When Hugo walked into the recreation room, everyone could see the oppressive atmosphere surrounding him. Riddler was the first to shriek, Two-Face snorted coldly, and Joker raised his eyelids before slamming a hand of cards onto the table.
"I'm guessing our bald gentleman didn't bring good news." Joker leaned back, folded his arms, and said, "How long has Batman been gone? Two months, at least? I'm practically starting to think he abandoned us."
"The good news is that he hasn't abandoned you." Hugo stepped forward.
"What's the bad news?" Clayface asked after secretly eating a card while no one was looking.
"The bad news is that your behavior has made him very dissatisfied. He sent a damn agent to point a gun at my head and tell me to make you do something useful."
"Are you not awake yet?" Joker looked at him and asked. "Did one of your hypnosis experiments fail again? Did you hypnotize yourself?"
The current Joker looked completely different from when he was stirring up trouble. Not only was he no longer so manic and crazed, he actually seemed listless. He spoke clearly and logically, without so much as a half-joking word. If not for his overly distinctive appearance, he could have been thrown into a crowd and never found again.
"I know this sounds absurd." Hugo spoke as though he did not know how to begin. "Batman has been busy for the past two or three months, and when he found out we've all been holed up in the asylum playing cards, he became extremely dissatisfied. So he insists on finding us some work."
"You really are insane," Two-Face commented. "Isn't us playing cards in the asylum exactly what Batman wants to see?"
"That was indeed the case before. There may have been some slight