Sky City Gotham descended into the skies above the American East Coast after a burst of magical radiance.
The temporary conference room in Arkham Asylum was bustling with activity. Former patients who had once lived here, along with honorary lunatics invited in at the last minute, were fervently discussing their next move.
Penguin slammed the table and said, "I told you long ago that we should have set up a comprehensive ground surveillance system. We should have started while Batman was fixing the power system. He wouldn't have had time to bother with us then!"
"Easy for you to say. We don't even have our own planes. Were you expecting those little birds to install cameras for us?"
Mr. Freeze said in an icy tone, "You were all too busy working for the Mafia families. Not one of you thought to build a laboratory in our headquarters, and now you're complaining about a lack of technology and equipment? What were you doing before?"
"You're hardly qualified to lecture us, Victor." Killer Croc snorted and said in his muffled voice, "You work for the Wayne Family. Are Thomas and Bruce really that different? How much do they pay you? Ten thousand dollars a week?"
Before Mr. Freeze could answer, Scarecrow shot Killer Croc a sideways glance and said irritably, "Where did this country bumpkin come from? In Gotham these days, the minimum rate for someone with two doctoral degrees is thirty thousand dollars a week. We have professorships."
"A hero doesn't boast about past glories." The female ventriloquist sighed. "Someone has to go down there and investigate, right? Didn't they say this universe's Earth had merged with other universes? Things are probably more complicated than they seem."
Poison Ivy turned her gaze toward Joker, who sat in the corner with a