Gotham Knight: Dying of Laughter

CHAPTER 16

Chapter 16: "Two Guys Were in a Lunatic Asylum..."

"Duela!" Batman shouted as he ran into the haunted house. Joker was tied to a wall. Duela stood there, a bloody baseball bat in one hand, a gun pointed at Joker's head in the other. She glared at Batman angrily.

"Give me one good FUCKING reason why I shouldn't pull the trigger right now!"

Batman remained silent as he searched for the right words. In many ways, he couldn't blame her. If he were in her position, he wondered whether he would even hesitate to pull the trigger. It wasn't like he hadn't done it before, after all. But killing in self-defense was one thing. It could be justified. This, this was execution. Cold blooded murder. But even then... The Joker had killed so many, hurt so many people, destroyed so many lives, what justice would there be in letting him live? Finally, he sighed and spoke.

"Duela, you have no idea how many times I've thought about choking the life out of that scumbag. How many times I've wanted to bash his head against the wall until it leaves a smear of blood and brain paste in its wake. How many times I've fantasized about slitting his throat to silence that laughter once and for all."

Joker grinned, showing off his broken teeth and bloodied mouth. "Aw, so you do think about me." Batman pretended he didn't hear him.

"I've killed before, but it doesn't solve anything. Put the gun down and walk away. Prove you're not like him."

Duela's eyes filled with tears and she hesitantly put down the gun. "I'm sorry..."

She dropped the gun on the ground and walked away, leaving the Haunted House.

Joker chuckled and smiled. "Ah, they grow up so fast, don't they? Ugh!"

His eyes widened as Batman's hand grabbed his throat, causing him to laugh even more.

"So you're finally gonna do it? Well, go ahead."

"No," Batman said, shaking his head. "Four years ago, I might have, but this city deserves better than that."

Batman dropped him on the floor and looked down at the clown. How pathetic and insignificant he seemed now.

"But how long can we keep this up? It doesn't have to be this way, you know. Maybe, if you let me, I can help you."

Batman extended his hand. Joker frowned as he looked at Batman's extended hand before sighing, shaking his head.

"It's too late for me."

The Joker smirked and chuckled softly, sighing.

"You know, this reminds me of a joke. Two guys were in a lunatic asylum. They got bored and wanted to escape, so they climbed up to the roof. There was another building next to the asylum with a small gap between the buildings. The first guy jumps over without a problem, but the second guy is afraid of heights, so the first guy comes up with an idea. He turns on his flashlight and says 'Here you go, you can walk along the beam' and the other guy says 'You think I'm crazy? You'd turn it off when I was halfway there'."

Joker burst out laughing. Batman smirked and a small chuckle escaped his lips. A chuckle that eventually turned into laughter. His grip around the Joker's throat tightened.

Hours later, Bruce returned to the Batcave and was met by Dick.

"Alfred told me about you going after Joker. It's like you don't trust me. I'm your partner! We've been working together for almost three years."

"Your head wasn't in the game, Dick! After what Joker did to Barbara, I couldn't trust you not to get emotional."

Dick scoffed. "Emotional? Am I being emotional now?" He said before punching Bruce hard. Bruce barely flinched and Dick then sighed.

"Did you at least kill Joker?"

Bruce looked away. "I did what I had to."

-

The GCPD finally arrived at the amusement park and found Joker lying on the floor. Detective Bullock stared at him.

"Is he dead?" Bullock asked.

One of the officers took the Joker's pulse.

"Nah, he's just out cold."

Bullock took a swig from his flask.

"Too bad."

-

Dr Leslie Thompkins opened the doors to her Park Row apartment. She sighed as she took off her coat and looked into the mirror. She had graying hair and there were a few wrinkles on her face, but she was still as beautiful as she'd been 20 years ago.

Thompkins poured herself a glass of whiskey and took a sip of it.

"Leslie," a dark, tired voice said behind her.

Shaking her head, she put the glass down and turned around to see Batman sitting on her couch.

"You haven't visited me in a long time. Not since you adopted that poor boy three years ago."

Batman sighed. "I've been busy."

She smirked and took another sip of her glass.

"What's on your mind this time? You haven't reverted to killing people again, have you?"

Batman shook his head. "No, but I almost did. I wanted to. Every cell in my body wanted to shake the life out of that clown. But I had already talked a young woman out of killing that same man. His daughter."

Leslie put down her glass and went to get another one for Batman.

"You did the right thing. The Joker will receive his well-deserved punishment and rehabilitation in Arkham Asylum and his daughter will be fine, I'm sure. While I wasn't so supportive of your crusade initially, I've seen that you have done good work with this city. I just wish it wasn't so violent. It doesn't seem right for someone who lost his parents to such violence. But you have a code now. You refuse to kill, and that is what prevents you from losing yourself. Makes you stronger than any of them."

"Then what do you suggest I do?" Batman asked as Leslie returned with a glass of Bourbon for him.

"I suggest you do what you Waynes do best, Bruce. Keep helping people."