Chapter Summaries

Superman explained that Gotham had transformed death into a kind of story, then left to investigate the disaster’s victims. In Gotham, Schiller recognized Moriarty’s attempt to frame him through imitations of his methods, but a frozen murder victim made Victor’s own technology—and his alibi—suspect.

• Superman told Schiller and Brainiac that Gotham’s spirit made death a performance, then went to the largest shelter to examine the living remnants.
• Schiller told Victor that Moriarty had challenged a community of killers to hunt detectives and would likely frame him by having them imitate his methods.
• Schiller and Victor suspected that the resurrected Hugo Strange might be behind Moriarty’s scheme.
• Jena called Victor to the Dock District, where Schiller, Victor, Jena, and Tim found Mrs. Jerryta frozen inside an ice sculpture.
• Victor recognized the device as technology he had developed, and Schiller pointed out that Victor could now be suspected of helping commit the murder.

After a frozen corpse revealed Victor’s buried anger, Tim deduced that the killer had brought flash-freezing equipment through Gotham’s underground network. The team planned to flood the sewers and freeze them, while Brainiac reported that only Life Force could identify the dead who had returned to life; Black Death Emperor continued to spread Living Corpses through random killings.

• Schiller broadcast Victor’s furious thoughts about the corpse, and Jena realized that Victor’s mild manner hid a dangerous temper.
• Tim concluded that the killer had transported the freezing equipment through Gotham’s underground cold-storage network and narrowed the likely suspect to someone familiar with its gang-era routes.
• Victor asked Brainiac to flood the sewers so he could freeze the underground, and Brainiac agreed to fill the network with seawater over two hours.
• Jena said Barry had made no progress on the Pelota incident, and Brainiac reported that only Life Force could distinguish the resurrected dead from the living.
• Schiller recognized that they lacked a way to awaken the Spirit of Existence, while Black Death Emperor used randomly resurrected victims to spread Living Corpses through unpredictable killings.

Victor and Schiller investigated a series of attacks that appeared designed to frame them, but a Fear Gas trap at the university and a murdered Chemistry Department student revealed the culprit’s scheme was still unfolding. The chapter ended when a Psychology Department student found the Fear Gas can at the scene of the second body.

• Victor warned that the killer might target his laboratory, so he and Schiller returned to the university and searched for Megan.
• Victor and Schiller found a corpse in a restroom stall, where a trap released Fear Gas and incapacitated the students; Schiller purged the toxins and identified the gas as an ancient version.
• Victor checked the cryogenic laboratory for missing equipment and told Schiller that dangerous supplies were secured in a locked storeroom.
• Schiller and Victor went to the Psychology Department, where a student had been sawing apart the corpse of Melinta from the Chemistry Department.
• Schiller summoned Psychology Department students, who arrived with cleaning tools and organized a cleanup so dance practice could continue.
• A Psychology Department student found a bloodstained can, and Schiller recognized it as the one used to spray Fear Gas in the restroom.

Schiller investigated the deaths at Gotham University and deduced that the force reviving corpses was avoiding him, while Jonathan Crane left to pursue his own theory about Fear Gas. Brainiac arranged for Schiller to become a criminal investigation consultant, and Schiller discovered that his brother had helped secure the official status.

• Schiller told Jonathan Crane that he had killed Jonathan’s student because she was already a corpse, then suggested Fear Gas might affect whether corpses revived.
• Jonathan reasoned that the mastermind might be controlling which corpses returned and left to investigate, while Schiller and Victor cleaned up the classroom.
• Schiller told Victor that the force behind the Living Corpses seemed to be avoiding him, then went to the Gotham Police Department at Brainiac’s request.
• Gordon gave Schiller an application to become a criminal investigation consultant, and Brainiac approved his official law-enforcement identity after Schiller signed it.
• Gordon told Schiller that someone had helped him, and Schiller met a figure who looked like him in the Lounge.
• Schiller told Victor that his brother was likely equivalent to the entire Brainiac Government.

Schiller agreed to help Brainiac identify and capture Hugo Strange after learning Brainiac would accept his judgments without physical evidence. He explained Hugo’s abuse of mental manipulation and suggested that his earlier killing of Hugo had been an act of retribution.

• Brainiac showed Schiller a résumé made from corpses that revealed the killer’s understanding of pathological desires, and confirmed the victims were Living Corpses.
• Brainiac explained that Superman had found the cases through Gotham’s city will and offered Schiller authority to identify Living Corpses and capture Hugo Strange.
• Schiller warned that Hugo was framing and attacking him and said he would not imitate Hugo’s criminal methods to defeat him.
• Brainiac said he would accept Schiller’s conclusions without physical evidence and could fabricate whatever evidence was needed.
• Schiller described how Hugo used mental manipulation to torment victims without consequences and called his earlier killing of Hugo an act of retribution.

Schiller explained to Brainiac that he targeted hidden, manipulative criminals who evaded responsibility and experimented on others, then used his new law-enforcement identity to expose five suspected serial killers among Victor's students. The chapter ended with the students challenging the arrests as a possible misunderstanding.

• Brainiac concluded that Schiller tolerated flamboyant criminals like Jonathan Crane and the Joker but had killed Hugo and the Mad Hatter because they concealed their crimes and experimented on people.
• Schiller obtained an official identity, told Victor that Hugo would soon learn about it, and asked him to call Gordon to the Physics Department activity room.
• Schiller identified five students as serial murderers, and Victor froze them with his gun before the other students could react.
• Gordon arrived with police and prepared to take the five suspects to the station, while Victor and the students expressed disbelief.
• A student addressed Schiller and asked whether the arrests could be a misunderstanding.

Schiller arrested students across several Gotham University departments after realizing Pelota had infected them as Living Corpses, then returned to campus to search for more. When his car broke down, he encountered an armed attacker at a convenience store and revealed his identity to the store’s owner, the Hunter.

• Schiller’s arrests sparked protests among students, but Brainiac allowed the complaints to disappear, and Victor believed Schiller must have had good reason to act.
• Schiller told Victor that the arrested students were Living Corpses infected by Pelota, and explained that Fear Gas helped him see them.
• Victor went with police to freeze the sewers while Schiller returned to Gotham University to search for anyone else who had escaped detection.
• After Schiller’s car broke down in a snowstorm, he took shelter in a convenience store, where the owner drew a shotgun on a masked man who had followed Schiller.
• Schiller disarmed the masked attacker with his umbrella, identified the store owner as the Hunter, and showed him his Brainiac ID as the attacker collapsed.

Schiller gathered the Hunter, Nightingale, and Dwarf to prepare for Hugo Strange’s return and explain their roles in confronting him. As Hugo set a trap designed to give himself an unfair advantage, Schiller planned to face him mentally while the others tracked and attacked his body.

• The Hunter spoke with Schiller about Moriarty before Nightingale arrived and revealed she had killed a sniper outside.
• Nightingale and Dwarf identified Hugo Strange as a former enemy who had escaped his psychiatric hospital, and Schiller said Hugo’s body would be theirs while his mind was Schiller’s.
• Schiller explained that Hugo would arrange a competition he considered fair but that would secretly favor him, and the group agreed to oppose him.
• Schiller said Brainiac would send his final location once Gotham’s sewers froze, and he asked the Hunter to track him and Hugo while the others fought Hugo’s protectors.
• Schiller reassured Dwarf that he could hold out until they arrived, joking that both the detective and the professor were himself.

Schiller entered a sequence of strange machines and experienced possible futures in which he was framed for poisoning Gotham, manipulated the city’s criminal powers, and was sentenced to 231 years in prison. He emerged in Blackgate after arranging a guard’s help, where someone was due to bail him out the next day.

• Schiller followed a message from Moriarty to the Cliff Restaurant, where a machine transported him into a scene of his arrest for poisoning the Morsen District.
• At the police station, Schiller told James Gordon that corrupt informants would pass the evidence against him to their masters, then was released into a criminal’s custody.
• Schiller persuaded the criminal to take him to Carmine Falcone and warned Falcone to hand him over to the FBI, promising three peaceful years.
• Schiller returned to the restaurant and said he had been sentenced to 231 years before entering another room and touching a second machine.
• In Blackgate Prison, Schiller offered a guard help with his smuggling operation, and the guard said someone would bail Schiller out the next day.

Schiller escaped Hugo Strange’s psychological trap, saved a little girl, and was taken to the police station after the authorities found him beside her. When Schiller refused to explain what had happened, Victor froze him and began questioning him while turning the incident into material for his novel.

• Amanda Waller recruited Schiller for federal work, and he accepted before entering another strange sequence of experiences that led him to Jack and the Gotham police.
• Schiller confronted Hugo Strange, explaining that he had killed him simply because he found him irritating, not to serve justice or debate morality.
• Brainiac called as a corpse fell into the restaurant, and police found Schiller beside an injured little girl; Schiller confirmed she was alive and demanded an ambulance.
• Gordon questioned Schiller, who claimed that Hugo had hunted and kidnapped him, then Victor arrived and challenged him to reveal what had happened.
• Victor froze Schiller in the police station and took him to the low-temperature laboratory, where he questioned him and began writing a novel scene about their conversation.

Victor questioned Schiller about Hugo’s hallucination and the girl who became Hugo’s trump card, while Schiller explained her connection to Bruce Wayne. The chapter ended with Bruce negotiating with Brainiac over Schiller’s arrests and hinting that he would continue serving the government.

• Victor demanded answers from Schiller about Hugo’s mindscape, and Schiller said Hugo had experienced hallucinations in which Schiller’s life as an enforcer repeatedly ended in a plane crash.
• Schiller explained that Hugo’s trump card involved a Living Corpse girl whose first death occurred after Bruce brought her to Wayne Manor, and whose second death Hugo caused.
• Victor warned that the girl could accuse Schiller and persuade Brainiac to turn against him, while Schiller said his government connection made him valuable.
• Bruce argued that Schiller’s evidence-free arrests threatened social stability, and Brainiac agreed to reconsider allowing him to continue.
• Bruce told Brainiac he would not use unlawful acts or threats to force a decision and said he could still serve the government.

Hal pressed Brainiac for a way to relight the sun while Earth’s crops and the Kryptonians weakened in the darkness. After hearing Schiller’s concerns, Superman decided to try merging the Life Force with the Power of Death to restore the Living Corpses, leaving Brainiac unable to stop her as she flew to the hospital.

• Hal asked Brainiac when he would relight the sun, and Brainiac said Superman was investigating mystical means while he arranged an accelerated harvest.
• Brainiac worried that Schiller had influenced Superman, then asked her what Schiller had said.
• Superman asked Brainiac whether he would bring the resurrected girl back to life, and Brainiac said he had found no other surviving child from the dark era.
• Superman told Brainiac she would try combining the Life Force with the Power of Death to turn Living Corpses into ordinary resurrected people, but Brainiac warned that the attempt was too dangerous.
• Superman explained that Brainiac’s indecision fueled public panic and then flew toward the hospital, while Brainiac realized he could not prevent her from acting.
• Lex noticed something alarming in the streams of numbers and letters on Brainiac’s system screen.

Victor and Brainiac investigated Novie’s transformation into a corpse, uncovering evidence that she had been poisoned with Jonathan Crane’s Fear Gas. Their conversation revealed Brainiac’s growing feelings for Superman and left Victor puzzled over Schiller’s influence on the government.

• Brainiac explained that Novie’s accusations against Schiller could be based on false memories and suspected she was a Living Corpse.
• A nurse and the Doctor discovered Novie’s veins and abdomen were beginning to decay, and the head nurse called Brainiac for help.
• Victor froze Novie, and Superman abandoned her experiment and left to check whether the other Living Corpses had changed too.
• Victor smelled Fear Gas near Novie’s bed and suspected her nutrient solution contained Jonathan Crane’s zombie virus.
• Brainiac told Victor that Novie’s memories might be false and that Schiller had described his Psychoanalytic Method as a fraud concealing serious crimes.
• Victor reflected on his love for Nora, then Brainiac admitted he had chosen Schiller’s side because he wanted to fall in love with Superman.

Schiller explained that Hugo Strange had escaped the mastermind’s control and was using a little girl as bait in a mental duel. Schiller and Victor watched from a nearby rooftop as another Schiller confronted Hugo, leaving Hugo alive and the larger showdown still to come.

• Schiller told Victor that Hugo had altered the little girl’s memories and might be the only one able to undo his mental control over her.
• Schiller said Hugo’s former victims would confront him, and that he planned to help Hugo survive because Hugo expected him to intervene.
• Schiller and Victor drove to an abandoned manor in the North District and set up a warm viewing spot on the rooftop of a neighboring house.
• Victor spotted Hugo waiting inside the manor, then watched a man dressed exactly like Schiller enter to meet him.
• Hugo dodged a throwing knife, used a machine to daze a female assassin, and took her hostage, forcing the other attackers to withdraw.
• Hugo knocked the assassin unconscious and threw her out the window while Schiller told Victor the real show was still to come.

Victor watched Jerryta confront Hugo and learned that Jerryta’s obsessive love was directed not at Hugo himself, but at Hugo’s corpse. Schiller explained that this exposed Hugo’s need for adoration despite his belief that he stood above everyone else, while Victor ended the chapter overwhelmed and vomiting.

• Victor watched Schiller and Hugo argue before Jerryta entered, and Schiller identified him as a body collector and one of Hugo’s victims.
• Victor learned that Jerryta had collected Hugo’s body and recoiled as Jerryta shouted about beauty and love.
• Schiller explained that Hugo manipulated people to reinforce his belief in his own superiority, yet secretly craved sincere love and admiration.
• Schiller revealed that Jerryta had loved Hugo only after he died and remained devoted because he loved Hugo’s corpse, not Hugo himself.
• Victor became sick again as Schiller explained Jerryta’s fixation on Hugo’s death.

Schiller arranged for Jerryta, who had been presumed dead, to pursue Hugo Strange and force him into a police station, where Schiller could investigate Hugo’s hypnosis of Novie. The chapter ended with Schiller preparing to enter Novie’s memories despite Victor’s warning that she might be a Living Corpse harboring the Power of Death.

• Victor learned that Schiller had kept Jerryta alive and staged his death to disgust Hugo with Jerryta’s posthumous, perverse love for him.
• Jerryta attacked Hugo, and the two chased each other around the room while Schiller watched and even tripped Hugo.
• Schiller explained that Hugo could not mentally manipulate the agitated Jerryta and would have to use the Power of Death or call the police; Hugo chose to call the police.
• Police arrested Hugo and Jerryta, and Schiller followed them to the station to check whether Novie’s reaction to Hugo exposed a flaw in his hypnosis.
• Schiller concluded that he needed to enter Novie’s memories to find the hidden flaw, while Victor objected because Novie might be a Living Corpse with the Power of Death inside her.

Schiller planned to enter Novie’s mental realm to undo her hypnosis, while Brand and Jonathan debated how her unusual resurrection might make the attempt dangerous. They devised a possible freezing-and-Fear-Gas procedure, but Brand warned that the Power of Death might possess a will and turn the plan into a trap.

• Schiller insisted that he would enter Novie’s mental world directly, despite Jonathan’s warnings about the risks.
• Brand explained that Novie’s severe physical weakness suggested her brain might have concentrated the Power of Death to sustain her resurrection.
• Jonathan proposed using Fear Gas to excite Novie’s brain before freezing her, hoping to stabilize her brainwaves and let the Power of Death spread through her body.
• Brand warned that the Power of Death might have an independent will and that entering Novie’s mental realm could bring Schiller face-to-face with the Black Death Emperor.
• Schiller rejected the idea that the Power of Death could be acting as a trap and said the Black Hand was the one afraid to confront him.

Schiller and Brand searched for a way to recover Novie's real memories while the Power of Death interfered and she hunted Schiller in the mental realm. They settled on using Jena's empathy to examine Jason Todd's childhood for clues, and Jena began considering what she had seen.

• Schiller argued that the Power of Death could resurrect only the dead, while Brand warned that Novie would attack him on her home ground.
• Schiller agreed that Jonathan and Victor could prepare a plan involving Fear Gas and temperature control, then Brand suggested working backward from Novie's time at Wayne Manor.
• Schiller concluded that Novie's powerful desire to survive likely came from a personal motivation, but he and Brand could not identify what it was.
• Schiller refused to have his student empathize with Novie because it could expose her to Hugo's fabricated memories, and he decided to ask Jena about Jason Todd instead.
• Jena arrived, heard Schiller's plan, and agreed to think carefully about what she had seen in Jason's childhood.

Jena’s account of Jason Todd’s empathy and Gotham’s resilience inspired the group as they prepared to attempt the Living Corpses’ resurrection. After Novie entered the freezing chamber, Schiller entered her mental realm to investigate while the Power of Death began to recede.

• Jena explained that Jason’s drive came from empathy and the hopes others placed in him, and her speech earned applause from the group.
• Schiller, Superman, and Brainiac learned that restoring the Living Corpses depended on understanding how Hugo had freed himself and Novie from their controller.
• Superman examined Novie and concluded that her body was being controlled by willpower, so removing its Power of Death could kill her.
• Jonathan and Victor completed the preparations, and Novie drank Jonathan’s potion and entered the freezing chamber.
• Schiller and Jack opened a small passage into Novie’s mental realm, where the Power of Death was fading, and Schiller stepped into a quiet scene at Wayne Manor.

Schiller watched Bruce bring Novie to Wayne Manor and realized that her relentless effort to understand an unfamiliar world was worsening her condition. After Novie died and the memory reset repeatedly, Schiller realized Hugo Strange had trapped him in a loop, where the manor’s light began to fade.

• Schiller secretly watched Bruce bring Novie into Wayne Manor and saw her panic at unfamiliar surroundings and objects.
• Schiller realized Novie kept analyzing everything around her despite her failing body, and her breathing weakened as she could not rest.
• As Novie died, Schiller sensed an echo from her soul, but Hugo Strange’s barrier prevented him from reaching Bruce or intervening.
• Novie’s death shattered the memory, but Schiller returned to the manor and realized Hugo Strange had trapped him in a repeating loop.
• After watching Novie die through several cycles, Schiller noticed the fireplace dimming and the shadows deepening around Wayne Manor.