"Batsy, what a nice surprise! Thanks for not breaking a window this time!" chuckled Joker, as he opened the door to see Batman standing there.
"I've figured it out, Joker."
"What?" asked Joker, puzzled.
"The joke."
"What joke?"
"Your joke, the reason why you're doing this. I've figured it out, so you can stop pretending now."
Joker grinned. "I told you, Bats, I'm not pretending."
"And I've told you, I don't believe you," growled Batman. "You've fooled everyone, but you're never going to fool me."
Joker laughed. "I can just see us ending up in a rest home together, me trying to quietly mind my own business and enjoy my remaining few years with Harley, and you following us around, stalking our wheelchairs, because you simply can't accept the fact that we've changed. It'll happen, Bats – I know you're too stubborn ever to give up."
"That's right, I am," retorted Batman. "And no, I don't get any thanks for it. But that doesn't mean I'm not the hero. It doesn't mean I'm not the good guy, even if they can't see it. You haven't won, Joker."
"I'm sorry, I don't understand what you mean," he replied, smiling patiently.
"I mean your joke. You want to show how easily heroes can fall from grace. How heroes and villains are all arbitrary, interchangable, how you and me are the same person really. That's your obsession."
"Hmm…nice theory, Bats," said Joker, grinning. "And if this whole thing was a joke, that would be a pretty good punchline. But it's not. I told you, I've changed. I'm cured."
Batman was seized by sudden fury. He grabbed Joker by the collar and slammed him against the wall. "You're not! You can't be! So stop pretending right now!"
"You go ahead and hit me, Bats," murmured Joker, grinning. "I can't wait to tell the police all about the unprovoked assault on an innocent man by Gotham's hero."
Batman raised his fist and Joker just smiled back at him. Batman's fist shook in fury. He had figured out the joke, but Joker wouldn't admit it. He wouldn't give up the game. Well, Batman wasn't going to play it anymore.
"Stop acting now," he hissed.
"I ain't acting, Bats. I'm cured."
"You're not! You can't be!"
"Why not?"
"Because I…" Batman's voice faltered for a second, and Joker grinned.
"You what? Go on, say it Bats. You need me, don't you? You've finally realized that, haven't you? You've got such a tough, strong, heroic persona, but in reality you're completely dependent on the very psychos and crazies you're trying to stop. You need them, or you're nothing. You need me, or there's no point. I'm the only one of those freaks who has ever really hurt you, Bats. I'm the only one who ever really scarred you, who hit you where it really hurts. I'm the only one who really matters. Without me, you're not Batman. So guess what? The joke's on you."
Joker suddenly burst out laughing, one of his crazy, maniacal laughs. And Batman realized, with a shock of horror, that he felt relieved to hear it. But he couldn't think about that, or anything else, for much longer, because he was abruptly struck on the head from behind and lost consciousness.
