded
Chapter 20: Clown of Chaos
"Inhabitants of the tower and manor were interrupted as shockwaves shook the area. We see a large explosion on the grounds of Robin's memory manor. The rising smoke rises high into the abyss of their minds. The emotions watch as the smoke swirls into the visage of a laughing clown."
Footsteps of the patrolling guards from the other side of his improvised cell door were starting to drive Beast Boy mad. He wasn't sure what time it was, but he could swear he'd been locked away for days. The only improvement in his condition was that now he had been fitted with a collar that stopped him from morphing, so he could be taken to the bathroom and fed. Joker seemed to think he had given Beast Boy something he had been missing. He felt more like an animal than he ever had when he morphed.
Luckily, he hadn't seen the Joker since, and the thugs guarding him didn't say more than they had to when dealing with him. He had been given some fast food a couple times and the thugs didn't care if it was vegetarian or not, despite his protests. He thought it might be poisoned at first, then one of the thugs stole some of his fries, and he was okay, so he decided he could eat. It wasn't four star food, but it was probably better than what someone would get in a gulag.
There wasn't much he could do aside from wonder why Joker had bothered to capture him at all. If he was a lure, it would make more sense to have him out in front of something, not hidden away in some cell. He couldn't get an idea of where he was from what the thugs said either. No one mentioned anything about a plan or who else was involved or if it was even in Gotham.
For hours, he tried to either busy his mind, or try and figure out how he could get out of his current situation. There was only one entrance to the room, no windows, no vents, and nothing he could use to disarm the bomb or get his collar off his neck. Hopeless. It could be worse, he knew that, but it was small comfort. He wondered if Cyborg and Starfire were okay, maybe he wasn't the only one to be captured. Maybe they were already dead.
Voices from the other side of the door made his ears perk up. Another moment passed before it swung open, and Joker strolled in with a couple of his thugs and a hooded figure. The unknown person had a ripped up gas mask on his face and several tubes across his arms and torso. Joker must have turned off the bomb before he entered the room. The masked figure examined him in the way a cat might eye a bag of catnip.
"Scared. Not quite as afraid as I would've hoped. No trouble catching him, I heard," the masked figure said.
"Simple! You have your high school science experiment, now where are my guns?" Joker asked.
"The shipment has yet to be unloaded. Patience, you'll get what I promised," the masked man said.
"I'd better, bag-face, otherwise I have no problem leaving this green bag of animals bleeding in a gutter," Joker threatened.
"So you've said. Do you know why Two Face has been busy lately? It's attracting the wrong attention," the masked figure said.
"If Two Face wants to blow up the city, it's only a problem for me because that's my job!" Joker responded.
"Also, the bat's sidekick has been spotted in Gotham again. This will make things more difficult. I need you to stick to our plan and get a few more guards. We can't deal with all of these heroes at once with what we have now," the masked man said.
"Are you afraid of what might happen?" Joker asked with a grin.
"Don't be ridiculous. We'll handle it. Just keep this one guarded until we're ready," the masked man said as he looked Beast Boy over.
"He's not going anywhere," Joker said.
"Tell me, boy, are you afraid yet?" the masked man asked Beast Boy directly.
"Yeah. Scared I might take out one of you dudes when I get out of here," Beast Boy retorted.
"Amusing. Next time, I'll run some tests on you, and discover just how buried your fear truly is, the masked man said.
"Bring it on, I've seen worse than you," Beast Boy said.
"Doubtful. I shall return and test that statement in a matter of hours, if you're still here, and in one piece," the masked man said before he started for the door.
"And bring me my guns!" Joker demanded.
The masked man left the room and one of the thugs shut the door behind him. Joker watched the man go before he turned to Beast Boy, considering him for a few moments. He sent the thugs out of the room and closed the door behind them. Alone with the Joker, Beast Boy wondered if he was about to be tortured or killed, but figured the first was more likely.
Joker removed a small, curved blade from his jacket pocket and looked from it to Beast Boy. He listened at the door before he approached and put a hand on Beast Boy's shoulder.
"Let me fill you in a little, hmm? I'll make you a deal, kid, I'll give you the score on bag-face and all you have to do is tell me about one of your friends," Joker said.
"Why should I?" Beast Boy asked.
"Bats will find you, I know that, it's up to you whether he finds you in one piece...or several," Joker threatened.
"Fine. What'd you wanna know?" Beast Boy asked.
"First, I'll share a few things with you. Scarecrow is using you as bait for your friends and Bats. He's building something big enough to gas all of Gotham with his fear gas in an abandoned factory on the outskirts of the city. Thing is, it doesn't really matter if Scarecrow gives me what I want, I'm taking it! What you need to know is: far above your head now, bombs are rigged for a blow out sale in the mall, and it should lead Bats to you. Tell him where Scarecrow is and I'll even give you the disarming code to his bomb! All you have to do is tell me about the girl on your team from Jump City that put Penguin and Bane and Mad Mod in their place - the slammer!" Joker said.
"Say I believe you, why do you wanna know about her?" Beast Boy asked.
"I've seen what you and your little team can do, except for her. You heard what bag-face said! Bat's bird boy is here and I know he's your leader, and she's on your team, I'm sure he brought her with him to help you! Tell me about her. What she can do," Joker said, positioning the curved knife near Beast Boy's ear and running the dull side along his neck.
"She can, uh, fly and move things with her mind, her powers are kinda like Starfire's, but uh, she's not as strong," Beast Boy said as sweat trickled down his brow.
"Anything else?!" Joker pressed, pushing the dull edge a bit against his neck.
"Uh, she mostly wears blue and she can be creepy?" Beast Boy said.
"No, you idiot! Abilities! What else can she do?" Joker pressed again.
"She can summon things around her and uh use magic to block things thrown at her?" Beast Boy blurted.
"Hmm. Fine, that'll do. Getting bored anyway," Joker said, withdrawing the knife and heading for the door, "I know you didn't lie. Tell bats, the code is two-five-seven-one-nine-four, and try not to move until one of those morons comes to save you. Oh, I forgot to say, you're my new clown club member, welcome to the crew!"
With that, Joker chucked a clown mask that his one of his thugs wore at Beast Boy and left the room, laughing as the door closed behind him. The mask had landed in his lap and he could see some blood on it. The code he had given Beast Boy was etched beneath the red smear just above the right eye hole.
He was reeling from what happened. He had screwed up. Big time. Giving Joker any information on the team was going to come back to bite them later. Nothing for it now, not like he could've done anything to stop Joker or Scarecrow. It was hard enough trying not to scratch a terrible itch behind his left ear. No movement, that was the key, and he just wouldn't think about it.
Hours must have passed after Joker left when Beast Boy was surprised by a massive shockwave somewhere overhead, which caused some of the lights to flicker and dust to fall from the ceiling. He heard fast, heavy footsteps from the other side of the door and some muffled comments from his guards. If Joker had told the truth, then that was the signal, and his rescue would be soon. He hoped they would find him, if only to let him out so he could find Joker and make him pay.
rrrrRRRRRRRRRrrrrrrrr
Gotham was rocked by its fifth massive explosion in a week. The smoke rose high over the tops of skyscrapers in the morning light. City sounds drowned out the sirens as emergency services rushed to the scene. A massive traffic jam may keep them at bay for a time, but it couldn't stall the batwing or the heroes that tailed it in the sky. Robin took his place with Batman in the batwing, while Starfire, Cyborg, and Raven followed in a modified stealth osprey, courtesy of the Justice League's Flash.
The team hadn't really had much chance to catch up yet, the news of the explosion tore them away from their meeting that morning. Beast Boy was on their minds and little else would concern them until they had their friend back.
"So, how's Jump doin?" Cyborg asked Raven.
"Quiet, except for Mammoth and Gizmo's robbery, and the trouble with the Penguin," Raven replied.
"Nothin you two couldn't handle, I'll bet you had Penguin scared shitless," Cyborg said.
"He got what he deserved," Raven said.
"Booyah. My baby okay?" Cyborg asked.
"Running perfectly," Raven replied.
"Knew that upgrade was due, good to hear. Can't wait to get back, this place is crazy," Cyborg said.
"Yes! We have missed you both dearly! I am 'homesick' and wish to return, once we save friend Beast Boy," Starfire chimed in.
"If we do. Joker isn't known for mercy, apparently," Raven said.
"Joker's not getting any mercy either, if that's what goes down," Cyborg said.
Cyborg gunned the accelerator and jolted both girls to attention as they grabbed the armrests of their seats. Their aircraft was still trailing the batplane, but not by much. The wind was against them, as were the odds, but they soared on through clouds of smoke and ruin to land in the heart of the rubble. Little remained of the mall, save for some broken mannequins, a burning popcorn stand, and the remnants of plastered walls and shelves. Bits of broken glass were scattered throughout the now open halls of former abundance.
All things considered, it was fortunate that the mall had been closed before the bomb went off, so no one was likely to have been injured.
The batplane hovered, allowing Batman and Robin to exit before tearing off to patrol the skies. Climbing out of the modified osprey, Starfire, Cyborg, and Raven crossed through a decimated clothing outlet to meet the duo.
"So, was this the food court?" Cyborg asked.
"Yes. The bomb's payload detonated here. If we search the area, we should be able to find the device used," Batman explained.
"That will lead us to Joker and Beast Boy, yes?" Starfire asked.
"If we can determine the manufacturer and parts used, we can narrow down the possible buyers and-," Batman started.
"He's close," Raven interrupted.
"You can sense him?" Batman asked.
"Yes. He's over...well, down... there," Raven said, pointing beneath their feet.
"What?! How far?" Cyborg asked.
"Maybe a few stories? There has to be some means of accessing a lower section," Raven said.
"We had the mall blueprints pulled up on the batcomputer," Robin said, "there should be some stairs that way."
The group moved swiftly through the rubble, Raven and Starfire flying ahead, searching for any sign of the stairwell. Batman appeared at Robin's side as he was searching beneath a series of collapsed walls.
"This isn't a coincidence, is it?" Robin asked.
"No. Joker wanted us here, so we could find your friend. Which only means it's a ploy," Batman said.
"Right. I'll tell the others to be careful," Robin said, "we'll deal with Joker's traps."
"He wouldn't have expected us to find Beast Boy so quickly though, we could use that to our advantage if he's still plotting," Batman said.
"So you're saying that my team gives you an advantage?" Robin asked with a smirk.
"One member of your team, in this instance, yes," Batman said.
"Say it," Robin said.
"No, it's not accurate," Batman said, "looks like one of them found something, see what's there. I'm going to check in with Alfred."
"This is part of why I left," Robin muttered to himself as he walked off.
Starfire led the team over to a small gap between two standing walls and showed them a staircase nearly hidden in rubble. A broken down elevator was also revealed when Cyborg moved a few of the larger slabs of concrete.
"What's the vote? Don't know about y'all, but I'm not chancing the elevator shaft collapsing on us," Cyborg said.
"We could use both," Raven suggested.
"Good idea. Cyborg, you and Star clear the stairs and head down, Rae and I will take the elevator shaft," Robin said.
"Should we not wait for the Batman?" Starfire asked.
Robin glanced back at his mentor over his shoulder, who was examining a metal shell as he spoke to Alfred over his gauntlet commlink.
"He'll catch up," Robin said," Titans, go."
Splitting up, Starfire and Cyborg began moving broken cement boulders and slabs from the stairwell, while Robin secured his grappling hook in the elevator shaft and he started descending, with Raven floating down alongside him. The pair were silent as they moved to the lower levels. A mutual concern was whether or not they would have to fight Joker or Scarecrow.
