Joker

Part I
Here he was, the man everyone was waiting for: “The” Joker, the real one, not one of these figurines we could see in kids’ shops, not the actor in the Batman films, not the bad guy who killed without any pity… Joker: the hero.
Here he was with his black top hat, his gloves - one red, one white - and a long black coat. He was one of the only super men with sable clothes; true enough, the crowd in front of the podium was very ruddy and gaudy-looking. And then, after raising a white silencing hand, he said:
My apologies, I know I’m late. As you know, I have to introduce myself, well: I’m the Joker! … and then, he began to step down the podium, with his eternal and broad grin on his thin white face. He was fairly proud of this. But as a result of this veiled affront, an old man appeared at the bottom of the stairs and barred him the way. The old man was our master, our teacher; the one who wrote the laws, as he had the law which made us introduce ourselves before each exceptional meeting. Eventually, Joker had to go up again.
All right… I’m Heath D’oss Ledger, best known as the Joker, the Smiler, or the Player. At the age of twelve I discovered the power which poured in my veins: the power to control blood.
He said it in one go. He raised his red glove and looked at it. At this time in his tale, most of the super heroes in the immense room were… quivering.
This power was very -as all of you know-… questioned. And because of that, I met the High Council many times. However, I’m a hero, as you all are, and I’m here to protect the world, like you all do. I know I’ve got a… strange power. But it is thus.
I integrated the Super Arm-E when I was sixteen, and I learnt how to control my power with Master A… with our Master.
All the assembly retained its breath. It was a privilege to be trained by the Master, and Joker was the only person in the world who knew his name. It justified the fact that Joker was considered as the best of us, certainly better than the Master. Joker cast a glance at his master who acknowledged him, and he continued:
I’m here today because I know that in the city next to where we are, a small town called Gotham, lies my principal enemy, known as Demedea.
Joker clenched his white fist. Demedea was a horrible memory. A man in the assembly, right besides the podium, had the poor idea to say to his neighbor
A girl as an enemy? Is this Joker joking? Ah ah!
Joker snapped his red fingers toward that “superman”, who began to blush until he was nearly purple. In fact, his blood circulated much too quickly in his arteries. Nobody noticed what was just happening. Joker loosened the man’s blood pressure and resumed speaking:
Demedea, the Ice Queen. She has already tried to “cool” the world more than once. But she has never succeeded, because I was always there. I am, unfortunately, the only one who can ultimately defeat her. He lowered his green gaze. Unfortunately.

Part II
Enough. That was enough. He could not stay on the podium one more second without exploding… but the Master appeared at his sides, to everybody’s surprise. He whispered something near the Joker’s ears, who eventually continued:
I’m here today… because I need some of you to defeat her, once and for all.
It was unbelievable. Joker was asking for help. Him, one of the last super heroes without any comrade in arms, he needed help. The assembly remained silent. Nobody was risking a single whisper. There were two reasons that explained this silence. The most important one, the one that most of the super heroes were thinking about, was that Joker was powerful. As I already said, he was the best of us, and maybe even better than all the High Council. If the Joker was asking us for help… it meant several things. It meant that he could not defeat the Ice Queen alone. That was a bad thing. It meant that him plus Master couldn’t defeat her either. That was worse… It also meant that him plus Master, plus the whole High Council could not defeat Demedea. That was the worst… and that was the most prominent reason for the silence. The second reason was in the mind of only a few of the elite. Only a few of us worked with Joker, and those who did still had the scars.
In the left corner of the immense room, some exclamations were exchanged. The fact was that this small “wounded” elite was gathered there. The crowd widened the circle around them. Raven turned her head away, jingling the bells in her black hair. Tevih stared at Joker, digging his claws into his palms. He made one step in the direction of the podium, but was stopped by a hand on his muscular shoulder.
Calm down Tev’… Huyn said. Don’t even think about it. You already know how this is going to end. The tigrom warrior grumbled. Then somebody shouted:
What are you waiting for? We won’t stay here forever just because the so complicated Joker needs his team!
I think that the one who said that realized his foolishness just when he finished his sentence.
Who said that? Huyn simply asked. A second empty circle was created around another super hero who was, unfortunately, very near the team. As Huyn approached the poor guy, a horrible sound was following her steps. A giant scythe, scraping the slabs. She was relaxed, her chest slowly moving up and down under her white tunic, which showed perfectly the shape of her body. The death was walking. She finally reached the man… who was frightened out of his wits.
You know who I am, don’t you? She asked, putting the scythe on her shoulders, thus he could see it perfectly.
Y… yes…
Well then. I think I have misunderstood you. Did you say something like “Joker needs his team”, while talking about us?
Y… yes, he said, livid.
Well. You will learn that as long as I am breathing, Raven, Tevih and I, will not be qualified as “Joker’s Team”. Understood?
Y… yes.
Joker saw the whole scene. He smiled. It was true. It was not his team. But he was part of it.