Welcome back to Elemental Crisis Book II. Last time, we finally caught up with Cynder and Batwoman, now being held in a warehouse somewhere in Gotham. As Cynder finally realized it was Renee Montoya who betrayed them, for the sake of the woman she loves, Pamela Isley, aka Poison Ivy. Joker then handed over the cutting of Ivy's vine that Detective Montoya was promised. But in a typical twist, Joker had no plans of letting Renee Montoya leave alive. Meanwhile, the rest of the heroes have realized Cynder and Batwoman are in trouble, so they ready themselves for action, particulary Batwing suiting up. So, what awaits ahead? Read on to discover...
(Our tale resumes in Joker's warehouse base, where Batwoman is still frozen solid, and Cynder is trying to break her chains while Renee Montoya is in exactly the position we left her in, on the floor, her legs frozen together, undoubtedly regretting the decisions that got her here)
Renee Montoya: How could I have been so blind? I should have known Joker would betray me, that's just how the Clown always operated!
Cynder: The pursuit of love makes people do crazy things.
Renee Montoya: And even despite this, we're still going to be separated.
(Just as Cynder's about to respond, Joker walks in, with Virgil Getty and Mad Hatter)
Joker: (To Virgil Getty) Take the detective out back and end her.
Virgil Getty: Will do.
Joker: Hatter, you go too. Make sure she doesn't resist.
Mad Hatter: Are you sure, boss?
Joker: The Bat's a popsicle and the dragon's powerless. I think I'll be safe. Besides, I wanted a moment alone with them anyways.
Mad Hatter: (Knowing better than to argue with Joker) Okay.
(With that, Virgil Getty and Mad Hatter grab Renee Montoya and drag her out back. Renee Montoya puts up a fight at first, and does manage to knock Virgil Getty subtly into the air conditioning controls, damaging them so the room subtly starts to warm back up. Cynder sees this and knows exactly what she's trying to do. But the struggle doesn't last long, and soon, it's just the Bat, the Dragon, and the Joker)
Joker: Finally, a moment to just the three of us.
Cynder: What? You just want to brag about how you've beaten us?
Joker: With you? Partially. But I really wanted to ask one question to the Bat.
(With that, Joker gets right up in Batwoman's frozen face and asks a single question)
Joker: You wanna know, how I got these scars? (Waits on a response, but knows Batwoman can't respond) Well too bad, because I'm going to tell you anyways. It all started several years ago. In a world where Bruce Wayne was never born. One where Thomas Wayne had severe fertility issues, so he and Martha decided to adopt a child. And in an act of charity and fabulous PR, they chose a young woman from the streets of Gotham's worst neighborhood. A girl named Ryan Wilder. Sound familiar?
(Now we flash back to Joker's world and see everything play out.)
Joker: (In voice over) You and I were the best of friends back then. Then came the fateful night in Crime Alley. Thomas and Martha Wayne still met their tragic fate, and you swore vengeance on all crime. You became Batwoman that night. Meanwhile, I was just a kid, unaware of what my cousin Ryan was doing. But then I met him.
(The scene changes to show the fatal car accident that took Kate and Beth Kane's parents, and more specifically, the original Joker finding Kate Kane.)
Joker: He'd already killed my parents in that wreck, then shot Beth right in front of my eyes. But me, I wasn't too be so lucky. You see, old Jack had somehow found out that my cousin Ryan was Batwoman. Seems the old fool was starting to lose what was left of his faculties, because he somehow thought I was your little protege, Batgirl you called them I think. But I think he knew he wasn't long for the world, so he took me.
(Now the scene changes again to show a silhouette of the original Joker and the young Kate Kane, with the former clearly psychologically tormenting the latter)
Joker: That bastard peeled back the layers of my mind like they were tissues. I knew you would have noticed I was missing and that Batwoman was on her way to save me. I tried to fight back, the other you would've been proud of how brave I tried to be. But ultimately the shocks and serums took their toll.
(Now we see that world's Batwoman confronting the original Joker, only for them to reveal the young Kate Kane, now turned into basically a Joker Junior)
Joker: My mind was warped beyond anything I recognized at first. Part of me must've still been trying to fight back. But then old Jack had Batwoman at his mercy. As if to spite her, he tossed me his gag spear gun to finish her off. Telling me to "make Daddy proud." I was sick of that clown, so I turned the gun on him. One shot, straight through the heart.
(Now with the original Joker dead, the other Batwoman attempts to comfort the young Kate Kane)
Joker: But rest assured, I had no love left for Batwoman either.
(As the other Batwoman attempts to hug the young Kate Kane, the spear gun is fired again, going straight through Batwoman's heart as Batgirl watches on.)
Joker: And she didn't know that spear gun had another shot in it.
(The scene changes again, showing the newly christened Joker outside the building where she was held, flicking a match over her shoulder and burning it down, with the screams of Batgirl echoing from inside)
Joker: None of the capes lasted the night. From there I took over where Jack Napier left off. I couldn't wait to see this town get a load of me. And for years it went just as well as I'd hoped. Complete and total anarchy 24/7, everything Napier wanted but could never grasp. But then as it often does, things went wrong. The chaos I wrought became dull.
(Now we see Joker meet with Malefor for the first time, a pair of devils about to make a bargain)
Joker: That's when Lord Malefor came into my life. He tried all sorts of honeyed promises to get me to his side. To be honest though, I didn't need any of it. Just the chance to cause chaos on a multiversal scale was enough to get me as part of his Dark Knights. After all, what else is there for an Agent of Chaos...?
(And with that deal revealed, the scene returns to the present, where Joker is finishing telling this story to her captives)
Cynder: That's quite a story, but I must know. Why tell us this?
Joker: When I saw that the new Batwoman I was to face was good old Ryan Wilder, I just knew I had to tell them this story. Just to watch them suffer, knowing that no matter what world they're in, Ryan Wilder is always destined to fail Kate Kane. In one way or another.
(At that point, what looks like a tear falls down Batwoman's face, though it's hard to tell if that's a real tear, or her icy confines beginning to melt.)
Joker: As much as I've enjoyed this little bit of story time, I'm afraid I must bid you two farewell.
(With that, Joker pulls out her predecessor's gag spear gun, pulls the trigger once to reveal a flag labelled "BANG!", and then points the flag straight at Cynder's head as we transition outside, to see the League, the Legends, Spyro, and Batwing flying or running across Gotham's skyline, either by their own propulsion or in the Waverider, heading towards Batwoman and Cynder's lcoation)
Spyro: How far out are we, Batwing?
Batwing: Not too far. Looks like they're being held near the harbor.
Flash: (Running down below them) Let's just hope we make it in time...
(And as the heroes rush towards their confrontation at the docks, our tale ends for today)
And that looks like a good place to end for now. As of right now, there's only four chapters remaining before Book II wraps up. So, now we know the origin of this version of the Joker. Yes, I did take a lot of inspiration from Return of the Joker, but that's mainly because that's the only time I can think of that we got an origin for a Joker successor, so it made sense to start there. I also borrowed the CW's Red Death origin, in the idea that Ryan Wilder was raised by the Waynes. I hope this honestly makes good use of that train wreck. But next time, we start approaching the final battle here in Gotham. What awaits? Tune in next time to find out! Same time... same channel!