Robin raced across the room and tackled the blade-wielding figure, knocking him to the floor, but the smocked man was immediately back on his feet.

"Haven't had enough yet, huh? Are you sure you've got the stomach for murder?" Robin asked, before belting his opponent in the gut.

KLOMP!

"Don't be alarmed, care-providers!" Batman called out to the astonished gathering as he gripped the gasping foe in a headlock. "Under this innocent-looking surgical cap, you'll find hair of a hue quite peculiar for a renowned surgical practitioner!"

In one motion he ripped the surgical cap and mask off to reveal a red-faced doctor trying to catch his breath. Instead of finding green hair, they were staring at a completely bald head.

"Holy Cranial Disorder!" yelled Robin

"What…on…earth…do you think you're doing?!" the surgeon managed to gasp out as Batman released him.

"Strange. I seem to be mistaken," said the caped crusader.

"We're very sorry, sir," said Batgirl, assisting the doctor to a chair. "Do you think you'll be able to continue with the operation?"

"I very well may be able to if you three will get…out…of…my…sight!!"

"My apologies, sir," said Batman. "If you ever need…"

"Out, you brainless buffoons!" bellowed the surgeon, his cheeks now red from rage in addition to exertion. The terrific trio wisely departed without another word.

"Well, that was embarrassing," Batgirl said once they were back in the hallway.

Robin's face wore a guilty expression. "Gosh, Batman, I didn't mean to…"

"Crime is a dirty business, chum. Put it out of your mind," said Batman. He raised a finger as his deductive mind produced an explanation for their mistake.

"I'm sure the Joker would want to disrupt that operation….unless he never learned of it…because he didn't leave the ambulance parking area in the first place!"

"Gee whilikers, yes!" said Robin. "That's it!"

"You mean he just snuck into another ambulance and stole the keys?" asked Batgirl.

"Precisely! To the Batmobile!"

Back in the operating theater, the doctor had regained his composure. Calling for calm from the group of observers, he proceeded to begin the operation. He leaned over to carefully make an incision. Suddenly, his head jerked up as an unforeseen spray of matter hit his mask. The assembled doctors gasped as long pink strands spurted up from the patient's prone form. The air was suddenly filled with the stuff as it continued to rocket upwards with unusual ferocity.

One doctor recoiled as some of the stringy substance landed on him. He took a closer look at it. "Isn't this….silly string?"

"I didn't even make the incision!" protested the surgeon.

From the midsection of the patient, there slowly emerged a tuft of green hair, followed by a white forehead and a pair of devious eyeballs. As the doctors gawked in amazement, the top half of the Joker suddenly sprouted from the operating table, cackling madly.

"Oh, what a special occasion," he cried, spreading his arms. "Egbert has just given birth to a beautiful, bouncing, baby boy!"

The surgeon's mouth hung open in amazement.

"This calls for a celebration! Have a cigar!" said the Joker, taking a stogie from his pocket and placing it in the doctor's mouth.

The cigar predictably exploded as soon as the Joker lit it, leaving a black circle of soot around the M.D.'s mouth. Several observers raced from the viewing gallery to locate Batman.

The Joker jumped up onto the operating table, dislodging the patient's torso and legs, which fell to the floor with a clatter.

"Oh, dear," exclaimed the Joker. "This seems to have been a difficult birth for poor daddy! The intensive labor has left him quite frail!"

The observing physicians could easily tell that the torso and legs on the floor were fake replicas constructed of metal and plastic. Eagle-eyed viewers recognized the parts as items left over from the clown prince's brief flirtation with robot accomplices.

"May I have a drum roll, please?" cried the Joker, commanding their attention. Seizing up a pair of steel surgical utensils by the blades, he tapped out a drumbeat on the flabbergasted doctor's bald head.

"Respected members of the Gotham medical community! I come before you today in the spirit of mischievousness and tomfoolery!"

"Wh-who are you?" cried one of the out-of-town physicians.

"I am the sworn enemy of the mundane and the predictable! I am the wild card in the deck!"

The Joker whipped out his business card, which burst into flames before anyone had a chance read it. He tossed it into a nearby waste receptacle, which promptly began burning as well.

One of the doctors had managed to catch up with the terrific trio out in the parking lot. Seeing her frantic gestures, they knew her message before she even spoke. With Batman in the lead, the three dashed off in the direction of the woman's pointing finger.

Back amidst the pandemonium of the surgery, the operating physician was closely scrutinizing Egbert's head. The cranium appeared to be real rather than artificial, and he thought he saw the nostrils inhaling and exhaling.

"What is this, Halloween?" another doctor was yelling in the background.

"Halloween, you say?" said the Joker. "You can rest assured, my good man, that when I start basing my humorous hi-jinks on national holidays, you won't have to ask if it's the case!"

Detecting an odd angle to Egbert's neck, the surgeon cautiously lifted the green sheet hanging down both sides of the operating table. Underneath, he saw the Egbert's inert body lying on a thin bench that angled down away from the false top of the operating table. The slant of the bench allowed the night watchman's feet to rest on the floor while his head lay up in full view where everyone expected to see it. The letters "w-a-s-h-m-y-f-e-e-t" were painted in green on the patient's toes; evidence that the Joker had been concealing himself here under the table before the physicians had arrived.

"Like it?" the Joker asked regarding the trick table. "It's an old magician's gimmick for the sawing-the-man-in-half trick. Here, watch this."

He briefly passed his hand in front of his face, then spit out a round white ball into his palm. After a moment, a second ball emerged from his mouth, then a third and a fourth. He held the balls up for the surgeon's inspection, then threw all four into the upper section of the viewing gallery. They exploded, unleashing a stench that smelled like something out of the toilet at the ballpark. The room's occupants groaned in objection and covered their noses.

"This way, Batman!" yelled a voice down the hall. Vaulting from the operating table, the Joker seized the case containing the donor spleen for Egbert.

"Do you mind if I borrow this? I'm running low on dog food!"

Unleashing another blinding cloud of silly string from his pockets, the Joker headed with the spleen for a nearby window. Before anyone could lay a hand on him, he was gone. The crimefighters burst into the room to be greeted by poor visiblility and an obnoxious odor, but no Joker.