I wonder how many villains I'll feature in my fanfic? *shrugs*
Fun fact: In one episode of Teen Titans Go Starfire is shown to be terrified of clowns...which is pretty ironic considering Ben himself used to be afraid of clowns. As well as the fact, that you know, Robin's enemy is the Joker.
Chapter 6: Circus Of Fear
After turning in their tickets, the five titans were ready to watch the show.
Apparently, this particular circus was run by a clown known as Zombozo.
Currently, he was discussing his schemes with the Circus Freak Trio.
"You think Ben Tennyson will show up to stop you again?" asked Acid Breath. That kid was a real pain.
"I thought about that, which is why I hired some circus clowns to do my bidding." said Zombozo. Besides, it made draining the laughter out of people easier now that he had more performers.
"Good idea. Strength in numbers, right?" asked Frightwig.
Like their boss, they happened to look somewhat creepy.
Hopefully it would be entertaining.
For the opening act, three circus freaks were performing.
Their names were Acid Breath, Frightwig, and Thumbskull.
It was pretty impressive what they could do.
Specifically, Thumbskull had super strength, Frightwig had elastic hair, and Acid Breath...spewed acid.
The audience applauded their skills.
Also present were several clowns. They were mostly pulling practical jokes on each other.
Eventually, Zombozo himself appeared. For some strange reason, he had a machine with him.
"Robin, can you pass the popcorn?" asked Starfire.
"Knock yourself out." answered Robin, handing the popcorn to Starfire.
Starfire pulled out a sledge hammer.
"What? No no no no!" exclaimed Robin, shaking his hands back and forth.
For some strange reason, Raven was the only one who wasn't laughing.
"I don't get it...why do people come here so often?" questioned Raven.
At least her teammates decided to enjoy it.
She decided she would go somewhere to relax.
However, as she flew away, she noticed something strange.
There was a bank robbery in progress.
"Help! I'm being robbed by a bunch of lunatics!" exclaimed the bank owner.
However, that wasn't strange in itself considering the number of villains that seemed to be plaguing Jump City. What was strange was who the culprits were.
It was the Circus Freak Trio.
"Wait...the circus freaks are robbing the bank?" asked Raven.
She wondered if Zombozo had set them up to it.
Some of the clowns from the circus were accompanying them as well.
"How much money do you think we've stolen so far?" asked Acid Breath.
"I'd say about ten grand..." remarked Frightwig.
She considered taking them on, but that might be risky without her teammates.
She had to warn them about the robbery immediately.
So, she headed back to the circus.
"You do realize that there are criminals looting the city while everyone's distracted, right?" asked Raven.
However, none of the titans were paying attention to her.
"Hahahahaha!" exclaimed Starfire.
"This is great!" shouted Robin. Normally, he wasn't too fond of clowns, but this one was a riot, not causing riots.
"I can't stop laughing!" bellowed Beast Boy.
"This circus rocks!" exclaimed Cyborg.
Raven sighed. She was under the impression that they would care that the bank was being robbed. They were supposed to be superheroes.
Although, there seemed to be something supernatural about the clown that was making them laugh so hysterically.
Suddenly, the machine Zombozo had brought with him began to act...strange.
"Something is going on here..." remarked Raven.
Shortly afterwards, the machine began to suck the laughter right out of the titans, as well as everyone who was watching the show.
The sole exception was Raven, who hadn't laughed the entire time.
"I should have known that clown was evil." thought Raven. He might have been a clown, but he looked more like the Boogieman than a comedian.
All of a sudden, everyone in the audience went from laughing to looking very depressed.
Raven couldn't help but feel worried about them. Would they be OK? Having the laughter sucked out of you couldn't be good for your health.
However, that wasn't the only thing she was worried about. One of her friends was missing. She could count three titans, but there were four of them last time she checked.
One of her friends were missing.
"There's Robin, Starfire, and Cyborg...who else is left?" thought Raven.
Her eyes widened with realization.
"Beast Boy!" exclaimed the sorceress.
As it turned out, Beast Boy was being carried away in a clown car by two of the circus clowns.
"We really hit the motherload this time." noted one of the clowns.
"Hahahahahahahaha!" laughed Beast Boy.
Raven tried to warn her teammates.
"Everyone! Beast Boy is being kidnapped!" shouted Raven.
Unfortunately, now that they had been drained, they were feeling really pessimistic. They didn't have the confidence that they usually had.
This meant no rescue operations.
"We'll never be able to rescue him..." stated Robin.
"We'll never defeat the villains..." noted Cyborg.
"We're not cut out to be superheroes..." said Starfire.
Robin and Cyborg decided to go home.
Starfire decided to do so as well, only to remember something.
"Oh that's right. I can't fly without a joyful thought. I'll just sit here and mope all night." said Starfire.
Raven sighed. Her teammates were not going to be helpful to her in this state.
It looked like she was going to have to save Beast Boy by herself.
On the lighter side, it wouldn't be hard to follow the kidnappers.
There were tire tracks leading away from the circus...to what appeared to be an amusement park.
"Well, at least I know where the kidnappers are." said Raven.
Meanwhile...
Shortly after the audience left, Ben discovered Starfire.
"Starfire, are you OK? You look...sad." said Ben.
"I'm...not fit to be a princess." stated the Tamaranean.
"But everyone adores you!" exclaimed the boy.
"No, they do not..." answered the alien.
"What happened to you?" asked Ben.
Suddenly, he noticed a flier promoting Zombozo's circus.
Ben crumpled the flier in frustration.
"He did this! He's going to pay!" exclaimed Ben.
But for now, he needed to find a way to cheer up Starfire. Just looking at her in her current state was painful.
Unfortunately, he did not know where Zombozo had gone, so he couldn't simply destroy his machine.
He decided to read from a joke book.
"Let's hope this works..." said Ben.
Meanwhile at the amusement park...
"So, this is where the monster clown is hiding..." thought Raven.
She decided that she would walk slowly through it instead of simply flying. She didn't want to be suddenly ambushed by any of the circus clowns.
Sure enough, there was a clown standing inside the ticket booth.
"Hey! The amusement park isn't open at this hour! Go back home!" exclaimed the clown.
"My apologies..." said Raven.
She then proceeded to punch him and knock him out cold.
Another clown noticed.
"Oh no! We're being invaded! I must tell the others imme-"
Before he could warn the others, Raven used her powers to slam the clown into the ticket booth.
He too, was knocked out.
Raven continued searching the amusement park for any sign of Beast Boy.
Curious, she noticed that Beast Boy was not the only person who had been taken hostage.
Apparently, other people who were particularly comedic had been taken prisoner as well.
One of them was tied to a wooden target and was having knives thrown at him. He was about 25 years old and was black.
"Help!" exclaimed the unfortunate man.
"Hahahaha!" laughed the evil clown who was tormenting him.
Raven punched the clown in the back of the head and he fell unconscious.
He then untied the man.
"Thanks...these clowns are crazy!" exclaimed the man. Of course, their leader happened to be even crazier, but his minions were still unsettling.
"You're welcome...have you seen a boy with green skin? He was abducted by those clowns, just like you." said Raven.
"I haven't, but I do know that the clowns have more hostages...not just me." answered the unfortunate circus visitor.
"I guess I'll have to rescue them too then." stated the girl. Though she was hoping to find Beast Boy, there was also the matter of rescuing the people that were also being held hostage by the clowns.
While they were circus clowns, they did not have a good sense of humor.
She only hoped that she could find Beast Boy before it was too late.
Meanwhile...
"Where am I? I must have laughed so hard that I passed out..." remarked Beast Boy.
Suddenly, he discovered that he had been wrapped up in cotton candy.
"What the-I can't move!" exclaimed Beast Boy.
He tried shapeshifting into different animals, but the cotton candy was pretty strong. Perhaps it was sticky enough to resist even a Tetramand's strength.
"Who did this?" asked the boy.
"The person you least expect." answered Zombozo.
"What? You did this? What kind of clown would kidnap people?" asked Beast Boy.
Maniacal laughter was heard at the Arkham Asylum nearby. The asylum was never quiet with the Joker around.
"Oh, right." said the boy.
"What do you want with me?"
"The same reason I drained your friends...their laughter feeds me..." explained Zombozo.
"Wait, you feast on people's laughter?" asked Beast Boy.
"Why do you think I opened up this circus?" inquired the clown.
"Good point." answered the boy.
"And lucky for me, I happened to have hit the motherload this time. You have enough laughter inside you to feed me for months!" exclaimed the clown.
"Whoa..." said the shapeshifting boy.
"Now then, where was I? Ah yes! Frightwig! Thumbskull!" exclaimed Zombozo.
Frightwig and Thumbskull hooked up Beast Boy to Zombozo's laughter-draining device.
"Noo! You can't do this to me! The world needs laughter!" shouted Beast Boy.
"And so do I!" exclaimed Zombozo.
"Nooooo!" bellowed the boy.
Beast Boy was in a heap of trouble.
Meanwhile...
Ben read from the book of jokes.
"Where do cows go when they want to entertainment themselves? They go to the moovies!" exclaimed Ben.
Starfire didn't laugh.
Ben continued reading.
"How did the sheep feel when he fell ill? Baaaaddd!" exclaimed Ben.
Starfire still didn't laugh.
"What do mermaids like to play? Go fish!" shouted the boy.
Starfire STILL didn't laugh.
"Dang...Zombozo really drained the joy out of you. It makes me feel depressed myself." remarked Ben.
"I think I should retire from being a superhero..." noted Starfire.
"Noooo! Don't retire! Jump City needs you!" exclaimed the boy.
"They'll be fine without me..." answered the girl.
"Nooooo!" shouted Ben.
Frantically, he thought of what he should do next.
He searched for his bag for things that he had used to pull pranks on his teachers in the past.
Of course, he had also used them on JT and Cash...they kind of had it coming.
Eventually, he found a cream pie. Strangely enough, it hadn't gone bad.
Ben threw a pie in his face.
"Ta-da!" exclaimed Ben.
Starfire didn't seem interested.
Ben sighed.
"How am I going to make Starfire happy again?" thought Ben.
Maybe he should write Zombozo an angry letter later.
This was probably going to take a long time.
Meanwhile...
"You're not going to drain the laughter out of me! My friends will come to my rescue!" exclaimed Beast Boy.
"You mean the friends that I drained the laughter out of?" asked Zombozo.
Beast Boy gulped.
"Boss, we have a problem." said Frightwig.
"What is it?" asked Zombozo.
Frightwig pointed to the security monitors inside the big top.
"The amusement park is being invaded by a strange girl with dark powers...she's taken about half a dozen clowns already." spoke the female circus freak.
Currently, she was rescuing another one of his hostages.
Zombozo sighed. Apparently, the circus clowns he hired had their hands full trying to deal with her.
"Well then, why don't you go pay her a visit? I'm sure she's dying to see the circus freak trio in action." remarked Zombozo.
"You got it, boss." said Thumbskull.
Acid Breath cracked his knuckles.
The trio went to hunt down Raven.
"Now then, where was I? Ah yes." said Zombozo.
Zombozo flipped the switch.
"Noo...I must stay...hilarious..." spoke Beast Boy, trying to resist having the laughter sucked out of him.
"Trying to resist, are we? Let's see how long you last." stated Zombozo.
"Think...funny thoughts. Think...funny thoughts. Think...about all the many things that are wrong with the world..." thought Beast Boy.
Zombozo laughed.
Meanwhile...
"Thanks for saving me. That fire-breathing clown scared the heck out of me..." said a blonde woman that had been abducted by the clowns.
Currently, he was coughing up smoke after a ill-fated fight with Raven.
"You're welcome. Have you seen Zombozo?" asked Raven.
"You mean the clown whose in charge? I think he's in the big top." explained the lady.
"The big top? Why didn't I think of that." remarked the Teen Titan.
As she made her way to the big top, she found herself passing some bumper cars.
She noticed one of the circus freaks riding one.
"Uh-oh..." said Raven.
"Thumbskull smash puny titan!" exclaimed Thumbskull.
Immediately, he charged towards Raven.
Raven moved out of the way.
However, Thumbskull kept charging at her.
Raven fired a burst of magic at the bumper car Thumbskull was riding.
This caused one of the wheels to become dislodged.
"This can't be good..." remarked Thumbskull.
Suddenly, he was sent flying.
"Wahhhh!" exclaimed the muscular circus freak.
He crashed straight into a prize stand.
"That's one down." remarked Raven.
Suddenly, Frightwig launched some of her hair at her.
Raven ducked out of the way.
"If you want to get to our boss, you'll have to get past us first!" exclaimed Frightwig.
"Fine by me." answered Raven.
As Frightwig attempted to attack Raven again, she suddenly used her telekinetic powers.
Frightwig found herself being wrapped up in her own hair.
"Not again!" exclaimed Frightwig. Why did she keep getting a taste of her own medicine?
"Alright then...whose left?" asked Raven.
"That would be me." spoke Acid Breath, who was right behind her.
Raven leapt out of the way to avoid taking an acid bath.
"Now that's just plain disgusting." remarked the heroine.
Acid Breath got ready to spew even more acid.
However, Raven noticed that there was some cotton candy nearby.
"Have some candy. Then again, I already think you need to visit the dentist." remarked Raven, shoving some cotton candy in his mouth.
Acid Breath began to gag.
Raven then used her telekinetic powers to grab the thin villain by the ankle, and slam him into the boardwalk.
"Alright, I think I got them all." said Raven.
Immediately, she went into the big top where Beast Boy was.
Meanwhile...
Ben sighed as he dug into his bag of pranks.
At this point, he had tried virtually everything.
He sat on a whoopee cushion, but he couldn't make Starfire laugh.
Ben sighed.
"Well, I tried everything. I wish I could have made Starfire happy again..." remarked Ben.
He sure hoped that Starfire wasn't like this forever.
However, as he went back to his grandpa's van, something really embarrassing happened.
His pants fell down.
"My pants!" exclaimed Ben.
Also, for some strange reason, he was wearing ladies' underwear.
"Why am I even wearing these?" asked the boy.
Well, he did have a female voice actor.
Ben attempted to pull his pants back up, but he tripped and fell on his stomach.
"I have the worst luck ever..." remarked Ben.
Suddenly, he heard familiar laughter.
"Wait...is Starfire laughing?" asked the boy.
As it turned out, Starfire was indeed laughing.
"Thank goodness. I was worried that you would be depressed forever." remarked Ben.
"Now why would I be sad forever?" asked Starfire.
"You got the laughter drained out of you...by a monster clown." noted the boy.
"Really? The last thing I remember was going to a circus...it was hilarious." remarked the alien.
"Yeah...I'm afraid that circus was full of nutcases." explained Ben.
"Thanks for helping me...now I can go home again." stated Stafire.
"All in a day's work..." said the boy. "Now if you excuse me I need to change into my briefs."
Meanwhile...
As soon as Raven entered the big top, she discovered Beast Boy.
However, he looked depressed...which wasn't something that Raven saw every day.
"Beast Boy? Are you alright?" asked Raven.
"My life is meaningless..." said Beast Boy.
"No! Beast Boy! Say something funny!" exclaimed the girl.
"I...want to cry like a baby." remarked the boy.
Raven started to cry.
"Admiring my handiwork?" asked Zombozo.
Raven glared at Zombozo.
"You did this to him!" exclaimed Raven.
"I have to admit, I had a field day sucking the laughter out of him. I feel big and powerful now!" shouted Zombozo.
"You'll pay!" shouted the superheroine.
Zombozo pulled out an enormous hammer.
"I think I should hammer in the fact that you're outclassed!" exclaimed Zombozo.
Zombozo attempted to whack Raven with his oversized hammer.
Raven leapt out of the way.
The monster clown then made some balloon animals.
"Want one? They're to die for!" exclaimed Zombozo.
The balloon animals proceeded to attack Raven.
However, she quickly popped them all.
"Hungry for pie?" asked the clown.
He tossed a pie at Raven.
This particular pie happened to be explosive.
Raven quickly shielded herself from the blast.
Zombozo then followed with an acid squirting flower.
"Why aren't you pushing up daisies yet?" asked Zombozo.
Realizing that his source of strength was people's laughter, Raven decided to destroy Zombozo's laughter machine.
She fired bursts of darkness at it.
Zombozo gasped.
The machine was destroyed.
"No!" exclaimed Zombozo.
Gradually, everyone's happiness began to return to them.
"What happened?" asked Robin, clutching his head.
"I don't know, but I feel happy!" shouted Cyborg.
"Where are the other titans though?" inquired the boy.
"Probably having fun." stated the half-robotic teenager.
"Yeah, they probably are." nodded Robin.
Zombozo's eyes widened in shock.
Raven grabbed Zombozo by the shirt.
"Um, can we talk about this?" asked Zombozo.
Raven glared at Zombozo.
A few minutes later...
The Circus Freak Trio were being loaded into a police van along with Zombozo's clown minions, as well as Zombozo himself, who was covered with several bruise marks and now had a black eye.
"Thanks for saving me, Raven. I don't know what I would have done without my sense of humor." noted Beast Boy.
"You're our heroine, Raven!" shouted Robin.
Though she had to admit that sometimes Beast Boy was annoying, the Teen Titans would never be the same without Beast Boy's sense of comedy.
It looked as if the day had been saved.
Raven actually smiled.
Once again Jump City was safe...at least until another lunatic showed up.
But the Teen Titans would cross that bridge when they came to it.
I figured that I would give Zombozo minions other than the Circus Freak Trio since he was performing for a bigger audience this time. That, and I figured he would be more threatening following his previous encounter with Ben Tennyson.
Luckily for Raven, she happened to be immune to Zombozo's machine. Unfortunately for Beast Boy, he's anything but immune.
The reason I came up with a B-Plot? I figured I'd try to add some originality.
In the next chapter, Ben and the titans are going to summer school! The worst one ever.