Chapter Summaries

Peter visited Stark in the hospital and urged him to confront the danger posed by his chest reactor, prompting Stark to acknowledge his desire to live. Peter’s dream of fatherhood and his conversation with Stark about Howard brought them closer, while Peter dreamed of a gunshot-shattered night and memories of a father and son.

• Yinsen told Peter that Stark’s reactor was dangerous and urged him to persuade Stark to seek a replacement.
• Peter fell asleep in the laboratory and dreamed of Stark as his father, then saw Stark transform into Howard while Peter became a young Stark.
• Peter visited Stark in the hospital and asked him to talk about Howard and his own absent father.
• Stark described Howard’s drinking and cruelty, then recalled that he and his father had once shared good moments at a workbench.
• Peter told Stark how terrified he had been by his Spider-Sense vision of Stark’s death and how much he valued their time working together.
• Stark admitted to himself that he wanted to live, while Peter dreamed of two gunshots, scattered pearls, and a father and son walking toward the universe.

Schiller and Strange promoted the Immortality Factor to powerful officials and business leaders while arranging paid consulting work and preparing to open a new asylum. After Nick Fury let Schiller choose its name, the asylum became Arkham Asylum, and its opening ceremony ended with Schiller’s friends repeating that the treatment worked.

• Strange gave a press conference speech claiming the Immortality Factor could repair the nervous system and reverse aging, while Schiller and Stark discussed his pay and new asylum position.
• Schiller explained to Strange that they would sell their expertise to interested powers by repeating that the Immortality Factor worked, despite not fully understanding it.
• Schiller and Strange met Nick Fury, who said the asylum would be ready to open in about a week and allowed Schiller to choose its name.
• Schiller suggested Arkham Asylum, and Nick and Strange misunderstood the name as connected to Schiller’s mysterious cryogenic technology.
• Schiller’s friends rehearsed their talking points before the ribbon-cutting ceremony and assured guests that the Immortality Factor worked.

Strange confronted Schiller about Arkham Asylum’s overwhelmed staff and learned that Schiller was turning the facility into a profitable scheme involving wealthy patients, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, and vampire-derived medicine. Schiller recruited Blade to help sell the Immortality Factor and forge an alliance with moderate vampires, leaving Strange and Blade to reckon with the reach of his plan.

• Strange complained that Arkham Asylum lacked enough staff, and Schiller said S.H.I.E.L.D. agents would arrive to work there while gathering intelligence.
• Strange and Schiller discussed inflating the medical staff and research internship numbers to collect more money from the patients and reimbursements.
• Blade arrived, and Schiller instructed him to present his unusual birth as proof that vampire blood could pass its effects from mother to child.
• Schiller proposed recruiting Dracula and offering moderate vampires money and resources in exchange for information and political enemies to turn into medicine.
• Strange asked what he would gain from the scheme, and Schiller promised him a share of the profits while Blade called money terrifying.

Schiller negotiated with Kingpin to sell Immortality Factor doses to The Hand in exchange for profits and bat research samples. He then revealed to Nick Fury that S.H.I.E.L.D. had a vast supply of frozen bats and planned to manipulate the black market with counterfeit products, using Kingpin to protect the emerging industry.

• Kingpin questioned Schiller about the Immortality Factor, and Schiller offered to sell fifteen hundred doses to The Hand through their cooperation.
• Kingpin agreed to the deal after Schiller promised him research samples equivalent to two-thirds of a bat, though Schiller refused to provide a complete bat.
• Schiller went with Nick Fury to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s underground factory, where they saw thousands of frozen bats in storage.
• Schiller proposed mixing genuine and counterfeit bat materials into the black market and creating misleading anti-counterfeiting standards.
• Nick Fury questioned Schiller's motives for involving Kingpin, and Schiller explained that Kingpin could use his criminal influence to keep other rivals away from the new industry.

Schiller and Victor discussed Gotham’s gangs opening vocational schools to train workers and managers for their expanding businesses. After receiving invitations from more than a dozen gangs, Schiller accepted and planned to visit their new school that weekend.

• Victor told Schiller that gang bosses were struggling to find qualified managers and were asking Gotham University faculty for help.
• Victor explained that the gangs planned to establish vocational schools because their workers lacked basic technical and management skills.
• Schiller considered how Gotham’s growing logistics industry had outgrown the gangs’ traditional, experience-based training.
• Schiller received a joint invitation from more than a dozen major gangs to visit their vocational school.
• Schiller approved of the gangs’ effort and accepted the invitation to inspect the school that weekend.

Schiller returned to Living Hell to teach a vocational-school class for young gang members and discovered that the students had neither a roster nor proper names. He assigned Oswald Cobblepot to record names and schedules, leaving the future Penguin quietly isolated among his rowdy classmates.

• Schiller arrived at the vocational school in Living Hell and agreed to teach the gang members' children about Gotham's history and the gang industry.
• Schiller asked the students to write their real names, but found entries such as Tire, Red Truck, and Rocket Launcher instead.
• Schiller recognized Oswald Cobblepot as the likely future Penguin and noted that the formally dressed boy seemed unusually refined among the unruly students.
• Schiller told the class to invent proper names and assigned Cobblepot to record them because his handwriting was legible.
• Schiller appointed Tire class monitor and told him to coordinate schedules with Cobblepot.
• After Schiller dismissed the class, the room descended into chaos while Cobblepot remained alone in the corner.

Cobblepot rose from a bullied Muni Gang worker to a respected water-system supervisor and vocational-school standout in Living Hell. As he grew close to Victor and began considering university, his ambition reached beyond the life he had once thought possible.

• Cobblepot took jobs around Living Hell and became responsible for delivering ingredients to a restaurant after redevelopment brought new gangs into the district.
• A major-gang leader transferred Cobblepot to the water management department, where his ability to read meters earned him control of North District 2’s water system.
• The gangs opened a vocational school, and Cobblepot became its top student while continuing to maintain his district’s water system and train at night.
• Victor came to admire Cobblepot as an exceptional student, and Cobblepot came to regard Victor as a fair teacher.
• After Schiller left Victor to handle classroom discipline, Cobblepot began wondering whether he could take the university entrance exams.

Schiller investigated Oswald Cobblepot’s severe stress episode after Batman found him injured beside Fish Mooney’s body. Gordon began explaining the gang struggle over Living Hell’s redevelopment, while the circumstances behind Fish’s death remained unclear.

• Gordon summoned Schiller to the Police Department after Fish Mooney was found dead and a witness was brought in.
• Schiller recognized the witness as Oswald Cobblepot and diagnosed signs of acute stress disorder, advising that he needed treatment and should not be approached.
• Batman said he found Fish dead and Oswald unconscious and already beaten at the scene, with no third party present.
• Gordon arranged for Mrs. Mona to help Oswald and asked an officer to contact his family without revealing his condition.
• Schiller asked Gordon and Batman to recount the case, and Gordon began describing how rival gangs had pushed Fish’s Muni Gang out of Living Hell.

Gordon explained why Fish Mooney’s murder had become entangled with Evans Falcone’s struggle to prove himself as the Falcone heir. After examining Fish’s body, Schiller, Gordon, and Batman divided up the investigation, while keeping Oswald Cobblepot as both a potential witness and a suspect.

• Batman recounted how he had stopped Fish from turning Living Hell’s upgraded water system into a bomb and later found her dead with Oswald Cobblepot at the scene.
• Gordon explained that Evans had clashed with Fish while trying to mediate the gang dispute, and that the outsider gang bosses suspected Evans of killing her.
• Gordon revealed that his Director wanted a quick solution to clear Evans, while Schiller insisted on finding the real killer despite the political risks.
• Schiller examined Fish’s body and confirmed that a single gunshot to the head had killed her.
• Schiller assigned Gordon to pursue the Evans lead, Batman to investigate the other gang bosses, and himself to treat Oswald and seek his testimony.
• Batman warned that Oswald could also have killed Fish and pretended to be unconscious.

Schiller hospitalized Cobblepot after finding him in severe agitation and suspected that prolonged abuse had triggered his mental illness. When Schiller and Victor went to investigate Cobblepot’s family history, they found his home ransacked and his mother missing.

• Schiller sent the severely agitated Cobblepot to Arkham Asylum, where he and Brand sedated him and suspected prolonged abuse and possible hereditary mental illness.
• Victor visited Cobblepot at the hospital and agreed with Schiller that they needed to investigate his family history.
• Brand reported that Cobblepot had overlapping old and new injuries, including a fractured right arm and severe trauma to his left ankle.
• Schiller and Victor went to the Cobblepot home after deciding that contacting his mother might be difficult.
• When Mrs. Cobblepot did not answer, Schiller and Victor entered through a neighboring balcony and found the home in disarray and Mrs. Cobblepot missing.

Schiller and Victor investigated the Cobblepot home and found signs that Mrs. Cobblepot had been drugged and abducted. Batman connected Fish’s water-purifier plot to the gang boss who replaced Black Hand Kevin, while Schiller told Cobblepot his schizophrenia could be treated and that he could likely live normally.

• Victor shot the lock off a window at the Cobblepot house, and Schiller found an umbrella with a tiny mark, a drugged tea set, and signs of a struggle and abduction.
• Batman questioned a gang member and learned that Black Hand Kevin had died before negotiating with Fish, then a former water-supply manager had taken his place.
• Batman linked the new boss’s knowledge of Living Hell’s water system to Fish’s plan to sabotage the purifier and suspected the two had worked together.
• Gordon and Victor discussed Cobblepot’s misfortune outside his hospital room while Schiller examined him.
• Schiller explained that Cobblepot had catatonic schizophrenia, that treatment could help, and that he could likely live normally most of the time.

Batman reconstructed Fish's murder in Living Hell and concluded that Cobblepot had worked with an accomplice to kill her. After testing the crime scene's possible timelines, he left the darkened room alone.

• Batman returned to Fish's death scene and used his ability to replay events, confirming that she had been shot while seated on the sofa.
• Batman tested Cobblepot as the shooter but ruled it out because the door, the shot's precision, and Cobblepot's fractured arm made the attack implausible.
• Batman considered a hidden third party and reasoned that Fish would have noticed a lone assassin approaching while she was alert.
• Batman concluded that an acquaintance had distracted Fish while an accomplice moved beside her and shot her at close range.
• Batman replayed the murder with Cobblepot arguing with Fish as the accomplice fired, then remained alone until darkness fell and he disappeared.

At Arkham Asylum, Schiller questioned Cobblepot about his criminal past and the events in Living Hell. Cobblepot confessed to helping Maroney kill Fish and claimed Maroney had kidnapped his mother, but Schiller exposed the kidnapping story as a fabricated setup.

• Schiller confronted Cobblepot about killing Old Edward, and Cobblepot admitted the Old Godfather had ordered the murder to frame Young Edward.
• Cobblepot recounted how he rose through the Muni Gang and later worked under Kevin, whom he wanted to replace.
• Cobblepot said he persuaded Fish to kill Kevin, then endured her abuse as she grew increasingly unstable.
• Cobblepot claimed he joined forces with Sal Maroney to kill Fish and frame Evans after Maroney kidnapped his mother.
• Cobblepot offered to testify against Maroney, but Schiller challenged his story and pointed out the flaws in the staged kidnapping scene.

While Schiller questioned him in the hospital, Cobblepot explained how he came to serve Falcone and why he wanted to escape the Godfather’s control. He recounted how he infiltrated Living Hell through Kevin’s shipping outlet and began working toward a position in management.

• Schiller persuaded Cobblepot to describe his past by appealing to his pride in his criminal schemes.
• Cobblepot said Falcone had saved him when he was twelve and later supported him, so he had killed for the Godfather in return.
• Cobblepot explained that he wanted to escape being passed to Little Falcone, whom he considered incompetent and dangerous.
• Cobblepot said he joined Fish’s Muni Gang to scout Living Hell, then chose to approach Kevin himself when Fish’s territory stopped offering enough intelligence.
• Cobblepot described posing as a cigarette seller, impressing Kevin with his calculations, and earning a place at the shipping outlet.
• Cobblepot admitted he wanted to open a restaurant someday but said his immediate goal was to move up from errand boy into management.

Cobblepot recounted how he rose to power by manipulating Fish and Kevin, then explained his plans involving Maroney and his mother to Schiller. He revealed that Batman had recently appeared in Living Hell, leaving Schiller to hear how that discovery connected to Cobblepot’s bid for freedom.

• Cobblepot explained that he infiltrated Kevin’s gang, skimmed water fees, and turned Kevin’s anger into a reason to seek Fish’s help.
• Cobblepot and Fish lured Kevin out of Living Hell, where Fish killed him, allowing Cobblepot to take over his territory.
• Cobblepot described controlling Fish during her episodes and using her paranoia to eliminate his enemies.
• Cobblepot said Maroney recruited him to poison Living Hell’s water, but he secretly planned to kill Fish and frame Little Falcone.
• Cobblepot explained that he had drugged and taken his mother to a new apartment during a severe episode, then admitted he intended to frame Maroney for her kidnapping.
• Cobblepot told Schiller that he had recently discovered Batman operating in Living Hell.

Batman searched surveillance footage for the third person in Fish’s murder and spotted Sal Maroney, while Schiller questioned Cobblepot about his plan and illness. Schiller then connected Cobblepot to the death of Gotham’s sole handmade umbrella maker and confronted him with an umbrella bearing the dead man’s mark.

• Batman reviewed Living Hell’s damaged and incomplete camera footage and recognized Sal Maroney, whose presence in the district seemed suspicious.
• Cobblepot told Schiller that Maroney had killed Fish while Cobblepot arranged to be found and rescued by Batman, intending to testify against Maroney and protect Little Falcone.
• Schiller explained how Cobblepot’s mother’s episode, his own illness, and accumulated trauma had derailed his plan, then lectured him about catatonic schizophrenia.
• Schiller described the linked Green Street deaths of Kevin Brown and the umbrella maker, saying Fish had killed the only handmade umbrella maker in Gotham City.
• Schiller pressed the umbrella bearing the Wiggins maker’s mark between Cobblepot’s eyes and demanded to know where it came from.

Brock told Gordon about the late umbrella maker Wiggins and Vickin Umbrella Shop as they investigated the deaths of Kevin and Fish. Batman forced Maroney to admit Evans Falcone had ordered Fish’s murder, and Evans turned himself in, leaving Gordon and Cobblepot stunned by the confession.

• Brock recalled that Wiggins’s handmade umbrellas had once been prized by Gotham’s gang bosses, and agreed to revisit Vickin Umbrella Shop for clues.
• Evans Falcone arrived at the Police Department and said he had something to tell the officers.
• Batman tortured Maroney until he confessed that Evans Falcone had threatened him and ordered him to kill Fish.
• Schiller questioned Cobblepot about the umbrella he possessed, but Cobblepot insisted he deserved it.
• Gordon told Schiller and Cobblepot that Evans had confessed to ordering Maroney to kill Fish, and Cobblepot questioned why Evans would do so.

Schiller revealed that he had advised Evans Falcone to feign recklessness and seek a legal trial so the collapse of Gotham’s judicial system would let him avoid his father and obtain medical parole. After explaining how the plan unfolded, Schiller returned to asking Cobblepot where his umbrella had come from.

• Cobblepot wondered whether Evans’s confession had disrupted his plan, while Gordon described Gotham’s judicial system collapsing as officials, court staff, and lawyers became unavailable.
• Batman arrived and reported that Maroney had said Evans ordered him to kill Fish, but Gordon told him Evans had already confessed.
• Schiller admitted he had suggested Evans act foolish and seek a proper trial to escape the danger of his father’s renewed ambition.
• Schiller explained that Gotham’s paralyzed courts allowed Evans to bypass trial and imprisonment and proceed directly to medical parole.
• Batman concluded that medical parole would keep Evans away from his father, and Schiller again asked Cobblepot where the umbrella came from.

Cobblepot explained why he believed Gotham's rain and umbrella maker Wiggins were connected to his parents’ fate and Living Hell’s transformation. Schiller concluded that the Court of Owls was behind the scheme and handed Cobblepot an umbrella, urging him to kill them.

• Cobblepot admitted killing Wiggins and said his father died after missing the handmade umbrella he had ordered, which Cobblepot believed could protect him from Gotham's rain.
• Cobblepot revealed that his mother had begged him to retrieve an umbrella before losing her sanity, and he suspected her illness was a curse tied to his father's discoveries.
• Cobblepot said Living Hell’s residents changed after their water supply was renovated, leading him to suspect Gotham’s rain had contaminated their water and altered their behavior.
• Schiller, Batman, and Cobblepot reasoned that Wiggins had selectively sold umbrellas that protected certain people, while others were left exposed to the rain.
• Schiller identified the Court of Owls as the force behind the scheme and offered Cobblepot the umbrella, telling him to kill them.

Schiller and Gordon tried to find someone who could repair Schiller’s damaged umbrella, only to learn that its unusual handmade parts likely required the original maker. Batman arrived with a matching component and revealed that he, Cobblepot, and Evans planned to investigate the Court of Owls together.

• Schiller damaged his umbrella while trying to repair it, and Gordon proposed recruiting a young wiring expert called Little Rascal to help.
• Little Rascal examined the umbrella and explained that a ruined screw and its unusual materials made it difficult to repair without the original maker, Wiggins.
• Schiller gave Little Rascal a toolbox and offered him a place at the vocational school in Living Hell.
• Batman told Schiller and Gordon that he, Cobblepot, and Evans planned to investigate the Court of Owls from different angles.
• Batman showed Schiller and Gordon a component matching the damaged one, which he had found on another umbrella.