The room was basic - its only contents were chairs, a large table, a television, and a couple dozen members of the mob that made Gotham city so unstable. They were all mostly seated around the table. The TV sat at the table's end. It was displaying a live picture of a Chinese man who appeared to be talking through a camera on a plane.
"Rest assured," The man, Lau, said to the mob. "Your money is safe".
At first, it was a mere sound, nothing out of the ordinary. But heads began to turn to the room's main door as what sounded like a laugh grew louder and louder. As it became clearer, it wasn't exactly a laugh, as much as a forced cackle. A dark figure in the hallway beyond was approaching the room, and as it grew closer, its features could be made out. It was a man, dressed in a purple suit, hands gloved. His face was horrifying, covered in white makeup, with the exception of the area around his mouth. Where his mouth should have ended, it continued into both cheeks as long-healed scars, bright red lipstick covering them - an everlasting smile. The man entered the room, passing through its metal detector, which began to release its shrill cry as it detected the dozens of blades the man was hiding inside of his jacket, along with a few explosives. This freak of nature was... the Joker.
"And I thought my jokes were bad." He said as he approached the table. His voice was not the menacing kind you would expect. It was almost... fun.
Gambol, one of the mob's leaders, recognized the man - it was the freak who had robbed millions from the mob only days earlier. He stared at the Joker in rage.
"Give me one reason why I shouldn't have my boy here pull your head off." He growled, gesturing towards his bodyguard. The Joker looked at the bodyguard as he stood up.
"How about a magic trick?" Joker offered in a tone that a magician would say to a child. He pulled a pencil out of his pocket, ignoring the confused looks he was receiving from the mob. He slammed the pencil's sharp edge into the table hard enough so that it stood on its own. Joker gestured around it. "I'm going to make this pencil disappear."
The bodyguard was now walking towards the intruder when two gloved hands grabbed the bodyguard's head, and slammed it down onto the pencil. When the body collapsed, the pencil was, indeed, gone, a spot of blood in its place. The Joker gave a shout of triumph.
"See?" He gestured to the blood. "It's gone! Just like magic." There were actually a few impressed nods. Joker sat down at a chair at the end of the table opposite the TV. "By the way," He added. "I heard that comment about the suit, and it wasn't cheap. You should know, you bought it!"
Gambol stood up in fury, but a bearded gangster put up a hand to halt him.
"Sit," He said with a heavy European accent. "I want to hear his proposition." Gambol sat down, but the angry look on his face never left.
"Let's wind the clocks back a year." Joker began. "These cops and lawyers wouldn't dare cross any of you. I mean, what happened? Did your balls drop off? You're all pathetic now. But you see, a guy like me -"
"A freak." Gambol interrupted. There were a few laughs, but Joker didn't see what was funny, and he didn't like it when there was a joke he didn't get.
"You see," He continued. "A guy like me... look, listen. I know why you choose to have your little... group therapy sessions... in broad daylight. I know why you're afraid to go out at night." He paused here, then said, "The Batman." There were angry nods of agreement, and Joker went on. "See, Batman has shown Gotham your true colors, and unfortunately for us, Dent is just the beginning. And, and as for the television's so called 'plan'," Joker pointed accusingly at Lau. "Batman has no jurisdiction. He'll find him and make him squeal." Two gloved hands clasped together as if they were throttling someone. "I know the squealers when I see them."
Lau, feeling uncomfortable, turned off his camera, and the TV went blank. There were a few moments of silence, and then the man with the accent spoke again.
"What do you propose?" He asked. Joker leaned back.
"It's simple!" He said as if he was stating the obvious. "We kill the Batman." Once again, the mob laughed, and now Joker was getting angry - if there was a joke, he would know it.
"If it's so simple, why haven't you done it already?" The mob's main leader, Maroni, asked. Joker expected the question.
"If you're good at something, never do it for free." He explained.
"How much do you want?" The man with the accent asked. This time, Joker braced himself for the laughs.
"Half." He said, snd the laughs came, more than the previous times.
"You're crazy." Someone said.
"No, I'm not." Joker looked around at the men. "No, I'm not. If we don't deal with this now, soon little Gambol here won't be able to get a nickel for his Grandma."
"Enough from the clown!" Gambol roared. He rose from his chair and began to march over to the Joker, but the intruder also rose and took a couple steps back. He opened his jacket and revealed, along with the dozen-or-so blades, tons of explosives, a wire hanging from them.
"Let's not blow this out of proportion." He warned, tugging the wire playfully. Everyone in the room stood, and they all and backed away, with the exception of Gambol.
"You think you can steal from us and just walk away?" Gambol asked, fury clear in his voice. Joker looked at Gambol as if he was asking the stupidest question in the world.
"Yeah." Joker replied.
"I'm putting the word out." Gambol announced. "Five hundred grand for this clown dead. A million alive, so I can teach him some manners first!" Joker considered this for a moment.
"Alright, listen." He suggested. "Why don't you give me a call when you want to start taking things a little more seriously. Here's my card." He reached into an inner pocket of his suit jacket and pulled out a Joker card, the kind you would find in a deck of cards. He placed it on the table. There was no contact information of any kind on it. Joker began to back away, towards another one of the room's doors, continuing to tug the bomb wire as if it were a toy. The mob stared at him as he kicked the door open and quickly stepped out of view. Quick footsteps could be heard echoing distantly from the hallway.