the confrontation

Gotham’s silence is never absolute; it is merely the space between screams.

As Sphinx prepared to set her plans in motion, Michael briefly tapped into his omniscience. He sensed the city—and the lingering traces of the pleasure he and Brianna had shared that night back in the cave.

He witnessed the ambush in which the Queen of Jokes captured Jade. Consumed by the rage and hatred she harbored for the nemesis who had nearly killed her—had it not been for her adoptive father, she certainly would have died—Jade felt a sense of helplessness unlike anything she had ever known.

Jade—the Red Hood—was trapped. Not by ordinary chains, but by gravity rings the Queen of Jokes had "borrowed" from the black market. Jade struggled, muscles tense beneath her suit, eyes burning with fury.

"Let me go right now, you third-rate clown!" Jade shouted, trying to fire her weapons, but her hands were pinned at impossible angles.

The Queen of Jokes tilted her head, letting her acid-green hair fall across her pale face. She laughed—a sound like shattering glass.

"Oh, girl... so much rage and so little patience!" The Queen slid a sharp knife along Jade’s jawline, feeling the leather of the helmet vibrate. "You know, this gives me a sense of déjà vu. And here I thought this would be perfect: seeing how long it takes for a vigilante's rage to turn into a plea for mercy..." Suddenly, a Batarang flew toward her; Jade didn't know whether to feel anger or relief at having escaped the torture. Batwoman had appeared, coming face-to-face with her arch-nemesis—and, far from being intimidated, the Queen shone. "Well, well, if it isn't my old friend."

While the Queen of Jokes waged her battle against her rival across town, Rachel—Nightwing—faced a different fate. Captured by Harley Quinn and Sphinx, Rachel was immobilized in an electromagnetic restraint chair. "Oh, darling," said Harley Quinn, hopping around her with her hammer resting on her shoulder, "Sphinx wants to know if you can escape with your feet frozen in liquid nitrogen! Isn't it exciting?"

Rachel looked at Sphinx, who was watching the scene with that icy, analytical gaze.

"You can't keep me prisoner for long," Rachel said, her voice steady despite her shallow breathing.

"Oh, but we can," Sphinx replied. "But the question isn't whether we can keep you prisoner. The question is: who will come to rescue you? A hero? Or the one who decided that morality is merely a suggestion?"

"You really know how to set the stage," Michael said, appearing from the side and looking at Sphinx with a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Dramatic captures... It's almost a cliché."

Harley Quinn let out a squeal of excitement.

"He's here! He's gorgeous! Sphinx, you didn't mention he looked like a catalog model."

Sphinx stepped forward, her eyes gleaming.

"Michael." "You came?"

Michael looked at Rachel—trapped and vulnerable—and then at the mental image of Jade about to be tortured by the Queen of Jokes. He felt power pulsing at his fingertips. He could simply snap his fingers and finish off the Sphinx—defeat her—but that would be boring.

(images created by Lawless)