What Bad Thoughts Can Batman Have 55

Chapter 55: Funeral

Yes, so.

This is the end.

The Riddler watched in a daze as Batman and the Joker spoke for a moment, then he activated the machine.

Before his very eyes, the Joker, inside that crystal coffin, was reduced to a disgusting mass of flesh.

No trickery, no fake death, no disappearance. No vanishing in an explosion, or accidentally falling off a cliff.

Just plain, simple death.

The Riddler had orchestrated several fake deaths of his own, using Clayface, or using Snake Skin (another shapeshifting Gotham villain), but never like today.

Batman had killed, and he had murdered without hesitation.

The Riddler saw the video zoom in on the Joker.

Let’s rewind to the moment the Joker died.

“So this was all a lie? You didn’t become the Joker?”

“Never.” Bruce Wayne said.

The silver particles flickered, and as the crystal coffin closed completely, Bruce Wayne breathed a sigh of relief.

Lucius’s technical expertise was unquestionable. The Joker was absolutely incapable of escaping from within that thick crystal coffin.

Yes, he did it. He tricked the Joker, the one who had made the original Batman, Bruce Wayne, fail, the Joker who had brought him endless pain, was now trapped inside that crystal coffin, all he had to do was press this button…

Through a sheet of transparent glass – the Joker was sure it was a high-polymer strong seal material. The Joker looked at Batman.

“Haha, ahhahahahahaha… Batman! You caught me again, hahaha, I’m such an idiot, hahaha – but this is really funny, this joke is hilarious – damn it! You played it so well. I won’t fall for it next time –”

The Joker was laughing so hard he could barely breathe, but Bruce Wayne across from him was as calm as a lake.

“There won’t be a next time, Joker.”

“What?”

The Joker’s movements stopped.

“As I said, you’re going to die. This is not some impulsive act, or a killing in a fit of passion, but a planned outcome.”

“I’ve decided to use femtosecond laser pulverization technology to kill you.”

Bruce Wayne reached out and gently caressed the transparent coffin: “This is not a birdcage, it’s a coffin.”

Killing the Joker was a decision he had made long ago. Ever since the Joker used laughing gas on the battlefield and nearly turned 20,000 soldiers into invalids, he had never considered continuing to allow the Joker to live in this world.

Of course, as a huge fan of American comics, he had heard many arguments about whether Batman should kill.

Countless people had debated the issue from political, military, philosophical, and even social theoretical perspectives, or even from the perspective of real-world comic book sales, arguing for and against killing, and for decades, this debate has never stopped.

But the problem was – Bruce Wayne was not Batman.

Therefore, these arguments were meaningless. No moral choices, no fateful epics, in Bruce Wayne’s view, the Joker was just a nuisance, if he could, he had even considered directly using a knife or gun to try to kill the Joker, Bane’s memories had given him the skills to murder, no matter what weapon he used he could use it with ease.

But he chose the safest option, the story of the Batman Who Laughs made Bruce Wayne uneasy, in the comics Batman had mentioned more than once that even if he murdered the Joker, Gotham would give him something worse.

He didn’t want to cross over a period of time and find that he was the Batman Who Laughs himself, then start cackling and destroying the multiverse.

That was too hilarious, even a trash novel author who had drunk three pounds of fake liquor couldn’t write such nonsensical plot.

Therefore, in the matter of murdering the Joker, he had to be cautious. Was there really poison on the back of the Joker’s spine that could turn others into Jokers?

Maybe there was, maybe there wasn’t, but he wouldn’t bet his life on it.

The Joker in the crystal coffin clutched at his neck. He was starting to have trouble breathing.

Bruce Wayne walked to the side of the crystal coffin and began to operate silently. Once he connected the energy source, the machine would start working, pulverizing the contents of the coffin in a single operation.

Whether it was the Joker’s poison or something else bizarre, as long as the coffin wasn’t opened, it wouldn’t be able to escape.

After the Joker died, Bruce Wayne would seal it with multiple layers of steel, then seal it with concrete in the darkest corner of the lower level of the Batcave, until the end of time.

The Joker discovered the killing intent in Batman’s eyes so naturally. He would talk about crazy jokes, and then he would reminisce with Bruce Wayne about the past, but Bruce Wayne completely ignored it, so eventually –

He suddenly seemed unusually calm.

“I understand. It’s over now. You’re not going to play games with me anymore, are you, Batman? Okay, I accept it, this is the end. But you keep running away from the people around you, have you ever thought that you’ve never said to me-”

“I hate you. Those words, I hate you, Joker.”

“Listen, Batman, if today is the end, then I think I still have the right to make a final statement.”

“Femtosecond laser cutting is ready.”

The machine made a mechanical sound.

“Please note, please confirm everything is ready, countdown: 10 seconds.”

“Batman!”

Bruce Wayne stood in front of the crystal coffin, indifferent, watching the Joker violently lunge at the transparent coffin door.

“I’m about to die, I’m about to be killed by you, but listen, Batman – I, hate, you.”

“It’s your turn, Bat! Come on, it’s your turn, say it!”

Time ticked by, Bruce Wayne turned his head away. The hope in the Joker’s eyes was dimming.

“7 seconds.”

“6 seconds.”

“Me too.” Bruce Wayne replied, “Joker.”

“Haha, hahahahahahaha –”

The Joker let out a hysterical laugh, a laugh he had let out many times in his past years, but never as crazy and twisted as now. He laughed until tears streamed down his face, laughed until his stomach ached, and he banged his forehead against the coffin door.

“That’s right, that’s right, Bat.”

“I’m glad you finally figured it out today, because in the past, you know, I never let you see how I died.”

“Falling from a helicopter, falling off a cliff, disappearing in an explosion, but I always come back. I shouldn’t have let you see how I died, but it seems like today this situation is unavoidable.”

“Listen, I’m not going to die, Batman, that’s a fact.”

“I’m an idea, a concept, I will continue to exist in the shadows, living in Gotham’s dissatisfaction… You’ll see me again soon, hahaha, hahaha, ahhahahahahaha –”

First a line of blood began to spread from his forehead, then his head began to collapse.

The Joker was dead.

And recommending a book for my friends:

“The Island Wars of Oda Nobunaga”

A condensed account of the life of “The Sixth Heavenly King,” Oda Nobunaga, during the Sengoku period of Japan.

Witness his surprise attack on the “Kirin” of the Tokaido, Imagawa Yoshimoto, his defeat of the “Lion of Omi,” Asai Nagamasa,

His defeat of the “Fierce Leopard of Echizen,” Asakura Yoshikage, his confrontation with the Buddhist priest king of Hongwanji, Rennyo,

His head-on clash with the “Tiger of Kai,” Takeda Shingen, and his shattering of the myth of the Takeda Red Armor Cavalry!

(End of Chapter)

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