BATMAN: Fall Of The Dark Knight #Wattys2016

14: THE LAST STAND OF THE JOKER

James Gordon's shooting of Bane was ruled self-defense. When Commissioner Bullock questioned him about the shooting, Gordon told him how Vicki Vale had contacted him about how Bane had kidnapped Barbara and Jane to get to him and how he didn't tell Dick about it because he didn't want to get him involved with him being the mayor. Bullock nodded as he listened to his version of the events that had transpired. Gordon had been around him long enough to know that he wasn't totally convinced of his tale-he probably wasn't even convinced at all-but, in the end, no one, Bullock included, were shedding any tears over the death of a mass murdering scumbag like Bane. So that's why he didn't press the issue. However, when Gordon stood to leave his office, Bullock asked him, "You know who he is, don't you?"

James stopped at Bullock's office door. He kept his back to his former partner and didn't respond. He knew exactly the "he" Harvey was referring to. Bullock didn't say anything else as he took a couple of sips of his crappy coffee. Finally, after a moment of silence between the two, Gordon opened the door and, before he stepped out, he said, "See you around, Harvey."

Bullock remained silent as his former boss walked out of his office and quietly shut the door behind him.

Meanwhile, Selina had moved in with Bruce at Wayne Manor. After his harrowing fight with Bane, Bruce retired the Hellbat suit and closed off the Batcave altogether. As far as he was concerned, his days of being Batman were over for good. Likewise, Selina vowed to never don her Catwoman persona ever again as her life of crime was over, as far as she was concerned. Bruce and Selina's life together was going good, at least for a little while. But then one day while Selina was out doing errands and Bruce was sitting alone in his study looking over some papers for Wayne Enterprises, he heard an all-too-familiar voice behind him.

"Hello, Brucey," the voice behind him said. "Long time no see!"

Bruce swung around in his seat and saw The Joker standing in the doorway to his study pointing a gun at him.

"Joker," Bruce muttered.

"Ah, you remembered!" Laughter. "It's been so long I was beginning to think you might have forgotten your old friend!" Laughter.

"What do you want, Joker?" Bruce demanded.

"Ah, getting right down to business, as usual. It's so nice to see some things haven't changed!" Laughter. "What I want, dear Brucey, is to see you dead so I can mount your bat head on my wall."

Bruce narrowed his eyes at him. "You were the one who hired Bane."

"Very good, Brucey. Right as always!" Laughter. "Yeah, you're right, I hired Bansey. I figured if anyone could do the job of finishing off Batsey once and for all it would be him. I mean, after all, he came the closest of anyone of us, hasn't he?" Laughter. "Oh well! I guess it's true what they say after all." He clicked the hammer back on his gun. "If you want a job done right you've got to do it yourself!"

The Joker raised his gun and aimed it straight at Bruce. Of course, this wasn't the first time Bruce had stared down the barrel of a gun. The very first time was when he was a child and he saw his parents mercilessly gunned down right in front of him. He, of course, was unable to stop what happened to his parents, but he had stared down the barrel of a gun numerous times as Batman and he'd always managed to escape, sometimes by the skin of his teeth. But now, as he stared down the barrel of Joker's gun, he wasn't Batman. He was merely Bruce Wayne. And he wasn't sure how he was going to escape this time.

"So long, Brucey." Laughter. "It was nice knowin' ya!"

Bruce narrowed his eyes as he gripped the armrests on his chair. He watched as The Joker began to slowly squeeze the trigger on his gun as if he was trying to prolong his torment. Bruce was about to get ready to charge him before he fired, but then he suddenly heard the sound of a whip crack and Joker's gun flew out of his hand. Joker held his injured hand and angrily looked over to his side. There he saw Selina Kyle standing there holding her trusty whip glaring back at him.

"You!" he growled, then laughter. "This isn't the first time you've interfered with my plans, you naughty little kitty." He pulled out a knife. "But I'll make sure it will be the last!"

He began walking towards Selina who braced herself for his upcoming attack. But he abruptly stopped when he heard a familiar voice behind him.

"Joker!"

The Joker turned around and saw Bruce standing pointing his own gun at him, his hand surprisingly steady given how much he detested guns. The sight of Bruce Wayne standing there aiming a gun at him elicited the biggest laugh from The Joker yet.

"Oh, please, Brucey. You know you're not going to shoot me anymore than you could kill me before when you had the chance." Laughter. "No one can stop me. Not you, not Batman, not your kitty cat girlfriend, not the Gotham PD, no one! You know what they'll do to me? They'll just send me away where I'll get out again. Even with Arkham gone, I can still rule the world from a jail cell." Laughter. "You know what I should do next? Maybe I should go pay a visit to my good friend Barbara and that new hubby of hers who was one of the Robins I didn't get around to killing." Laughter. "Maybe I can do with him like I did with Daddy Gordon and tie him up while I have his way with his wife." Laughter. "And after I do away with the both of them, I can take that new baby girl of theirs and raise her to be my new Harley. I must admit, it's been so lonely since you killed her. Now I don't have anyone to knock around whenever the mood strikes. Boy, that Harley sure knew how to take a punch!" Laughter. "So why don't you put that gun down, Brucey, before you really embarrass yourself, all rightie? I'll just walk on out of here where we can start this little song and dance of ours all over again. And you want to know why you'll let me do that? Because the Batman needs me. He's always needed and he always will!" Laughter. "And do you wanna know what's the most ironic part, Brucey? The more people I kill, the more people I rape, the more people I torture, the more people love me. Hell, I'm more popular than your batty alter-ego. I mean, they put out a movie about me and it made over a billion dollars!" Laughter.

Bruce's demeanor was surprisingly calm as he stared down the laughing psycho standing in front of him, still aiming the gun right at him.

"There's just one problem with that, Joker."

"Really?" He looked squarely at Bruce. "And what would that be?"

"I'm. Not. Batman."

A shot rang out from the gun . . . 

So what do you think? Did Bruce Wayne actually kill The Joker? You'll have to read the next chapter, which I'll get up ASAP, to find out! And what did you think about The Joker's speech? Pretty creepy, eh? That's what I was going for! Let me know what you in the comments below!