Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Moon Princess in Gotham ❯ Orphaned Under the Big Top ( Chapter 1 )

I don't own Batman or any of the related characters. They are the property of DC Comics. I also don't own Sailor Moon-and if you thought I did, you belong in Arkham Asylum.

 

 

“No! I mean no!” Arthur Haley, ringmaster and owner of Haley's Circus, roared at the man sitting across from him in his office. “Go tell your boss that Art Haley doesn't pay protection money to thugs or gangsters! Now get out!”

“If you insist.” The ratty looking man tipped his hat as he got up from his seat. He started to walk out the door, then turned and looked at Haley. “But don't blame us if an `accident' happens.”

Haley grabbed a clown figurine from his desk and threw it at the man. “GET OUT!”

Haley sat down and counted to ten. His doctors had warned him about his high blood pressure and when that guy from Tony Zucco came to him, it really made him angry.

But he wasn't going to pay. Art Haley was no coward, he told himself.

There was a knock at his office door. “Who is it?” he asked crankily.

“Tom Wetmore and Serena Grayson.”

“Come in.” After the incident with the gangster, this wouldn't make him too angry.

The two came in. Wetmore, a short, balding middle-aged man and Serena, who was thirteen, and wore her long blond hair in ponytails trailing down from two buns on opposite sides of her head, sat down across from Haley's desk.

“Well,” Haley folded his hands before him and laid his elbows on his desk, “you two have some explaining to do.”

“Sir, what happened was my fault,” Tom “Patchwork” Wetmore said He was the chief clown for Haley's Circus and an old friend as well. “We were doing an early morning dress rehearsal for tonight and I lost track of time-”

Haley interrupted. “And suddenly Serena sees a clock, realizes she's late for school, runs out, grabs her bicycle and her lunch, heads to Crossroads Junior High School, shows up in her classroom fifteen minutes late-,” Haley looked at Serena, “WHILE SHE'S STILL WEARING HER CLOWN MAKEUP AND COSTUME!”

Serena cast down her eyes. “I'm sorry.”

“Is that all you have to say?” In spite of his stern composure, Haley wasn't too angry. He was rather fond of the girl, the daughter of his star acrobatic team the Flying Graysons. She wasn't really a bad kid, just a tad air-headed. And she did well enough when she studied with private tutors most of the year when the circus traveled from town to town. But when the circus settled for the winter and the children of the performers had to attend local schools-. “Serena, we're a family circus. In both ways. But there are people in social services that don't like children traveling or performing with circuses. If you put on a bad case by being late or make bad grades, they might pounce on us like a fox on a chicken-coop.”

Serena nodded. “I'll try to do better sir.”

“You better.” Now Haley dropped his stern manner a little. “That little incident will just generate some local news, make some jokes, maybe even stir up some good publicity for us. But after tonight, the circus is closed for the winter. And your grades better improve or you won't be performing with the other clowns next season. You got me kid?”

Serena nodded. “Yes sir.”

“Good. Now get out of my office before I change my mind.”

Serena Grayson and Wetmore walked out of the trailer that housed Haley's office. “Okay, you'll be at Clown Alley at five to get ready, all right? Wetmore asked.

“Sure.” Serena nodded. She liked Wetmore a lot; he'd been kind of like a favorite uncle to her as long as she could remember. When she turned out to be too clumsy to carry on her family's acrobatic tradition it was he who suggested she train as a clown.

Wetmore headed off towards his own trailer. Serena started towards her own family's when she saw a strange looking man come out from the Big Top Tent. What was he doing there?

Serena then just shrugged and went to her trailer. She, her family, and the whole circus had a big night ahead of her, and she wanted to be ready.

Dominic Lucoli stared at the girl as she walked away from him. He'd made sure there was no one around when he halfway cut that cable on the acrobat swing. Should he go and threaten that girl not to say anything?

Then he shrugged. That girl hadn't seen him cut the rope, and likely hadn't got a good look at him. Besides, the Boss was sending him out of town tonight on a vacation. He chuckled to himself. Tonight would certainly be a night this circus would remember for a long time.

Serena sat down before her dressing mirror in Clown Alley. Carefully, she applied white greasepaint around eyes and mouth. Next she took a cotton swab and, the way Whitmore had taught her, shaped the paint spots into the patterns she wanted. Then she patted her face with baby powder and wiped the powder off with a shaving brush.

Next she painted a black smile inside her white muzzle and black eyebrows over her eyelids. Then she shaded her eyes purple. Powder again, when brush away. Serena surrounded her muzzle with bright red greasepaint. Powder then brush. Finally she rubbed pink makeup over any part of her face that hadn't been painted already and her neck. Powder then brush.

Her makeup done, Serena glued on two large purple eyelashes, then a big red rubber nose. She leaned in closer to the mirror. First she smiled. Then frowned. Then she pouted.

Finally she giggled. “I am one funny clown.”

“Of course you are,” someone said from behind Serena.

Serena turned and looked behind her. “Thanks Mom, Dad.” Her parents Ken and Kerry Grayson were right behind her, already dressed in the red and yellow tights they wore in their acrobat show.

“You have then all roaring tonight, Princess.” Ken Grayson looked down at his daughter.

“Big deal.” Serena looked past her parents and saw her younger brother Dick in his circus tights, plus the green elf shoes he wore. “You're just going to be tripping and bumping around a whole lot. It's all you were ever good at.”

“Dick!” Kerry reproached her son. “Your sister's worked hard on her act! You should be supportive, not teasing her.”

“Heh. She can't even do the things that take real skill, like juggle or walk the low wire.” Dick sneered, then turned to his sister. “Face it, sis, you're just a klutz, and that's about the only thing Meatball Head the Clown has going for her!”

“How many times do I have to tell you, my clown name is Moonbunny!” Serena fumed. Sometimes her brother really made her furious. So what if she couldn't carry on the family tradition of acrobatic stunts, while he'd been doing triple flips since he was eight. And he did better in his studies. He didn't have to be such a snotty brat about it. And her act did have a lot of tripping and bumping around, and little else. It always got good laughs from the audience.

Suddenly Tom Wetmore came in dressed in his persona as the tramp clown Patchwork. “What, Serena? The show's about to start and you're not in costume yet! You know the rules.” Serena sighed. The clowns always had a big batch of donuts delivered to eat at the end of every performance. And the last on in costume had to pay for them.

“Don't worry princess, I'll cover you.”

Serena hugged her father. “Thanks Daddy!” She then quickly got behind her curtain and changed into her costume: a pink and blue sailor style dress covered by small white rabbits and yellow crescent moons; with striped hose of the same colors and big bright red shoes. Nest she coiled her ponytails into loops and placed a pink sailor hat on top of her head. She stepped out from the curtain. “How do I look?”

“Beautiful.” her mother said.

“Terrific.” Ken added.

“Like a clown.” Dick muttered. He looked at his parents. “She'll probably scarf down all the donuts herself and then you'll have to pay for another batch.”

Moonbunny just stuck out her tongue, before ducking out of Clown Alley with Patchwork to join the other clowns.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, and children of all ages,” Art Haley announced in his Red suit and top hat, “I'm pleased to present for your entertainment, Haley's Circus. And as tonight's performance is a fundraiser for building a new wing at Gotham City Children's Hospital, let's bring to spotlight on the primary sponsor for tonight's event, Mr. Bruce Wayne!” The circus spotlight moved to the audience then settled on a rather casually dressed man in his mid twenties holding a bag of popcorn. “And at his side, from Gotham Children's Services, who helped organize tonight's festivities, the lovely Trista Miouh!”

The two stood up, waved, and sat back down.

“Are you all right?” Trista asked Bruce. She was a tall, slender woman who for some reason dyed her long thick hair green. On her, the way she dressed and carried herself made it look elegant instead of silly or punk. “You seem awfully moody tonight.”

“Just busy thinking of some business,” Bruce said to her.

And he was, but not the sort of business most people would have thought of when they thought of Bruce Wayne.

All of major criminal lunatics that plagued Gotham were either out of town or locked away in Arkham or Blackgate. And most of the small time hoods were busy laying low. In short, there was nothing going on that the Batman was needed for.

And he did have to keep up appearances. A Howard Hughes sort of reputation would only attract the attention of the paparazzi. One reporter already knew about his other life, and Bruce Wayne was determined that Clark Kent would be the only one.

The usual acts came out. The knife throwers, the motorcycle stuntmen, the fire-eaters. The bareback riders, the big cat tamers, and the sideshow attractions.

Trista took it all in delight, then looked at her date. “Come on Bruce, live a little. Life's too short to think about business all the time.”

Bruce looked back at Trista. She was a lovely, intelligent woman and if he hadn't made that promise long ago there might have been a possibility for something more. But he knew he had to end it soon. There was just no room in his kind of life for serious romance. “I suppose you're right.”

And he actually did laugh when the clowns came out. That surprised him; because of his previous experiences with a certain one he normally didn't find clowns very funny. But this particular one, a girl with a peculiar hairstyle who kept tripping falling down, and then gushing big streams of tears somehow reached inside to his funnybone.

Underneath the seats, a certain black cat with a crescent mark on her forehead lay as she watched the clowns. Suddenly she thought she saw a mark similar to her own appear on one of them. Could it be?

Moonbunny and the other clowns exited from the tent and went straight for the cafeteria tent. Sure enough, there were the donuts out waiting for the clowns.

Serena grabbed a couple of handfuls of donuts, a cup of orange juice, and headed back for the big top. At a certain spot, she and other performers could sit and enjoy the circus without being noticed.

“And now, for the finale of the evening, I bring to you a family whose name in circus acrobatics goes back to the sixteenth century and performed for Queen Elizabeth I herself, The Flying Graysons!” Haley's voice shouted through the megaphone.

Serena beamed as she watched her family got up onto the swing structure. She loved clowning, the costumes, the making up, making people laugh, and going to hospitals during the off-season to cheer up sick people. And sure, she was too clumsy to do acrobatics, but she was still proud to come from such a long and respected tradition.

She clapped with the rest of the viewers as her brother did his famous triple flip. Sure they fought a lot and got on each other's nerves, but there was no denying Dick was talented.

Trista leaned over to Bruce. “That boy there is really something, isn't he?”

Bruce nodded. “A real boy wonder.”

“And now,” Haley spoke through behind his speakerphone, “the Flying Graysons will perform their Legendary Dance of Death,” and at his signal the safety net was dropped, “without a net!”

Dick Grayson swung out towards his mother. As he leapt, he did his famous triple flip again. Kerry caught her son, swung back, and then leapt with him still holding her. They did a double flip and where caught around Kerry's ankles by Ken.

The partially cut ropes on the swing stretched a little.

The three Graysons leapt to the other swing, doing a single flip then Ken caught the bar with his knees. They swung back. Kerry let go of Dick and he spun before catching the swing.

The ropes stretched even further.

Dick landed, and then threw the swing at his parents. Ken released his knees from the other swing's bar, and he and Kerry did a spin and flip. Kerry caught the swing's bar.

And the ropes snapped.

Serena choked on her twelfth donut as she saw her parents plummet to the ground. “No!” she shouted as she ran out-still in her clown outfit and makeup-to the center ring. She stood there in stunned silence with the rest of the tent as she looked at the bodies of Ken and Kerry Grayson, their necks and waists bent at impossible angle.

Bruce looked down at the center ring in shock. Something like this had happened when he was present-and he hadn't done anything. There was nothing you could have done, the rational part of his mind told him. Even Clark or Barry wouldn't have been fast enough to stop this.

“Mom. Dad.” Serena looked next to her and saw her brother had come down to right beside her. Tears were running down his face, as she knew were running down hers.

Immediately she grabbed a hold of Dick and clutched him to her chest. Dick and Serena both sobbed uncontrollably, realizing now all they had were each other.

Luna gazed out from under the seats and saw the crescent moon again appear on the clown's forehead. Yes, she found what she had been looking for at last. But now was not the time.

Best right now to leave Sailor Moon in her grief before she learned of her destiny

 

Author's notes:

As you probably noticed, I'm going to be using the English Names for the Sailor Senshi. After all this fic takes place in America. Yes, Dick will be becoming Robin. I'm also thinking about having the other Sailor Senshi be related to Batman characters. Like Amy could be Leslie Thompkin's granddaughter. Or Lita be Officer Renee Montoya's little sister. Or Mina be Alfred's niece. I'm even considering making Darien Commissioner Gordon's estranged son.

Another thing that would be a good idea would be to have Batman Villains working for the Dark Kingdom-although Jadeite may get more than he bargained for dealing with the Joker. Superman may make a cameo as well.

One thing you definitely won't see here is any Romance between Serena and Bruce. Not only is he ten years older than her, he's also her legal guardian. Anyone out there into adult/teen sex better satisfy your sick perverted minds elsewhere.

Next Chapter: Luna shows up at Wayne Manor. And a Sailor Warrior and a Dark Knight meet for the first time.

Send in your reviews. I'm not updating until I get at least four!