"Hey, Batman, watch your step. There might be something big hiding in here."
Deathstroke held a gun in his left hand and drew the Wakizashi with his right.
Strangely, though, his call received no answer.
"Batman?"
Deathstroke turned to find Batman standing frozen in place.
At some point, the air had grown warm and humid.
A powerful wave of dizziness flooded his brain. Slade instantly realized this was what Batman had been wary of: a hallucinogen capable of drawing people into lifelike illusions.
But within a single instant, Deathstroke's powerful metabolism purged the toxin from his body. Then an interesting idea occurred to him.
If I pretend it worked, could I lure out the mastermind?
So he imitated Batman and stood motionless.
But he had clearly underestimated his opponent's patience. He stood with his gun raised for a full half hour, yet there wasn't a single movement in the room. The eerie atmosphere even made Deathstroke doubt himself for a moment.
Maybe... I've already been dragged into an illusion?
Just as he sank into uneasy self-doubt, a sharp click came from behind the bookcase in the corner.
Click!
The bookcase was pushed open a crack from behind, and a man wearing a gas mask emerged.
Judging by his disheveled hair and clothing, he was probably Hugo Strange, the man they had been tracking earlier.
"It's nothing short of a miracle that you made it past all those obstacles and found this place, Batman, and this... uh... mysterious man in tights."
Who are you calling a mysterious man in tights? Don't you think that's a pretty half-assed nickname?
Deathstroke wanted to split Hugo's head open with one slash.
But on second thought, he was a mercenary. Not being recognized was a good thing.
Dr. Hugo continued talking to himself as he