Down by the docks, a group of around fifty men waited impatiently and surreptitiously, sharing furtive glances as they watched for any sign of movement nearby.

"Relax," said Buzz Bronski, appearing on the scene with Chuckie Sol next to him. "It's just us."

"It had better be," growled one of the men. "If Falcone finds out we're talking with you, we're dead. But you said something about money."

"I did," agreed Buzz, nodding. "You can choose to work for us, and you'll get what we offered you the last time we met."

"Falcone's offering double that," retorted the man. "Only an idiot would work for half price."

"An idiot, or a man who correctly values his life," said a voice with a low chuckle. "It's worth about half price, if that." The voice was coming from a figure seated in the shadows, who nobody had noticed before.

"Who is this clown?" demanded the man.

The voice chuckled again. "Clown is right!" he exclaimed, standing up and coming into the light. The men stared at the purple-suited jester in astonishment, which quickly turned to confusion and suspicion.

"You trying to tell us your operation is a circus, Buzz?" one of the men demanded, turning to him. "Because I believe that."

"This is the Joker," said Chuckie. "He works for us now. You might have heard of him."

Fear shot into the men's eyes – fear mixed with fury.

"Damn straight I have," muttered one of the men, glaring at the Joker's grinning face. "You sliced up my buddy. I saw his picture in the paper with one of your disgusting smiles carved onto him."

"Looked a lot happier though, didn't he?" chuckled Joker. "No need to thank me – spreading smiles and laughter is just what I do!"

"If you got freaks like this working for you, that ain't an incentive to join up," continued the man, rounding on Chuckie. "I would never work with a nutjob who could do something like that."

"It'll keep you safe from him though," pointed out Chuckie. "He's not gonna mutilate his own guys."

"I'm not that crazy," agreed the Joker, with a smile that certainly didn't support his statement.

"That's really the offer we're making here," continued Chuckie. "You can join us for a fair salary, or you can die slowly and painfully at the hands of the Joker. It's a very simple choice when you get right down to it."

"I ain't afraid of you or your pet freak," growled the man, glaring at the Joker and then turning to go.

"Don't make me shoot you in the back!" laughed Joker, drawing his gun and pointing it at the man. "That happened to me once, and it's so unsportsmanlike!"

The man turned back to face him. "Shoot me in the face if you're man enough," he retorted.

Joker shrugged, and then pulled the trigger on his gun. To everyone's surprise, a bang flag popped out of it. Joker began laughing hysterically as everyone else breathed a sigh of relief. "Stupid gag," retorted the man, turning to go again.

"Aw, it was kinda funny, you gotta admit," replied Joker with a grin. "Why don't you laugh?"

"I ain't laughing at your idiotic tricks, you dumb clown…" began the man, but his voice suddenly caught in his throat. Then he began choking out laughter, which grew harsher and louder in pitch until it was uncontrollable. He fell to the ground, his body writhing and limbs jerking as he continued to laugh hysterically, his lips contorting up in a horrible smile.

At last, he stopped laughing with a final, sickening gurgle and lay still. The other men gazed in horror from his grinning corpse to the Joker, who had the same grin on his face. "So who's taking up Buzz and Chuckie's generous offer?" he asked.

The men all hurried over to pledge their loyalty to them. The Joker continued to smile to himself, pushing the bang flag back into his gun and reloading the tiny dart of Joker toxin that had shot from it.

"That's a pretty lethal toy you got there," commented Buzz, coming over to join him when the men had dispersed.

"Well, I've always enjoyed toys and games," replied Joker. "And I've had a lot of time by myself to work on these things. I created the weapons and the toxin from scratch. I'm not really much for drugs generally, but they are useful in generating fear - a smart guy showed me that once. I usually prefer a more hands-on approach to my killing, but since fate saw fit to permanently alter my appearance, I thought I might as well play along with the joke by fully committing to the clown theme. That way they're never expecting the punchline, and the look on their faces when they realize they've been pranked really is to die for, don't you think?"

"Sure," agreed Buzz. "It's good to take people unawares and surprise them, so they don't suspect their impending doom. The important thing is that they die, and killing them by catching them off guard usually ensures that."

"Yes, usually," agreed Joker with a smile. "I know that's your preferred method of murder, Buzz, taking people unawares, and killing them by catching them off guard. I'm sure it works ninety-nine out of a hundred times, but unfortunately for you, the hundredth time dealt you a Joker."

Buzz didn't know how to respond to that, or to the sinister smile which seemed permanently fixed on the Joker's face. "Well, you have Maroni's men now," Joker continued. "So I'll leave you and Chuckie to discuss hitting Falcone. You haven't been too fond of my ideas in the past, so it's best that you two brainstorm and just bring me along for the action. I'll be in touch soon," he added, smiling once more before disappearing into the shadows.

Buzz turned to look at Chuckie. "We need to get rid of him again," he muttered. "Before he can get us."

"Agreed," said Chuckie, nodding. "And this time, we make sure he's dead."