Night Patrol

For what felt like ages, Robin found himself struggling mentally; unsure of whether or not he should speak of past events. But then, he felt the warm touch of Starfire's hand upon his shoulder; which caused him to slightly snap out of his distressed state. He took a quick glance at her and saw a look of sorrow upon her face.

But upon looking deeper into her eyes, Robin knew she was silently urging him to speak. With a weary sigh, he asked Commissioner Gordon to give him some water; which he happily obliged. After downing the beverage, seconds later; the Boy Wonder was finally ready to speak.

"It started out as a quiet afternoon" he began, "one of many quiet afternoons that seemed to have lasted for almost a month." From here, he spoke of how crime had been rather dead in the city as of late; which left things rather peaceful in Jump City. "There was once a time where I would get incredibly restless and practically beg for anything to happen" Robin said with a light chuckle, "I'd even settle for Control Freak raiding a comic convention like he did three months ago."

Much to the Titans' surprise, this little story caused the often stoic Batman to lightly chuckle with amusement. "Guess I taught you well in being vigilant, Dick" the Dark Knight murmured, "perhaps...a little too well?" After a quick chuckle, Gordon brought everyone's attention back to the story and urged Robin to continue.

"Well; even though things were quiet, we still had to be on alert" Raven interjected suddenly, "super-villain activity may have been dead...but even the petty criminals needed attending to." At this point, Commissioner Gordon commended the team's dedication. At the same time, however; he felt that such crimes were best left for the police to deal with.

"That is true, Sir" Starfire stated, "but I imagine that they cannot be available to thwart every purse-snatching or robbery, correct?" There was a light murmur of agreement on both sides and then, the debriefing continued. But as Cyborg approached the seat, Batman could sense that the half-robot teen was looking rather tense.

His fists were clenched tight, his teeth grinding and upon closer inspection, Batman could see that the poor kid was moments away from crying. "I know this must be hard for you...considering later circumstances" he murmured, "but don't hold back on my account; if you want to, you may cry." With that said, the Titans suddenly broke out into a light fit of sobs; even Raven found it difficult to remain stable.

Then, after a minute or two of crying; everyone was stable enough to continue. "Thanks for that, y'all" Cyborg sighed, "you don't know how long I was holding all that in." After that, he cleared his throat and began to recount the moments of the night patrol.

(Flashback)

It was a mucky summer evening in Jump City, the perfect conditions to make patrolling the city incredibly uncomfortable; especially for a certain green changeling. While in the form of a peregrine falcon; he was up in the air, scouring the streets for any signs of danger. But after almost two hours of looking into every alley and searching every rooftop, everything seemed a-okay.

With a deep sigh; Beast Boy perched atop a building, shapeshifted back into his human self and took a moment to stretch out his limbs a little. "Boy, it feels like I've been flappin' for days" sighed Beast Boy, "on the plus side...everything seems all clear in the city tonight." Upon thinking this, he then realized that it would be wise to have one final look around.

Once more, Beast Boy assumed his falcon form and took off into the air. Then, from his (literal) birds-eye view; he kept watch for any sign of minor or major criminal activity. He flew over the office district and found nothing, went over suburbs and saw no crooks on the streets and they pier area where the amusement park stood was just as dead.

"Yup, everything's all clear; just like I thought" he thought to himself, "better ring up the rest of the team and tell them the good word." With that in mind, Beast Boy quickly perched himself atop another building, changed back into human form and brought out his communicator. Mere seconds later, Robin's face appeared on the small screen and he looked to be riding on his R Cycle; possibly in the middle of his own patrol.

"Hey, dude; sorry if I caught ya at a bad time" Beast Boy chuckled, "but I've combed over my end of the city four times over and found no signs of trouble." Robin smiled slightly and echoed the same results from his own search. "Looks like we'll be getting a quiet night, for once" he chuckled, "head back to the tower as soon as you can."

After that command, Beast Boy gave his friend/leader a casual salute and shut off his communicator.

(Flash Forward)

Back in the present; at this point in his story, Batman could sense the despair and frustration welling up in his former protégé. The rest of the Titans were also looking rather distressed; Cyborg was slamming his fist lightly against a wall, Starfire was on the verge of an emotional breakdown and Gordon swore he might've seen fangs forming in Raven's teeth. After a while, Batman became bold enough to ask what happened to their friend next.

"At the time, we didn't know what happened" Cyborg mumbled, "but after the mission was 'successful' and we got B home; he told us everything." From here, the half-robot teen mentioned that Beast Boy's senses caught the sounds of someone in distress down in the city. "B said he flew down and saw what looked like a purse-snatching in progress" he explained, "not a big crime, true...but nothing too hard for him to handle."

(Flashback to the overhead of Jump City)

After touching base with Robin, Beast Boy assumed his falcon form and was making his way back towards the Titans Tower. Then, just as he was about to fly over the mainland; his extra-sharp senses picked up a sound. It was faint due to the distance but Beast Boy swore it sounded like someone screaming in distress.

"Guess I sort of jinxed myself in saying tonight will be quiet" he thought mentally while rolling his eyes, "hopefully this will be a quick job." With that, he dive-bombed towards the city and quickly found the source of the screaming. Down below in an alleyway, Beast Boy caught sight of a woman being harassed by a group of thugs.

"Help, someone help me" cried the woman, "they're trying to take my purse!" Upon hearing this, Beast Boy doubled his diving speed and brought out his talons; eager for a fight. Meanwhile; down below, the thugs began to surround the young lady.

"C'mon, babe" one of them chuckled, "all we want is a small handout to help us get by and that big purse of yours looks like it's full to burstin' with moolah." As the young lady started backing up towards the wall, she found herself trembling slightly with fear. Not only did the thugs outnumber her but they also had a clear strength and size advantage over her.

Regardless, she wasn't willing to go down without putting up a decent fight first. So, she took hold of her purse's strap and began to swing it around like a flail. At first, the thugs just watched her with wide-eyed looks of confusion on their faces.

Then, one of them suddenly burst out laughing; before mocking the woman's meager attempt at self-defense. "Is this really all you've got, lady" the man chuckled, "this will make takin' your purse from ya even easier." With that said; he rushed forward and made an attempt to grab the purse, while it was spinning around.

But the moment he was in range, the woman's purse stuck the thug hard on the left side of his face; causing him to stumble backwards slightly. "Goddammit, that hurt" he winced painfully, "I didn't realize the purse was that heavy." Upon hearing this, the leader of the thugs suddenly started laughing with glee.

"Guess we were right on the purse bein' loaded, boys" he declared, "grab it!" With that command, the thugs rushed in and tried to overpower the woman; while also making grabs for her purse. Then, all of a sudden; the skies echoed loudly with the shrill screeches of a bird.

Before anyone could react, the leader suddenly felt something swoop down and slice at the top of his head; cutting into his scalp. "What the hell was that, boss" one of the other thugs asked, "it sounded like...a hawk or a falcon." The lead thug swiped his hand over his head and saw faint traces of blood upon his palm.

"It can't be, you moron" he grumbled with a mild hiss, "falcons or hawks ain't native to Gotham...at least, not in the city." While there was some truth in their leader's words, the other thugs still believed such a creature attacked him. "Well, if it ain't either of those...what attacked you" another thug inquired, "can't be no gull or pigeon that did that to your head."

With that comment, the thugs suddenly found themselves getting into a rather heated argument; which seemed more important than taking the lady's purse. Meanwhile, on a steel stairway beside one of the buildings; a familiar green falcon watched the scene with a smile upon his beak.

"Good, they're distracted" he thought, "now's the time to finish the job and call it a night." With that thought in mind; the falcon leapt off the steps, shifted form in mid-air and landed safely behind a collection of cans and trash bags. At the same time, this landing caused a mild rattling noise; which brought the thugs' argument to an immediate halt.

"Hey, you guys hear that" one of the thugs asked, "it sounded like it came from the back." The leader let out a loud "harrumph" and said it was probably a cat scurrying around the trash for scraps. As if on cue, everyone suddenly heard a loud hissing noise coming from behind the trash pile but it didn't sound like a cat's hiss.

"Ya think it could be one of them super rats they talked about on the news, fellas" a larger thug murmured fearfully with a nervous gulp, "may be they's as big as all of us." The leader scoffed at his cohort's words and told him not to believe all that nonsense they talk about on TV. "Look...if it makes you dummies feel better; I'll go snatch the cat myself and then, we'll make off with this lady's purse" he instructed, "is it a deal?"

With that said, the leader marched his way over towards the pile and began fishing around for the supposed cat. In time, he found his prize and held it up for all to see. But when he saw the looks of worry on his colleagues' faces, the leader became rather confused.

"What are you meatheads looking so scared for" he grumbled with annoyance, "it's just a dumb cat, nothing to be scared..." Just as he was ready to finish his sentence; the thug took a look at his prize and discovered he wasn't, in fact holding a cat. Instead, he came face to face with a rather angry green skunk.

The creature growled softly while dangling in the leader's grip and glared angrily at him. Then, it turned itself slightly; exposing its backside towards the group. Upon seeing this, the woman could sense what was about to happen and quickly clamped her hands over her nose and mouth.

Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for the group of thugs. As the skunk's face began to show signs of straining, one of them finally understood what was about to happen and prepared to tell the others. But as the thug opened his mouth to speak, the green skunk finally let loose and sprayed its rancid stench upon each of their faces.

To make matters worse, not only were they breathing in the acrid aroma; some of the liquid found its way into some of their mouths. "OH...DEAR GOD, THAT STINKS" the leader cried, "I THINK I FELT SOME OF THE JUICE GO IN MY EYES!" As he and his group began coughing up in disgust, the leader released his grip on the skunk's tail and dropped him.

Not long after that, it shifted into the familiar form of Beast Boy; who smiled proudly at his handiwork. "C'mon, fellas; do I really smell that bad" he asked sarcastically, "I just took a bath three days ago." The thugs didn't respond to his words, for they were too busy hacking and coughing from the stench the Titan created.

"Consider that lil' spray payback for hassling an innocent lady" Beast Boy decreed, "which reminds me...I've yet to bust you all for that." Not long after saying this, the green Titan shifted into a gorilla form and unleashed a flurry of mighty blows; knocking out every one of them.

After the battle, Beast Boy flexed his arms a bit; both to stretch out the strain in his muscles...and to show off a bit to the lady. Finally, he changed back to normal and approached the woman; hoping she was okay. "Sorry if I scared you a little earlier, Miss" Beast Boy chuckled sheepishly, "I can't exactly communicate, when I'm in animal form."

The woman smiled slightly at him and assured the young Titan everything was fine. "I've hiked in the woods for years and come across one or...two skunks, at times" she stated, "after the second encounter; I know better than to plug up my nose, whenever they're about to let loose." After that, she bowed her head slightly and thanked Beast Boy for coming to her rescue.

Then, as she tried to walk her way out of the alley; the woman suddenly started staggering slightly. "Oh, dear...I think that whole experience left me rather shaken" she murmured, "would you be a dear and help me down to the bus stop?" On the inside, the poor green bean was practically crying with impatience.

All he wanted was to end his little "mission," go home, crash in his bunk bed and chill until the next morning. But on the outside, he did his best to appear professional and heroic; before offering the woman a smile. "Sure thing, Ma'am" he murmured, "I'd be happy to help." Unbeknownst to the green Titan, however; this response caused a wicked grin to form on the woman's face.

Then, just as Beast Boy took her by her hand; his body suddenly surged with what felt like 300 volts of electricity. After six seconds, the woman finally let go of him and watched as the poor lad fell to the ground with a groan. Poor Beast Boy could only watch helplessly, as the supposedly "defenseless" woman began to remove her coat; revealing a red and black jester outfit underneath.

Not long after that, Beast Boy could hear muffled footsteps approaching from behind. With a soft yet painful groan, he turned onto his side to see who was coming towards him. For a brief moment, Beast Boy thought it might be one of the other Titans coming to help him.

What he found instead caused the poor green teen to almost choke himself from letting out a startled gasp. Standing over him, dressed in his trademark purple suit, green undershirt, light-purple gloves, wing-tipped shoes and squirting flower was none other than the Clown Prince of Crime himself; The Joker. He stared down at the green child lying flat on the ground, gave him a light kick in the side and chuckled maliciously.

"Heh! You'd think that somebody who prides himself as a prankster would've been wise to these kind of tricks" he said smugly, "guess he really is as dumb as people say." After that, he turned towards the group of thugs and snapped his fingers. "Shake it off, boys; my Joker gas smells much worse than his stench" Joker chortled, "we've gotta get this young man some help."

Once the group had recovered well enough, they smiled wickedly to one another and began helping their boss in loading Beast Boy into their car. "Gee...I dunno, Puddin'" the jester murmured, "ain't ya worried he'll wake up durin' the ride back home?" Upon hearing the "P" word nickname, Joker was libel to clock her across the face in annoyance. But instead, he patted her lightly atop her jester hat and kissed her cheek.

"Don't you worry, Harley" he assured, "with the amount of juice you used on him from my buzzer, he'll be out for hours." With that said, they chucked Beast Boy over the side of the car and into the backseat. Then, once everyone was loaded up; Joker revved up the engine and made a beeline out of town.

"Phase One of my plan is complete, everyone" he said with a gleeful chuckle, "now...we'll begin Phase Two; once we get back home." The moment this was mentioned, the lead thug nervously asked if they should be concerned about the other Titans; once they learned Beast Boy hadn't come home yet. "Oh, don't you worry about that" Joker assured, "I'm counting on those brats to trail us; along with a certain someone we all know and hate."

It didn't take long for everyone to realize just who their boss was referring to. That being said, it didn't make them feel any less nervous. Somehow, Joker could sense everyone's uneasiness and told them not to worry. "As I said, I'm actually counting on all of them to come and look for us" he chortled, "I don't want them to miss our big surprise!"

(Back to Reality)

Before continuing, Commissioner Gordon asked for the Titans to stop for a moment; so that he could process everything. "First of all, what would Joker be doing so far out of Gotham" he asked, "was what he did some kind of jab at you, Robin?" With a weary sigh, the former Boy Wonder said that the whole incident felt something akin to that.

"Truth be told, we've not had any encounters with any of the League's rogue's gallery or even Batman's before" Cyborg stated, "at least, that's how things started...until we learned that Slade used to give the League a great deal of trouble long before meeting us." Upon hearing this statement, Batman was inwardly kicking himself. He felt that he should've told Robin's team about Slade (or Deathstroke as he knew him) ages ago. But it was too late to deal with that now.

"As for what he was doing in Jump City; at the time, we didn't know" Raven murmured, "we just thought he wanted to try and wreck some other city...like what he once did in Metropolis." After that was said, Commissioner Gordon felt like he got what he wanted with that matter. "My second question is...why would he come after your friend" he asked hesitantly, "as you said; with the exception of Slade, none of Batman's criminals ever bothered anyone in Jump City before."

The moment this matter was presented, the Titans suddenly felt themselves slightly relapsing into "Grief Mode." It took all the mental discipline Raven had to help keep herself calm. But her face showed clear signs of severe distress the more she did so.

The other three Titans were no different either; Cyborg choked back several sobs, Starfire almost blasted the ceiling with her eye beams and Robin became so stressed, he almost crushed his arm rests. Finally, after a moment or two; Batman took a moment to step out of the room.

"I'll be right back, everyone" he muttered, "I'm gonna go get some hot chocolate; I have a feeling that at this point, we'll need something to help calm our nerves." Without a moment's pause, everyone nodded in reply to the caped crusader's offer and thanked him for it. But as Batman made his way down the hall, he found himself passing a collection of wanted posters hanging on the wall.

When he caught sight of Joker's, he suddenly felt his blood boiling like a pit of molten lava. For a while, he just stood in place; glaring and growling at the clown's grinning face. Then, against his better judgment; he pulled out a batarang and stabbed its point straight through the forehead.

After that, Batman went back on his way to retrieve the cocoa with Jim that everyone so desperately needed; including him.

(First AN: Wow, things are really starting to get tense. But what do you think happened, after BB was knocked out? Where are Joker and Co. taking him and how will the rest of the Titans...or even Batman fit into his plans?

Find out next time on Beast Boy's Last Laugh)

(Second AN: Some of you might think BB was stupid to fall into the trap so easily. But let me offer these two things as a rebuttal.

With the exception of Robin, none of the Titans ever tangled with someone like Joker. Thus, they couldn't have known about his tricks; including the electric joy buzzer.

2. Being a young hero and a bit of a seeker for glory and someone who wishes to prove himself a good solo hero, at times. BB always leaps at the chance to help someone in need.

I hope that explains things well enough for y'all.)

(Final AN: The "giant rat" comment one of the thugs made is a slight nod to the recent Joker movie. I'm aware that such an issue was something Gotham dealt with. But sometimes, the news talks about global and national issues.

Thus, it makes a little sense that Jump City would be talking about that matter on TV. Plus, with the kind of stuff that happens there; who knows if giant rats might be a thing that the citizens of Jump City would also deal with.)