Bat Cat was intently watching Constantine perform magic when a pair of large hands suddenly appeared behind him and swiftly grabbed his front paws, lifting him into the air.
Shiller flipped Bat Cat over to face his own hands, which were firmly grasping Bat Cat's armpits beneath the front paws. He observed the creature from a distance first, then leaned in for a closer inspection.
Bat Cat bristled, hissing at Shiller, but he did not have any major weapons equipped since he had been headed towards the control room of the musical instruments. Without anything but cat fangs and talons, he clearly couldn't break free.
However, despite the awkward position, Bat Cat's claws could still scratch Shiller's hand and his teeth could potentially bite one of Shiller's fingers. Shiller hesitated for a moment before grabbing the cat by the back of its neck.
By this position, a cat couldn't really struggle. Batman reverted back to his human form with a loud "pop", and Constantine and Victor gathered around Shiller, who was holding the cat up for everyone to see.
Batman reached out, took the cat from him, and asked, "So, you really are Bat Cat? A cat disguised as a bat?"
Clearly, he seemed at a loss for how to assess this version of himself.
As they were all engrossed in examining Bat Cat, the lantern rings that had previously been used to teleport Shiller drifted towards the Tower of Thought. Unaware of this, Shiller hadn't noticed that the gray mist that had returned to the Tower, under the Superego's guidance, was absorbing energy from those lantern rings again.
A cloud of chaotic mist started to drift apart, emitting multicolored lights. Sensing the change in light, Shiller glanced behind, only to see a gray dragon emerging from the mist, roaring loudly in the process.
Shiller stared at the dragon, feeling a sense of familiarity. Then it hit him – it was the same Grey Lantern Beast he had summoned during their battle against the Fear Joker. But, wasn't this supposed to be a result of the gray mist absorbing the ring's energy? Why was it appearing here?
Before Shiller had time to ponder, the dream god flew out from the tower with a malicious grin. In an instant, the dream scene shifted, the Tower of Thought was back in its place, and the dream shattered as Shiller sat up abruptly from his sickbed.
Pressing a hand against his head, his thoughts felt muddled. He remembered that the dream god had abruptly ended the Thousand Cats Dream, sending his Tower of Thoughts back to its original place, and kicking him out of the dream.
Why did he do this? Was it simply revenge for Shiller's destruction of his home? Such retaliation seemed rather petty.
With these thoughts, Shiller went back to bed, feeling slightly tired from the forced end to his dream. He intended to fall back asleep, preferably to have a discussion with the dream god in another dream.
Soon, Shiller drifted back into slumber. He was woken up by the ringing of the telephone beside his bed. He turned over, pulling the covers back slightly as he opened his eyes to look at the ringing phone on his bedside table.
Impatiently, Shiller grabbed the phone and said, "Hello? I need some rest. Can this wait..."
"It's me," came the voice of Bruce from the other side of the call. Shiller vaguely recalled the previous dream, presuming that Bruce wouldn't call him for anything urgent, so he prepared to hang up.
Just then, he heard Bruce say, "To celebrate our great victory in the dream world, Professor, I've prepared a gift for you…"
Shiller hung up the phone abruptly, mumbling under his breath, "Try to scare me with my own words? No chance."
Saying so, he rolled over onto his side, his head resting on the pillow, intending to fall asleep again. However, just as he was about to drift off, there was a knock on his door, and through his blurry vision, he saw Bruce standing in front of him.
Shiller took a deep breath in bed, forcing himself to wake up. He sat up and looked at Bruce, asking, "What are you doing? Don't you know I'm sick?"
Then, Bruce bent down and picked up... a black cat from near his feet?
With wide eyes, Shiller stared as Bruce used both hands to present the black cat in the same manner one would present a pet, showing it to Shiller.
"This is your gift. Do you like it?"
Shiller placed a hand on his forehead, closing his eyes tightly, and murmured, "Is this a dream?"
"No, it's not a dream, Professor. Do you remember yesterday's battle?" Bruce put down the black cat, who hopped onto Shiller's hospital bed, and sat precisely in place, meowing. Surprisingly, Shiller found that he could comprehend what the black cat was meowing.
He was asking: "Am I in another world? What's happening?"
"The theory should be similar to how you materialized Aisha. The power of the lantern rings fused to form the Grey Lantern Beast, and certain things that weren't supposed to exist in the real world materialized."
Processing this, Shiller remembered seeing the Grey Lantern Beast in the dream just before he was kicked out. But where did it come from? He hadn't summoned a lantern ring, had he?
Suddenly, he realized it must have been Superego's plot, likely with the dream god involved.
The Superego had summoned the lantern ring, fused it to form the Grey Lantern Beast, and at the moment the beast appeared, had the dream god return everyone to reality. This replicated the previous process where Shiller had brought Aisha into the real world, and thus, managed to bring the black cat into reality.
Shiller reached out, cradling the cat in his arms. Eye to eye, Batman spoke, "Yes, he is Bat Cat."
"Now that this has happened, do you think you can put him back? I surely can't."
Shiller opened his mouth to respond, "Can't you keep it? It's just a cat…"
"I could have, but Aisha keeps pulling his tail, and Alfred doesn't allow any cat hair in the manor."
"Neither do I... I mean, my butler Merkel doesn't allow…"
"Oh my god! What is that?!" Butler Merkel had arrived to check on Shiller after receiving news of his awakening. He hurried over, took the black cat from Shiller, and exclaimed, "Sir, is this a stray cat you've adopted? It's so adorable. Have you named it?"
Shiller glanced at Bruce, then said, "His name is Owl."
"Meow!" "No!"
"His name is Owl!"