Chapter Summaries

Deathstroke realized his arms-dealer commission was a scam after finding the supposed employer at the negotiation site, while Schiller killed the man and a conflict leader in a bizarre chain of events. On the beach, Schiller explained that Deathstroke’s driving had helped him identify the killer, leaving them both unsure who had orchestrated the broader crisis.

• Deathstroke entered the dining hall and saw Schiller facing a short, fat man he recognized as the supposed arms dealer who had hired him.
• Schiller killed the man by stabbing him with a rifle, then fired at the ceiling and brought down a floor slab, killing a conflict leader above.
• Security personnel mistook Deathstroke for the leader’s killer, and the ensuing chaos sent Deathstroke searching for Schiller.
• Deathstroke found Schiller on a beach and asked what was happening, but neither man knew how the crisis had unfolded.
• Schiller said Deathstroke’s awful driving had made him dizzy enough to see the Arab world clearly and identify the killer.
• Schiller explained that Deathstroke’s decision to bother him instead of pursuing his mission had changed events and brought the leaders to a place where Schiller could kill them.

After Egypt’s cities fell under martial law, Deathstroke and Schiller returned to the safe house, where Deathstroke explained his youth and family troubles. Schiller began describing their shared psychological traits and opposing approaches to disguise, leaving Deathstroke waiting to hear more about Schiller’s past.

• After Egypt imposed martial law, Deathstroke and Schiller retreated to the safe house and discussed the damage inside.
• Deathstroke realized Schiller could follow their conversation despite his hearing apparently not recovering, but Schiller did not explain why.
• Deathstroke told Schiller that an accident had restored his youthful body, leaving him unable to face his wife and children or reconcile his past with his present.
• Schiller denied that his own situation involved a soul and body of different ages, then challenged Deathstroke to consider how much his younger and current selves differed.
• Schiller described shared innate psychological traits and explained that people often conceal them through social behavior.
• Schiller began recounting how he once used disguise to move through high society and carry out plans, while Deathstroke listened warily.

Schiller explained his theory of three self-confrontations and used it to analyze Deathstroke’s life, revealing how his father and military superior shaped his struggles between instinct and social rules. The chapter ended with Deathstroke asking where he could find a father and master to resolve the failures Schiller identified.

• Schiller described how people confront physical desires through their fathers, emotional selfishness through a master, and their nature through a social disguise.
• Deathstroke recounted that his father abandoned the family and that his harsh sergeant major had been his first superior.
• Schiller said his own father and master had been the same person and that this had shaped his pathology and disguise.
• Schiller revealed that Deathstroke had pushed his father off a ship, joined the army too young, and later survived an experiment that nearly killed him.
• Schiller explained that Deathstroke’s wife and children had not been enough to overcome problems rooted in the first two confrontations.
• Deathstroke asked where he could find a father and master.

Schiller explained Deathstroke’s fear that Joseph might repeat the cycle of violence and kill him, then revealed that the other Schiller had provoked Deathstroke and that two versions of Schiller had swapped souls. He left Deathstroke with an explanation for the bizarre conflict over a mural tied to the Justice League’s search for a clue.

• Schiller warned Deathstroke that unresolved trauma could pass to his children, and Deathstroke worried Joseph might kill him as he had killed his own father.
• Schiller suggested Deathstroke avoid dragging Joseph down with him, so Deathstroke attacked him with a sword.
• Schiller claimed he had split personality disorder, and Deathstroke demanded to know how he had learned private details about his life.
• Schiller explained that his different personalities used psychoanalytic methods to perceive things, then said he and another Schiller had swapped souls between Cairo and the living room.
• Schiller told Deathstroke that Diana Prince had hired him to find a mural clue for the Justice League, while another group had taken the mural to obstruct them.

While sailing toward Cairo, Deathstroke reflected on Schiller’s theories about aging, manipulation, and his own inability to communicate with his son. He pressed Schiller about Batman and the Justice League’s commission, but Schiller left the mission’s ultimate goal unanswered.

• Deathstroke considered whether Schiller’s theory explained his failures as a father and why the two versions of Schiller felt so different.
• Deathstroke interrupted Schiller’s map study and demanded they talk, prompting Schiller to criticize his relationship with his son.
• Deathstroke asked where Batman was and why Wonder Woman had issued the commission, and Schiller said Batman could not return and the Justice League needed help.
• Deathstroke asked what the Justice League ultimately wanted, and Schiller praised him for asking about the mission rather than his family.

Schiller advised Deathstroke on how to reconnect with his son, Joseph, suggesting he guide Joseph into learning about his past and then meet him as Deathstroke. After they seized a Red Sea Guards warship to continue toward Cairo, Deathstroke asked Schiller whether he should call his son.

• Deathstroke asked Schiller whether he was trapped by his family, then described his secret career and strained relationship with Joseph.
• Schiller urged Deathstroke to address Joseph’s fear and distance by guiding him to investigate his past and revealing himself as Deathstroke.
• Deathstroke considered Schiller’s manipulative plan while they continued crossing the Red Sea toward Cairo.
• When a warship discovered their small boat, Deathstroke boarded and subdued its crew while Schiller provided cover with a sniper rifle.
• Schiller and Deathstroke tied up the guards and locked them in the kitchen, then Deathstroke asked whether he should use the ship’s satellite signal to call Joseph.

Schiller confronted Deathstroke about his strained relationship with his son, Joseph, and advised him to return to his family as himself rather than only as a father. After reaching Cairo, Deathstroke began following Schiller’s advice by giving money to the children who surrounded him.

• Schiller told Deathstroke that Batman built lasting relationships with the Robins, while Deathstroke’s relationship with Joseph was nearly falling apart because he treated their roles as father and son as fixed demands.
• Schiller advised Deathstroke to return to his family as Deathstroke and let Joseph act as more than just a child, but Deathstroke took the advice as a personal attack.
• Schiller and Deathstroke evaded patrols on the Red Sea, changed boats twice, and reached Cairo exhausted.
• In Cairo, children surrounded Deathstroke to ask for US dollars while avoiding Schiller’s unnerving gaze.
• Schiller urged Deathstroke to act like a powerful mercenary with a conscience, and Deathstroke gave the children three thousand US dollars.

Schiller and Deathstroke arrived in Cairo and drew attention after Deathstroke paid local children with suspiciously clean hundred-dollar bills. After Schiller and Deathstroke fought off hostile gunmen, they headed for a hotel before investigating the museum, which Schiller suspected others were watching.

• Deathstroke paid children demanding money, and their associates noticed him and Schiller near a car rental agency.
• Schiller implied that he and Deathstroke represented Washington, making a questioning stranger reconsider his approach.
• Gunmen shot the stranger, and Schiller and Deathstroke took cover as the attackers accused them of causing trouble in Hurghada.
• Schiller disarmed and killed two attackers, while Deathstroke held back to avoid escalating the violence.
• Schiller and Deathstroke left to find a hotel and investigate the museum, and Schiller complained that his revolver would attract too much attention.

Schiller and Deathstroke survived an elevator ambush and discovered that another Schiller had engineered the escalating Red Sea conflict to trap them and a mural in the region. They remained at the hotel while Schiller traced the plot and blamed Deathstroke’s curiosity for helping the situation spiral out of control.

• Schiller shot an attacker waiting outside the elevator, and Deathstroke braced the car with his greatsword so they could escape after its cables were cut.
• Schiller and Deathstroke reached their suite, where Schiller methodically searched the room and found several surveillance cameras.
• Schiller identified the cameras’ equipment as evidence that another version of himself had stirred up conflict in the Middle East to blockade the Red Sea.
• Schiller explained that the mural could not be transported by plane and that the air crash had helped intensify regional tensions and derail negotiations.
• Deathstroke said the plot seemed aimed mainly at Schiller, but Schiller accused Deathstroke’s curiosity of contributing to the mission’s failure.

Deathstroke discussed his relationship with Joseph and his mercenary work with Schiller, who advised him to be honest about his past and his reasons for becoming an assassin. The conversation left Deathstroke reconsidering how his choices had affected his son and what he might tell him.

• Deathstroke realized that his own mistakes and Schiller's actions had helped turn the failed commission into their current situation, but he felt no regret about meeting Schiller.
• Schiller told Deathstroke that Joseph might respect his professionalism and urged him to accept that Joseph could resent him for the blood money spent on his upbringing.
• Deathstroke explained that much of his income went toward expensive equipment, weapons, safe houses, and other costs, while Schiller questioned how reliable an assassin's earnings seemed to outsiders.
• Deathstroke admitted that body-modification side effects had driven him into the killing business, and Schiller said he should have told Joseph the truth when his son was old enough to understand.
• Schiller reassured Deathstroke that he had provided for and protected his family, and Deathstroke wondered whether Schiller's unusually low moral expectations were part of what made him fascinating.

Schiller and Deathstroke gathered intelligence in Cairo about retrieving a half-ton mural from the Egyptian Museum and learned it was likely in underground storage. Deathstroke also planned to bring his son Joseph to Cairo, and Schiller dismissed his worries about involving him.

• Schiller and Deathstroke left their hotel and encountered a local gang, whose leader agreed to speak with them after Schiller offered U.S. dollars.
• The gang leader told Schiller and Deathstroke that museum director Khaywen controlled Egypt’s underground artifact trade and that the mural was probably in the Egyptian Museum’s underground storage rooms.
• Schiller paid the gang leader for the information and told him he could reveal their meeting if anyone asked.
• Deathstroke explained that he planned to invite Joseph to Cairo for a trip, encouraged by Joseph’s friend Holly.
• Schiller told Deathstroke not to worry about Holly’s reaction, arguing that Joseph would protect him if the plan succeeded and that neither Holly nor Joseph could defeat him if it failed.

Schiller and Deathstroke infiltrated the Egyptian Museum to retrieve a mural, with Schiller using his past preparations to bypass security. They reached the elevator before the museum halted it, then escaped downward through a cut in its floor.

• Deathstroke agreed to help Schiller retrieve the mural and suggested they would need an insider or a keycard to enter the museum.
• Schiller bought an academic-style outfit, then approached the museum entrance at night and talked his way inside while Deathstroke waited nearby.
• Schiller caused a commotion that drew away the guards, letting Deathstroke enter and meet him in an empty hallway.
• Schiller led Deathstroke upstairs and found a keycard hidden beneath a potted plant, explaining that he had prepared it during a previous visit after swapping bodies with another Schiller.
• When museum staff halted the elevator, Deathstroke cut through its floor, and both men jumped down safely.

Schiller and Deathstroke broke into the Egyptian Museum and confronted Khaywen, who had conspired to steal a valuable mural relic. After escaping, Schiller explained the smuggling scheme and his role in the ruined shipment, leaving Deathstroke confused by Schiller’s claim that they were one person.

• Schiller switched into a different set of traits, then led Deathstroke through the museum’s basement while avoiding security teams.
• Schiller confronted Khaywen and a French arms dealer, revealing that he had helped create the murals and had sabotaged the shipment by breaking the storage room’s temperature-control system.
• Khaywen fired at Schiller, but Deathstroke blocked the bullet and helped him escape through the guards.
• Schiller told Deathstroke that the mural was no longer in the museum because Khaywen had likely hidden it in a vault.
• Back at the hotel, Schiller explained that an American middleman had hired a French arms dealer to move stolen relics, while the dealer and Khaywen plotted to keep the most valuable piece.
• Schiller said the American middleman had damaged the storage system and ruined most of the relics, then insisted again that he and Deathstroke were one person.

Schiller explained how his two selves had used a soul exchange to infiltrate the Egyptian Museum and how the events in Cairo and Hurghada had unfolded. Unable to safely confront Khaywen, he planned to draw the agents pursuing Deathstroke toward himself so he could exchange souls again and find the hidden mural.

• Deathstroke reconstructed how Conman Schiller and Agent Schiller had exchanged souls, manipulated events around the Egyptian Museum, and arrived at the underground storage room.
• Schiller refused Deathstroke’s suggestion to kidnap Khaywen, arguing that it could plunge Cairo into chaos and endanger Joseph.
• Schiller reasoned that he could locate the private vault by studying Khaywen psychologically, but decided he needed to exchange souls again first.
• Schiller asked Deathstroke to redirect the agents from sixteen countries toward him and summon local colleagues, charging the effort to Khaywen.

Schiller arranged for Deathstroke to spread rumors that would draw mercenaries after him and force his other self to switch places, while they headed toward the airport to meet Deathstroke’s son. When Cairo Airport was seized by anti-government forces and Joseph’s arrival became uncertain, Schiller agreed that the mural could wait as they turned their attention to the crisis.

• Schiller explained that the fake relic and its fabricated research were meant to leave the Justice League clues, and he and Deathstroke needed to find the mural to learn what they were.
• Deathstroke decided to spread rumors that Schiller knew valuable secrets about Khaywen, attracting mercenaries who might hunt him for profit and pressure Schiller’s other self to switch with him.
• On the way to the airport, Schiller’s other self took over, discarded the Agent’s broken gun, and began loading his revolver.
• Schiller warned Deathstroke that Joseph’s plane would not be able to land in Cairo, and Deathstroke found that neither Joseph nor Holly could be reached.
• Deathstroke learned from a news alert that anti-government forces had taken over Cairo International Airport and that planes were being diverted to Hurghada.
• Schiller said the mural was unimportant because he could make another one, leaving Deathstroke free to focus on finding his son.

Deathstroke rushed toward Hurghada with Schiller after learning that Joseph’s plane was in danger, regretting that he had never told his son who he was. As they reached the controlled area near the airport, Schiller hinted that Joseph might be manipulating his captor, then seemingly revealed he could read Deathstroke’s thoughts.

• Deathstroke hot-wired a car and drove with Schiller toward Hurghada while worrying about Joseph’s endangered flight and the danger of being detained.
• Schiller questioned Deathstroke about Joseph’s friendships and appearance, then suggested Joseph might be using his hostage role to manipulate the kidnapper.
• Deathstroke rejected Schiller’s idea of provoking his visions, insisting they had to rescue Joseph before pursuing any plan about his identity.
• Deathstroke and Schiller reached the controlled area near Hurghada after dark, and Schiller bribed the inspection personnel to let them through.
• Schiller remarked that Deathstroke had not thought the same way when he fought Robin, prompting Deathstroke to suspect that Schiller could read his mind.

Schiller explained why he expected Joseph’s plane to land first, then challenged Deathstroke’s idea of himself as a good father. The chapter left Deathstroke recognizing that his image of fatherhood may have been modeled on his childhood neighbor, Mr. Sanders.

• Schiller argued that Joseph’s Boeing 787 was more likely to land in the desert than ditch in the Red Sea, and Deathstroke agreed to head to Hurghada Airport.
• Deathstroke planned to force the control tower to prioritize Joseph’s plane, but Schiller bet that it would be the first aircraft to land.
• Schiller and Deathstroke entered the chaotic airport and watched the airfield from the rooftop.
• Schiller said Deathstroke might not understand Joseph as well as he thought, and revealed that Batman had warned the Justice League to avoid confronting him directly.
• Schiller described Deathstroke’s imagined ideal father, prompting Deathstroke to recognize traits of his childhood neighbor, Mr. Sanders.
• Schiller asked whether Deathstroke really liked football, suggesting his efforts to be a good father were shaped by imitation.

Deathstroke explored how his childhood imitation of a neighbor shaped his adult life and his strained relationship with Joseph. Schiller then questioned whether Joseph’s private school experience was as safe and ordinary as Deathstroke believed.

• Deathstroke recalled that Mr. Sanders had inspired his choices to play football and join the army, and Schiller explained how imitating him had led to premature adulthood and suppressed self-exploration.
• Schiller told Deathstroke that Joseph had likely sensed his father was performing an imitation, while Deathstroke remembered the quiet moments when he had felt most at ease with his son.
• Deathstroke wondered whether a naturally quiet life might have suited him, but Schiller suggested his personality could have developed differently with a childhood like Joseph’s.
• Deathstroke explained that he had chosen a well-regarded private school with students from similar backgrounds, and Schiller argued that Joseph’s isolation made his friend’s account of school life suspicious.

Deathstroke and Schiller discussed Joseph’s apparent aggression and Schiller’s past revenge, and Schiller suggested Joseph might have a mind-control power. When Joseph arrived, he warned Deathstroke to stay away from Schiller and pleaded with him to move away.

• Deathstroke questioned why Joseph had never told him about being bullied, and Schiller argued that Joseph’s quiet behavior did not mean he lacked aggression.
• Schiller described escaping human experimentation and taking revenge by manipulating high-society targets into trusting him and arranging their deaths.
• Deathstroke realized Schiller’s methods relied on controlling people’s minds, and Schiller suggested Joseph might have inherited a mind-control ability from Deathstroke’s altered genes.
• Joseph arrived on a Boeing 787, and Deathstroke and Joseph froze when their blue eyes met.
• Schiller reminded Deathstroke that he had lost and owed him a favor, while Joseph warned Deathstroke to stay away from Schiller and pleaded with him to move away.

Joseph traveled to Egypt with Kelden and Nana, where an armed conflict diverted their plane to Hurghada and he used his mind-control abilities to secure permission to land. After spotting his father Slade Wilson beside Schiller Rodriguez, Joseph connected to Schiller’s consciousness, saw disturbing fragments of his past, and collapsed; inside the ensuing mental vision, he approached a black tower in an endless snowfield.

• Joseph met Kelden and Nana at the New Orleans airport, and the three flew toward Egypt while Kelden and Nana planned their trip.
• After armed forces seized Cairo Airport, Joseph used his mind-control abilities to make the plane’s crew warn the tower, which cleared a runway for the aircraft to land in Hurghada.
• Joseph spotted Slade Wilson and Schiller Rodriguez at the airport and suspected Schiller was connected to the chaos in Egypt.
• Joseph tried to warn Schiller to stay away from Slade, but seeing Schiller’s memories overwhelmed Joseph and left him unconscious.
• As Joseph drifted through Schiller’s memories, he recognized the man’s name and found himself facing a black tower in an endless snowfield.