Fan Fiction ❯ Appearance of the Joker ❯ Disappearance ( Chapter 1 )

Teen Titans: Appearance of the Joker

Chapter 1: Disappearance

Rating: PG-13, for violence, gore, crude language, possible mentioning of nudity, and anything else that may come along that shouldn't be viewed by little eyes.

The Usual Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Teen Titans, and I do not own the basic storyline from Batman Beyond, any of the characters or any other shows relating to it. But the day will come where I will overthrow Warner Bros, and THEN I will be in control! MWHEHEHEHEHEHE!! One day….

Summary: The Joker finally makes his appearance in the Teen Titan's universe by kidnapping his old nemesis Robin. But the other Titans don't know it as they desperately scour their own city for their friend. Torture, grief, and a few bits of real teenage pervertedness the show lacks, it's a Teen Titan alter-universe with Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker movie! R&R

A/N:

*sits back in her chair and twiddles her thumbs*

Well, I must say, this story is going to be fairly easy to write. Considering the plot line really isn't even mine to begin with… I'm just changing it to my own liking. I hope that's allowed.

So, yep. Like the summary says: I've taken the plotline of that little part in Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker , did a bit of recasting here and there, and voila! It's the Teen Titans now, instead of boring old Batman. A nice little idea, which I'm surprised has not been done yet. I will, of course, go into more detail than the movie did. ^_^ I'm really loving the idea for this story, and I hope you all like it, too. Please read and review. It'll keep me workin hard for all of you!

(btw, small little errors have been cleaned up in the first chapter. The second one is through it's… what is it? Fourth? Yeah, probably. Fourth revision. I plan to have it up very soon.)

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All was quiet on the streets that night. Robin was jumping from building to building, practicing his old acrobatic moves in attempt to drive away the boredom that usually accompanied an eventless patrol of the town. He leapt off the roof of a tall apartment building and did a smooth flip before landing on the next. He just loved doing it. The sense of flying, the sense of danger… it made any lingering troubles of his mind melt away. He leapt off another one, doing two flips this time, and landing lightly and gracefully on a sprawling rooftop. He felt a little out of breath, so he walked briskly, heroically even, across the roof and to one edge. He placed one foot on the short wall, and stared out at the silent streets below.

Maybe I should turn in, he thought, his eyes falling blankly on a single van driving by. He was sure the others had. It was well after two o' clock in the morning. Any Friday night drinkers that he could stop for drunk driving were probably either home or else passed out by now.

No sooner had he made up his mind to head back to the tower, than a voice broke the silence.

"Help! Help! Somebody please help!"

It was a woman's voice, sounding scared and desperate. Robin spun around, trying to locate where the voice was coming from, and realized it was from the alleyway between the building he was on top of and the one beside it. He peered over the edge of the roof and saw a woman crouched up against a dead end, while two big beefy criminal types closed in on her. The woman was covered with a hooded trenchcoat, and was hugging her purse tight to her chest.

"Hero time!" Robin said to himself, whipping out his grappling hook and shooting it at a metal balcony sticking out of the other building. The hook wrapped around one of the bars several times, holding it fast. Robin leapt off his roof, plunging towards the earth. He swung around, gripping the cord in his hands, and at the appropriate time, let it go and did one of his graceful flips. He dove, landing with one of his hands one each of the guys' heads, and knocked them together before doing a vault off of them and landing cleanly on the ground. He placed himself between the woman and her attackers, and held up his fists.

"That should even things up a little," he said, not sure if he was talking to the woman or himself as the two men regained their composure and readied themselves to attack.

"Not really, Bird Boy!" said the woman behind him, in a different, harsher voice, and with a jolt of horror, he realized who it was. But, no… it couldn't be. He spun to look at her, to confirm his fears, but halfway in his movement, something large and hard came whipping around and crashed into the back of his head. He went flying, his head exploding with incredible pain. He slammed hard on the ground, and everything seemed to rush away from him as he slipped into darkness.

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"Good morning, friends!"

Starfire came floating into the large sitting room at the top of the tower, beaming happily at the three other Titans in the room, who didn't exactly share her optimism at the morning. Raven sat at the table, stirring a cup of tea mentally while reading an enormously large book. Cyborg was sitting on the couch, leaning his chin on his hand as he flipped through stations on the enormous television. Beast Boy was draped over the back of the couch, and looked to be sleeping.

"I said hello. Wont you return my greeting?" said Starfire, confused by their silence.

"Morning Starfire," said Cyborg and Raven in a bored unison. Beast Boy remained silent, confirming that he was indeed asleep.

"Did any of you not get enough rest?" asked Starfire, walking up behind Beast Boy and tapping him on the back. "We were not supposed to be out too late on our patrol. After all, most of us are still growing adolescents."

Beast Boy gave a belch in his sleep, as though he heard her and was telling her off for calling him a "growing adolescent"

"Nah," said Cyborg, flipping through a couple of news stations talking about a hurricane out in the middle of the ocean. "I wasn't out too late. Beast Boy had a bit of trouble last night, fighting off some drunken porno shop owners."

Beast Boy was suddenly alert as he gave a whoop of laughter.

"Heh heh… no, but I wish…"

"Porno shop? What is that?" asked Starfire.

"Forget about it," said Raven and Cyborg in unison.

"Man, I wish I had come across something last night," said Cyborg, "I've been bored out of my mind. We haven't had much action in the past week."

"Well, really, we should be celebrating that this town is no longer a harbor for unsolicited crime," said Starfire, with a triumphant look on her face and raising a finger. "It is our mission, after all, to abolish all acts of indecency in this city for all the time that comes."

"Yeah, well, I still like fighting badguys," Cyborg said dismissively, changing past some kiddy cartoons before giving up and turning the television off.

"Oh," said Starfire suddenly, looking around. "Where is Robin? Has he slept in again?"

"Probably," said Beast Boy, yawning and sliding forward, so his head was smashed strangely against the cushions of the couch. "He was out later than I was, and I got back around 3."

"Really?" said Starfire, a little troubled. "I wonder if he came home injured. Perhaps I should go check on him…. Or I know! I could make him a traditional breakfast of Blorgerbeans and Wimplesnap-"

"Just go wake him up," said the three other Titans in one voice, cutting her off mid-sentence. Starfire felt a surge of anger, but she suppressed it. These humans just didn't understand the wonders of her homeplanet's cooking.

She left the room and wandered down the hall, taking a lift down to the floor below, where she knew Robin's room was. She walked down the silent hallway, humming an old Tamaranian folk song as she went. She approached Robin's plain metal door, and knocked on it.

"Robin. I do hope I not intruding, but the others have sent me to wake you up."

There was no answer on the other side. Starfire hesitated a moment. She didn't want to open the door if it would mean interrupting Robin at an inopportune time - especially after the time the week before when she just barged into Beast Boy's room to find him in nothing but pink boxers. She didn't need to have more than one of the Titans avoiding eye contact with her for another week.

"Robin. I am entering, so please do not be alarmed."

She pressed a button beside the door, and it slid up with a loud scraping noise. Starfire took a moment to allow her eyes to adjust to the darkness, and then she realized what she was seeing.

The bed was empty. The room was empty. There was no sign that Robin had been in there at all that night.

Worry seeped into Starfire's thoughts. Could Robin be seriously injured somewhere? Could he have been kidnapped? Perhaps Slade really had… But, no. She quickly told herself to calm down - perhaps he was just in his lab, or the bathroom. Maybe he headed out early to do some morning patrolling. But without telling them first? Well, then again, Robin had been known to do that from time to time.

Starfire walked through the hallways, checking all the room's she had been known to find Robin in the past, but every peek into every empty room made her heart that much untroubled. After awhile, she realized she had searched every room in the tower at least once, some twice or even three times, and hurried back up to the top floor, fear rushing through her veins.

"I cannot find Robin!" she reported as soon as she opened the door. Raven looked up from her book, and Cyborg and Beast Boy, who had begun one of their silly video games, paused their battle and turned around to stare at her.

"You sure? You checked his lab?" asked Beast Boy, making it sound perfectly obvious that he would be there.

"I did. I also checked the basement, the bathroom, my room, the evidence room, and all of your rooms. There is no sign of him."

"My room?" asked Raven, cocking an eyebrow under her cloak. "Why would Robin be in my room? No one is allowed in my room."

"Yes. I am aware of that. I had to be certain, though. Where could he be?"

"Now, don't worry," said Cyborg calmly, returning to the video game, and despite talking to Starfire, was kicking Beast Boy's butt. "We'll just call him up on the transmitter. He might just be at the police station or something, turning in some robber or something."

"Oh… I didn't even try that," Starfire admitted, a blush coming to her cheeks. She reached around her belt and pulled her communicator free. She lifted it to her face and pressed a button on the side.

"Robin? Robin, are you there?"

She paused a moment for a response. But no response came. Starfire felt a knot form in her stomach.

"Robin. Please respond," she said, worry seeping into her voice. "Robin?"

The others had stopped what they were doing and turned to look at her. Even Raven had looked up from her book. Starfire looked up.

"Why does he not answer?"

Cyborg furrowed his eyebrows and turned to the data screen on his right arm. He pressed a couple of on-screen buttons, causing several small bleeping sounds to echo through the room.

"His locator's been deactivated…" Cyborg said, eyes widening. Starfire gasped.

"His locator? Then, what happened to him…? Where is he?

No one answered. A long, drawn-out silence enveloped them. They all looked at one another, all their thoughts reflecting the others'.

Something bad had happened to Robin.