Let us turn back the clock a little.
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the first-and only-edition of Joker's Midnight Show!"
In a hidden chamber, Joker stood at the front, gleefully reciting his opening remarks to all the guests present.
He wore his usual purple suit that day, with the addition of a Purple Top Hat. His makeup was even more exaggerated than usual, making him look like an unpopular third-rate comedian.
Clap, clap, clap...
When his opening remarks ended, scattered applause rose from the "audience."
The people seated in the chairs were men and women, young and old, but every last one wore an extravagantly luxurious formal outfit and an identical owl mask.
That was right. They were none other than members of the Court of Owls, the shadow government that had secretly controlled all of Gotham.
Of course, regardless of where they came from or what backgrounds they had, at that moment they had only one role: the audience for this performance.
And an audience that found Joker, their host, thoroughly boring and tiresome at that.
Joker had no complaints about that, however, and simply continued his flamboyant performance.
"All right, thank you all for coming. I know you're all very busy people, so let's skip the boring appetizers and get straight to the main course!
Heeheehee~"
With a sinister chuckle, Joker slipped into the darkness. A series of creaks followed, and then he emerged, wobbling as he pushed an operating table.
Lying on it was Batman, who had already been stripped almost naked.
"Come on! Let's give our warmest applause to the Dark Knight who has always protected Gotham, the superhero we all love-Bat! Man!"
Clap, clap, clap!
This time, the applause from the audience was noticeably louder. Those masked dignitaries were immensely interested in Batman.
After all,