Epilogue: The Gathering Shadow

The slot in the cell door was open for barely two seconds, but it was still enough time for the guard on the other side to throw the plate of food through the slot, giving little or no consideration to how it just crashed all across the floor when it touched down on the other side. As soon as the slot was shut, the familiar hum of energy filled the small, dark, dank room once more. The Kasnian's had taken the dampening gauntlets they had used before to whole new levels; now the very walls of the room was draining to metahuman powers. At least for those like Wonder Woman and himself.

Slowly he pushed himself off the hard, flat bunk that had become his bed, scooping up as much of the food as he could back onto the plate before sitting back down and getting on with eating it. Simply put, it was revolting, but then he had hardly expected lobsters and Beluga caviar. In fact, several plates of the gruel from the last few days lay strewn on the floor where they had landed, untouched. It entirely depended on his mood as to whether he would force himself to eat the stuff or not. Right now, he would endure the grime. Anything to prise his mind away from any more thoughts comparing himself to Wonder Woman.

"You're thinking of her again, aren't you?"

"I was," Renato Niedem answered that voice after swallowing the latest handful of slop he had spooned to his mouth. As he spoke he kept his voice low, not wanting his guards to hear. He had been in this place almost from the moment of his capture, of the failure of all of his life's work. It was almost as if the Kasnian's had already had this cell sat there, ready and waiting for him. And a good cell it was too, since he had already found to his cost that breaking out would be hard indeed. It would have been even harder if he hadn't had help.

"Do not trouble yourself, my friend," the voice spoke to him again, the voice that no-one else could hear. The voice that no-one else had ever heard, not even her as it had spoken to him during their battle. "Her time will come. We will rise again. Our just cause will gain a footing once more. We simply must bide our time, as I had to do for over a thousand years before you found me. The Amazon will die."

Niedem threw the plate down, purely because he no longer needed its distraction. Besides, he didn't strictly need the sustenance, not yet. His bodiless friend could take care of him in that regard, at least for now, with it not being too long since his last meal. The Kasnian's may have built this cell to contain him, but none of them knew of his friend, his ally from the moment he had escaped the hell of his childhood. Not even Wonder Woman knew that.

"Yes, she will," Niedem repeated the sentiment, a note of anger to his hushed voice. She had done something to him at the end of their fight, something horrific. He didn't understand what, or how, but she had somehow momentarily warped his mind, made him think he was a monster, made him think his almost holy cause was wrong. It was only because of his friend that he had managed to break through that, his friend who was always with him, his friend had been unaffected by what Wonder Woman had done with her magical rope. His friend who had proved his manly nobility once again as he managed to undo the damage she had done to Niedem's mind and set him back onto the path to justice, to a better world, the world he had dreamt of since his childhood, the world where the dangers of women was fully extinguished. It was just a shame that he was already locked in the seclusion of this cell before his friend could save him. "What she did to me, it was just more proof. She's every bit as bad as the nuns who showed me the one truth of this world. And for that, her death will be more than just a message, more than just the removal of the figurehead of women everywhere. Her death will be just."

"Just and swift, my friend," the bodiless voice said once more, the voice that only existed inside his head but was far more than merely his imagination. "We must just bide our time, and our turn shall come again. One day soon we shall find our way out of this cell, just as I found a way to escape death and live on in the trinket which created me. One day soon, we shall destroy the Amazon and all of her kind shall kneel before us. One day soon, this world will be ours.

"For no one on this Earth, man or woman, will be able to resist the combined powers of Renato Niedem and the fully living spirit of Arcanitus."


"So there you have it folks. Katerina, the new Queen of Kasnia, was officially coroneted today, weeks ahead of the norm, all in the ongoing effort to show just how united Kasnia still stands in the wake of the death of Queen Audrey and the tensions that so nearly lead to another civil war. Once more, peace has found its way to that country. And this reporter for one certainly hopes that it can stay that way this time for many years to c–"

Awkwardly he leant forward in his seat, hitting the bottom in the back of the limo to silence the radio report. It was such a shame. War was so good for business. Would have been good for him personally too. Probably would have helped him get a few of those Kasnian's with long memories off his back. After the whole Batwoman incident a few years ago, he had hardly been a popular man in Kasnia, especially with his business associates over there. There was even one or two of them that had dared cross oceans to try and kill him for failing to deliver them the weapons they had so desired. But he was still alive, still in business. And right now, he had another potential deal to seal.

Exactly according to the well drilled protocol, his hulking bodyguard knocked twice on the rear window of the limo before opening the door, meaning he didn't have to draw his umbrella. When the man's face appeared in the open doorway, the message had already been delivered. Still, he said the words anyway.

"We've scouted it out twice. There's nuthin' here that shouldn't be, Mr. Cobblepot."

"Very well, my consummate cohort," Penguin answered his minion. As he did so he grabbed at his umbrella anyway, but this time it wasn't to use it as a weapon. Instead, he used it to help hoist himself out of the back of the car.

An old acquaintance had summoned him for this meet, out in one of Gotham cities many hidden back alleys in the dead of the night. Considering he now had well established his front as a legitimate club owner and businessman, Penguin had taken great pains to ensure this meeting was safe before agreeing to attend it. Even then, knowing this acquaintance as he did he had still made sure to bring plenty of security with him. His fellow was meant to have come alone, but Penguin wasn't about to bet his life on that fact, hence the security sweeps he had just had his people run. He may have been promised the deal of a lifetime, but until he at least knew the details of what that involved, Penguin wasn't about to take any more chances than necessary. Coming here to this secret meet to unearth exactly what it was that he was being offered; that was a risk enough for him.

Especially considering just how unpredictable the Joker could be.

"Pengy, old boy!" the clown called out at the sight of him clambering out of his well-protected car. The alley was wide but also clear enough to mean there were no surprises lurking in the shadows. To sure up that point, the Joker was stood right in the centre of the ally, alone and wide open. No sign of a double cross so far, then. But there were signs of something else. The Joker was almost always smiling, but this time he really smiled. This time something had really taken his fancy. Perhaps this proposition he had to make would prove worthwhile indeed. ""Don't keep an old pal waiting, now! Not when I've come out especially to make you so happy!"

"Forgive me for being blunt, but pray tell how exactly you are going to accomplish that end?" Penguin quickly asked. Despite the all clear from his men and what he could see for himself, Penguin stayed standing by his armoured limo and his armed bodyguards around it. He held the high ground in case this thing did turn nasty, from whatever source. "I have interests to maintain these days. It would not do to be caught associating with those whose criminal records are as colourful as your own. Especially as, with the pair of us conspiratorially meeting in the dead of night like this, we are likely to incur a rodent problem."

"Ah, but that's exactly the point, Pengy!" Joker blurted out, sounding fit to burst with laughter as he said it, his smile bursting even bigger. He even leapt in the air, pirouetting with glee. "What I'm offering can solve our little rodent problem forever! Put your resources at my disposal, and I can give you a way to bring down the Bat down to his knees. And to then make him bleed out at my feet! Ahahahahahaha HA HAHAHA!"

It was a slow rumble at first, but then the Joker started laughing, and laughing uncontrollably as only he could. And Penguin couldn't blame him. He hadn't really heard anything yet, but he had become intrigued. Far more than any official authority, it was the Bat who still threatened his business.

But with the Bat out of the way... And the Joker seemed so sure...

His men reacted as if to stop him, but then remembered it would be much better for them not to question his actions. As such, Penguin advanced down the alley unimpeded, no longer wanting to hold back. Shortly he was right at the Joker's side, laying one chubby arm around the clown's still trembling shoulders as the laughter only just began to die down.

"You may consider my attention well and truly hooked, my comical comrade," he muttered as he did so, the Joker's smile unwavering. "Let's go and discuss the details in a locale more fitting for such a fine escapade. I look forward to hearing how we shall finally bring about the demise of the Batman."

"Oh, you really should!" the Joker announced, putting his own arm around Penguin's shoulder too, though that was perhaps only because of how funny it looked to see the two of them marching down the alley and back to Penguin's limo in such a manner. "Because what I have in mind won't just get him out of our hair, but his superfriends too! Especially his superspecialfriend. Harley's already out there right now, completing phase one of my ultimate joke.

"Because, Pengy, I know something he doesn't want me to know..."

The laughter started to rumble out all over again at that, so much so that the Joker hardly looked at what he was doing as he climbed into the back of the limo. Penguin was soon following suit, but before he did, he couldn't help but looking up at the night sky, right at the spot where the Batsymbol so often shone over this city, and smiled. The clown still had to prove himself, still had to reveal what exactly he wanted and had lined up, but Penguin was certainly ready to hear what he had to say. Too long had he seen his operations in Gotham shackled by the Batman, and if the entire Justice League was out of the way too... Well, then there might be no limits to what he could achieve. His empire would no longer need to be confined to Gotham, but could truly begin to stretch across the globe.

Besides which, he was now extremely curious to know what it was the Joker had discovered, to know what secret it was that the Batman held that was so important and was also now so uncovered. He was extremely curious to hear about exactly how bad things were about to get for the Batman and his godlike allies. Most of all, he was extremely curious to hear exactly how they were all going to fall, how the criminals of Gotham would finally show that no man, and no Bat, could truly stop them.

Oh yes. This was certainly going to be good.


A/N:

Another original villain I'm leaving with an open ending yet no immediate plan for his return, but never say never. Perhaps more importantly though, didn't I tell you weeks ago that the Joker was coming? Don't say I ever lie to you now! Hopefully I don't let you down either!

But there you have it folks. War and Peace is done too, wrapping up the second of the two concurrent tales I put in between two of the bigger beast of my series. Hope you liked it. When I originally drummed up the ideas for this one and Bloodlines my intention was to just pass them on to other folks to do to flesh out my universe while I got on with my larger sequel, kind of like what the films do with the solo ones before the big team up. Things didn't go like that in the end but I liked these too much to just abandon them, so I did them myself.

This one in particular I liked, especially the theme of equality and its importance I tried to bleed in, particularly after the villains reveal. I do like original villains, especially as I think Wonder Woman needs more good ones that aren't just from the myths. But what particularly appealed to me about the idea of Niedem was the opposite view of the world he had to Diana, the pure, ultimate belief he had that equality and female empowerment was harmful. Just like Batman's order vs Joker's chaos, I felt that Wonder Woman vs. Niedem could truly work because of both being so set on opposing sides of the coin.

If I had handed it on I'd have wanted a woman to do this one, since I thought they'd be better placed to leech into Wondy's view and add the depth to that very issue based around personal experiences of the negative connotations of sexism (albeit not quite this scale). Hopefully, though, I didn't do a bad job myself at this in the end and got the message across that equality is not only the right thing, its the best thing, without becoming to in-your-face like its an after school special. But I'd particularly appreciate feedback on how well I pulled this off and how well the Niedem character worked - especially when played against Wonder Woman - if you've got a minute to spare to type out a review.

Not had massive amounts of feedback overall, but what I have heard certainly seemed positive, so cheers guys! Special shout out of thanks to Crazy Phenom who's been reviewing away on both stories since Chapter one and hasn't missed a beat. In fact, I'm convinced he must be reading them before I even hit the post button he's leaping onto them so fast! So cheers pal, much appreciated. And thanks to the rest of you too. You guys are the best.

Right so back to the future then. The Joker. Harley. Penguin. Gotham. A lot of heroes. And a certain pairing, ready to keep building on the road that Timm and co. first set them on and then I've expanded on over the course of five fanfics to date. No prizes for guessing that's the perfection of storytelling that is Bats and Wondy!

The next story, Justice League: Shadows in the Dark, is most certainly coming. It's going to happen. It might not start posting for a few weeks, possibly a couple of months, but rest assured, I will be doing it. And if it sticks to the plan, it's a big beast, with almost fifty chapters of action, drama, villainy, heroism, love, hate, joy, grief. And a homicidal clown. The lot, practically. Without jumping the gun too much, I'm personally more proud of what I have lined up next than anything that's come before. Hopefully that makes you as excited for it as I am!

And if ever I do a status update for it or anything of that ilk, it'll be going on the BatmanWonderWoman website, so get yourselves over there if you're not already! 'Tis a great place to be!

Rightio then, that's me for now, but don't forget to review this one now! I do rather like hearing what you guys think of what I do! Or what I'm about to do, if you prefer. As some may know I'm more than happy to chat about it in PMs too, just don't expect any spoilers now! And as ever, if anyone wants use of my original characters or wants to write their own tale inside the universe the Clown build, I'm fine with that, I'd just appreciate knowing. So just PM me and we'll get you sorted.

And now, with that note that's so long it's practically a chapter in itself, I finally bid thee all adieu. This is farewell for now, but most certainly not goodbye!