Hide turned.
His torch swept the room in a full arc — pillars, walls, the exposed rebar of an unfinished ceiling, the open skeleton of a building.
There was no one around here. No person or even shape. Just the voice arriving from every surface at once, already fading back into the quiet.
"Show yourself," Hide carefully said.
A sound came to his right. Hide instantly turned and saw the same Joker mask, against the wall, leaning on the exposed concrete with one shoulder. Both hands in his pockets.
"There," he said pleasantly. "Better?"
"What are you trying to do? Why are you helping me?" Hide asked.
The Joker tilted his head. "What makes you think I'm helping you?"
"You came to me first, just after I awakened and gave me a goal, along with instructions."
