Scans_Daily

And then Batman strangled the Joker with his bare hands, realizing that there never was, nor ever would be, any hope for the mass murdering clown, and this had all been an elaborate cry for help and for an ending to his tormented existence. The Joker laughed until he had no more breath, and died with a smile on his face.

Batman attempted to surrender to the police, even going so far as to unmask in front of Commissioner Gordon... but one and all, they refused to look, and refused to arrest him. The Joker died by accident, they said, and there was nothing anyone could do, and the Batman was never here. They cremated the body in secret and scattered the ashes to the wind in a dozen locations... just to be certain.

And Bruce realized that no one would ever punish him for this, at least no more than he'd punish himself, and so he went home and slept soundly for the first time since his parents were murdered, all those years ago. When he awoke, he was full of ideas on how to use his money to make Gotham better without dressing up like a bat and hitting people.

The funny thing is, after the Joker vanished that night, the other Gotham rogues grew uneasy, and just a little scared, and one by one they left town, stayed in Arkham, or retired. Because if the rumors were true and Batman -had- killed the Joker, who's to say they might not be next, and was it really worth it?

And so Gotham slowly became the place Bruce Wayne had only dreamed of... thus ends the Final Joker Story.