A/N: By Lillith. Yes, short, I know. I just...really, really hate J Man. And his Jokerz. A lot.

Takes place just before the events of RotJ.

The nightclub was painfully ordinary.

Not that he'd been expecting much. After all, the gang that called themselves 'the Jokerz' were never known for being very original. So he just sat at the bar, waiting for the others.

Ghoul had thought he would have a mostly uneventful night. But the Jokerz had other plans.

One of the most well known faces in the Jokerz leagues was J Man. Dressed like the Clown Prince of Crime himself, J Man and his crew went around causing mayhem wherever he pleased. He and his gang were feared by most Jokerz. Not Ghoul's gang. Well, Chucko's gang, really. But either way, they weren't afraid of him.

So when he and his faithful followers entered the nightclub, still on their cycles, demanding applause for their entertainment, Ghoul just laughed.

"Did we ask for laughter?" J Man asked in his most threatening tone of voice, as he tried to figure out where the laughter was coming from. Ghoul just laughed more. This guy was a real joker, all right. J Man approached the chuckling teenager with a maniacal grin. "If it's a laugh you want, we've got lots of good jokes. Did you hear the one about the obnoxious twerp who got slagged by a bunch of Jokerz?"

"A thousand times. Did you ever hear the one about the Jokerz who got their asses handed to for being a bunch of wise guys?" Ghoul retorted, leaning back in his seat, his pose lazy and confident. They were taken aback by his reply, and looked to J Man, who was beginning to look a bit hot under the collar.

"You're a pretty funny guy. Too bad your jokes won't help you where you're going." J Man said. Ghoul wasn't intimidated in the least. He took a sip of his drink and turned his attention away from the Jokerz, instead choosing to stare off into space. "Heh heh...look at that, fellas. He's too scared to even look at me." Ghoul turned away from them and looked down the bar.

"Woof." he said.

"What did you say?" J Man asked.

"Woof." he repeated, turning towards the Jokerz.

"What're you, some kinda dog?" J Man asked, laughing. His Jokerz laughed with him.

"No." Ghoul said. "But you're about to be dog food."

Before J Man could think of a reply, something ran across the counter and smashed into him, sending him careening across the dance floor.

"Hey, what'd you do?" demanded Scab, grabbing the front of his shirt. Ghoul sneered.

"Have you ever heard of breath mints?" he asked, recoiling. Scab yelled and made to punch him in the face.

And had something jump on his back and bite his shoulder for his trouble.

Screaming, he flailed (at the same time letting go of Ghoul), trying to throw off whatever had jumped onto his back. Soon enough, it fell away. He whirled around to see what it was and was greeted with the sight of some kind of grotesque half human, half hyena creature.

"A splicer..." he said. He and the other Jokerz backed away as the creature advanced, snarling.

"Idiots, meet Woof. Woof, meet lunch." Ghoul said, moving over to the sidelines to avoid being backed into. He didn't even notice that J Man had gotten back up until the Jokerz leader had punched him in the face, sending him flying across the room.

"Not laughing no more, are ya?" he asked, somewhat maniacally. He pushed up his sleeves and advanced on Ghoul, preparing to beat him to a pulp.

"Hey now, I wouldn't do that if I were you." Ghoul warned, sitting back up.

"Why, are you going to laugh at me some more?" J Man asked.

"No."

"But we might."

Thin arms looped through J Man's, pulling him back and tossing him easily to the floor. He squealed in surprise. Standing over him were two teenage girls, with identical painted faces, identical orange, yarn like hair, and identical skimpy outfits on identical fit bodies.

"He's kind of handsome, Dee Dee." said one of them.

"I agree, Dee Dee, but we can't just let him push little Ghoulie around like that." said the other.

"You're right, Dee Dee." the other replied. "That's our job."

As the girls proceeded to kick J Man around a little bit, Chucko and Bonk wandered away from the two girls they'd been 'talking' to and over to Ghoul.

"Up 'an at 'em, Ghoulo." Chucko said, extending his hand to the teen, who was stifling a bloody nose. Ghoul took it and the older man pulled him to his feet. "Letting the Deed's fight your battles for you? That's gotta be embarrassing." he said. Ghoul sneered at him.

"You'd rather I get thrown around like a pillow?" he asked. "Now, where's my hat?" Woof, who was clearly finished with J Man's other Jokerz (having deposited them in a neat pile in the middle of the dance floor), handed it to him. He put it on his head. "Thanks, buddy." The Deed's threw J Man towards them. He had a new black eye and was covered in scrapes.

"Who...who are you guys...?" he asked. The 6 of them stood in front of him, each with a smirk on their face.

"Just because you wear that costume, doesn't mean you can call yourself a Joker. What? Did you see an old history cube and think the Joker looked like a cool guy to dress up as? Well, here's a news flash; you ain't got nothin on the Joker. You wouldn't even be a henchman to the Joker." Ghoul said. "We are the real Jokerz, and you'd better remember it.