Nothing but Clowns

Chapter 1 - An Unworthy Explanation

Story #1
Dialogue:
"Beppi"
"Joker"
"Pennywise"
"Bruce/Batman"

It was a hot summer's day back in Inkwell Isle, surprisingly most people were enjoying their time at the carnival in the second isle, but the main clown of that carnival, Beppi the Clown, had been elsewhere, down by the shore with his two brothers, Joker and Pennywise. Technically, these three were in the middle line, they were in fact brothers, and sure as hell acted like brothers, but they decided to keep it just between them, nobody else knew.

Beppi himself had been the youngest, the more innocent, the less dangerous, yet the most troublesome when it came to his emotions. He could make mostly anyone laugh with his jokes and puns, and was star struck over new things and new people. Joker was in the middle, not the youngest, not the oldest, he was one of the worst villains in Gotham, but of course, that didn't stop him from being kind to his family though. He was the trickster, the jester, and the most insane out of the three. Pennywise is, unexplainable. He was the oldest out of the three, he was always picking on his younger brothers, yet he was assumed to be the one who kept this whole family together. Of course, they all loved each other, there was a special bond that held them all close, and of course there were bad times, but that didn't seem to stop them from enjoying each other's company.

The three walked along the shore, Beppi trying to wiggle out the sand from in between his toes and picking up random seashells he found ashore, Joker rambling about the latest heist he had gone on with his goons and trying to skip stones into sea, while Pennywise didn't bother to say much, listening to Joker talking and focusing on the scenery. Soon enough, the conversation came to universe hopping.

"We're going to have to head back to Gotham after we're finished here, Batsy promised me a lil' date if I came back~"

"Aren't you even just, a little concerned that he might be trying to trick you back into the jail cells again? Because if he is and you fall for his lies, I'm not busting your ass out this time."

"Daww, c'mon Penny! Stop thinking so negatively about these things! We've been learning to trust each other lately, I doubt he'd throw me back into a cellar."

"Ohh, you'd be surprised..."

Beppi hadn't really been paying attention to the whole conversation, being off in his own dreamland as the waves reached shore and flooded again his feet. It tickles... he thought to himself, chuckling softly as he started placing all the shells he collected into his beat-up backpack.

"But that's besides the point, we'd better hop now before anyone catches us here."

"Fair enough, you ready Beppi?"

As he heard his name, Beppi glanced up, nodding as he slung the bag over his back and straightened out his clown suit, and once he gave a thumbs-up, in a matter of seconds they were back in Gotham.

The three clowns had a reason for this sudden 'hop'. Since the three all belonged in different universes, (one of them having multiple universes), their timelines never combined, thus their own universes still remain separated. With the help of Pennywise, however, they learned what they now call a 'hop', or a 'jump!', which is their ability to jump from one universe to another with ease. They mainly lurk around Gotham City, and have even set up a house of their own in one of the apartments, Joker's specifically. They are all sure to visit each timeline frequently to make sure nobody calls them in missing, and so nobody finds out about the universe jumping.

Their apartment was only a few blocks away, and Beppi honestly felt like walking, but it was quite a muggy day in Gotham, and since Joker had his car parked nearby, they all took the drive back home. The apartment door creaked open, Beppi throwing himself into the couch and giggling as Joker did the same and knocked the air out of Beppi. Pennywise groaned once his two brothers beckoned him to join them, not interested in their foolery, he was more interested in filling his stomach. After a while of giggles and hitting eachother with pillows, Beppi got up and went over to the fridge, yanking it open.

"What do y'all want to eat?"

"McDonald's!"

"Emotions."

"Well we ain't got frozen emotions in here but we can certainly go to Mickey D's."

"Orr...we could go scare some children."

"...we can do that after dessert."

"But you always go to take a shower after dessert, Beps!"

"Exactly."

Beppi sighed softly, he was never fond of scaring children, especially not on purpose. He ran a carnival and was surrounded by children everyday, so why would he want to harm them like that? Not only that, but he had two of his own, so how would that be setting a good example for them?

"Don't worry, Penny! I'll go with ya! Just, don't push Beppi about it, okay? You know how he feels about these things.."

Joker turned his head to Beppi, who had been grabbing his wallet, since he wanted to be responsible and pay for their food, even if he didn't get a good pay that week. Joker grinned and tossed the keys to Beppi, which he looked down at with fear.

"You're... Trusting me to drive?"

"Well, yeah! Besides, neither me and Penny can be seen in public, so we'll be sitting in the backseat."

"I figured there was a catch.. alright then."