"Therefore, the delight Greed felt wasn't a fleeting rush of excitement, nor was it the kind of joy that came from being in control. It carried an element of surprise, which meant something unexpected had appeared."
After thinking for a moment, Lucifer said, "Was it because of what that other version of you said? Something about a creator?"
"Bruce, your mastery of the Psychoanalytic Method as a human wasn't even as good as an Angel's." Pride picked up another cigar, but didn't cut it, merely turning it over in his hand.
"What kind of statement is that? Isn't it perfectly normal that I'm not as good as Lucifer?" Bruce said righteously.
"You completely missed the point. No wonder your teacher got angry," the Beyonder said.
Pride no longer wanted to continue this topic. "Yes, Lucifer was right. Greed's delight actually came from the last thing Agent said. What did that mean?"
Pride looked toward the fireplace. After seemingly giving it serious thought, Bruce said, "It meant he was pleasantly surprised by that statement."
"I don't think he just wasn't in the wheelchair. I think he got off several stops ago," Lucifer commented.
"It meant he wasn't pleased that the first stage of his plan had largely succeeded. And what did that imply?"
Pride simply turned to Lucifer.
Lucifer actually thought about it. "If the first stage of his plan had truly succeeded, he should have been happy—unless he believed it didn't count as success at all. Maybe it was even a failure."
"Exactly. That lets us reason backward to where that chill came from. He sensed failure, and the primary reason for that failure was Batman and Joker slipping out of his control. Taking that into account, we can determine that this frustration was the helplessness of watching things escape