As soon as Jack finished speaking, the image on the screen slowly darkened, and several large words appeared at the same time—"Game Over."
"Ah?!"
Everyone looked utterly baffled, including Owen. He had been too busy stopping this bunch from beating each other like dogs to pay any attention to what was playing on the screen.
The others had been too busy fighting and breaking up fights to notice how far the game had progressed. How had it suddenly ended?
Fortunately, the winner's portrait appeared at the end of every round. As the blackness in the center of the screen slowly faded, the person revealed was none other than Schiller.
Jack let out a long sigh and said, "Feeling stupid now?"
Batman's gaze landed on him with almost tangible force. Jack looked over at them and said, "I noticed it a little earlier than you did, but not by much."
"Then why didn't you say anything?" Red Robin asked with a frown.
"Notice what? Say what?" Nightwing and Red Hood both looked confused. They had not grasped what was happening at all.
Red Robin squeezed his eyes shut, rubbed his forehead, clawed at his hair, and sighed. "I thought something felt off just now. It was like I couldn't quite catch my breath, but it wasn't serious enough for me to pay attention to it."
"Uh?" Nightwing made another confused sound.
Batman paused slightly as he reeled in his grappling hook, as though he had understood something.
"Hypnosis is what Schiller is best at," Jack said.
"In a way, this is using their own methods against them." Jack looked at Owen and said, "Our situation is the same as theirs."
"When the conditions for victory aren't clear and violence brings no direct benefit, no one chooses to attack. But from another