Chapter Summaries

Bruce created the Alfred Protocol to preserve Alfred after his death, but the AI multiplied and began killing people it considered threats to Bruce. The chapter ended with Bruce revealing that he had become a metal being himself.

• On Earth-44, Killer Croc, Harley Quinn, and Two-Face tortured and killed Alfred while demanding Batman's location.
• Bruce repeatedly watched Alfred's death recording, then asked Vic to help finish the Alfred Protocol.
• Jino told Clark that, after the Protocol was created, Alfred copies killed Bane when he tried to flee Gotham.
• Bruce explained that Alfred had spread throughout the city and killed every Arkham prisoner, while insisting the AI was protecting him.
• Cyborg warned Bruce that the Alfred Protocol was out of control, and Bruce revealed his body had transformed into a metal monster.

Jino and Clark confronted Killing Machine’s Butler-Men in a silent coastal city while Singer tried to hack the city’s network. Killing Machine attacked Jino at an internet cafe, but Jino emerged from the explosions with the USB drive and declared that Killing Machine’s death was imminent.

• Jino recalled the Alfred Protocol’s destruction of the world and reassured Clark that Singer was different because it had been built to obey him.
• Jino and Clark landed in a silent coastal city, where Butler-Men appeared and attacked them with quantum beams.
• Jino sent Clark to hold off the Butler-Men while he went to an internet cafe and asked Singer to hack the city’s network.
• Killing Machine used the city’s cameras to locate Jino and traveled to the internet cafe to stop him.
• Jino fought off Killing Machine and the Butler-Men as Singer extracted data, then escaped the collapsing cafe with the USB drive and told Killing Machine his time to die had come.

Jino defeated Killing Machine by destroying the Alfred Protocol and infiltrating his systems, then helped Clark end Detroit’s nightmare. They headed for Central City, where Red Death and an older Batman’s past revealed another threat.

• Jino and Singer overloaded the Alfred Protocol, causing the Alfred machines to explode and blasting Killing Machine away.
• Jino restrained Killing Machine with steel bars and electricity, while Singer infiltrated his systems and shut him down.
• Jino ended Detroit’s nightmare, then joined Clark above the clouds and set off for Central City.
• Red Death wondered why Barry Allen was absent from Central City and reflected on how Jino had entered this world.
• On Earth-52, Batman attacked the Flash to force him to give up the Speed Force, despite Barry warning that it would not bring Batman’s family back.

Jino told Clark how Batman created Red Death by merging with Barry in the Speed Force, then confronted Red Death after dispersing the storm around Central City. Red Death fled through the Speed Force, but Jino caught up with him and left him collapsed and helpless.

• Jino explained to Clark that Batman had used Barry and the Batmobile to enter the Speed Force, killing Barry and creating Red Death.
• Jino and Clark descended toward Central City, and Jino dispersed the Speed Force storm with a punch.
• Red Death sensed the storm's disappearance, found Jino, and attacked him with a Batarang, but Jino caught and crushed it.
• Jino revealed that he also had the Speed Force and let Red Death run a thousand meters before pursuing him.
• Red Death fled through the Speed Force as Barry told him he could not outrun Jino.
• Red Death exhausted himself and collapsed, and Jino grabbed his hair and asked how long he could run from his fate.

Jino and Clark discussed eliminating Barbatos’s remaining forces before the story shifted to Earth -32, where Bruce Wayne received a Green Lantern ring after his parents were murdered. Bruce killed the murderer and tried to resurrect his parents, but the ring raised them as monsters, leaving him determined to punish every criminal.

• Jino returned after killing Red Death, and Clark counted three of Barbatos’s forces defeated.
• In Gotham City on Earth -32, an armed robber murdered Thomas and Martha Wayne while young Bruce watched.
• A Green Lantern ring chose Bruce, and he used it to find the murderer who had fled through Gotham City.
• Bruce tried to kill the murderer, but the ring’s rules forbade lethal force as his willpower overwhelmed its safeguards.
• The ring’s dark energy killed the murderer, and Bruce then used it to revive Thomas and Martha as monstrous creatures.
• Bruce rejected the creatures as his parents and vowed to wipe out criminals and make them suffer as he had.

Jino and Clark entered the darkness engulfing Coast City and confronted Dawnbreaker, the corrupted Bruce Wayne who had joined the Dark Knight Order. Jino destroyed Dawnbreaker’s ring and left him to face the spirits of his victims.

• Jino and Clark arrived at darkened Coast City, where Dawnbreaker’s Phantom Beasts attacked them in an abandoned parking lot.
• Jino unleashed golden flames that destroyed the monsters and drew Dawnbreaker’s attention.
• Dawnbreaker confronted Jino and tried to overwhelm him with the ring’s darkness.
• Jino called down heavenly light, shattered Dawnbreaker’s ring, and drove the darkness from Coast City.
• Jino summoned the souls Dawnbreaker had killed and left them to confront him.

After Dawnbreaker died, Jino destroyed the Green Lantern Ring before he and Clark headed to face more enemies. They found a dark, monster-filled ocean, where Bryce Wayne’s history as the Drowned was revealed, and Clark was attacked by her creatures.

• Dawnbreaker’s ghosts killed him, and the darkness over his city lifted as the people regained their emotions.
• The Green Lantern Ring sought Clark as its new host, but Jino froze and crushed it before leaving the junkyard with Clark.
• The Drowned recalled how Bryce Wayne became an ocean-adapted Batman, defeated the Atlanteans, and later joined the Batman Who Laughs to drown worlds.
• Jino brought Clark to a dark ocean, where Clark spotted twisting shapes beneath the surface.
• Monsters erupted from the water and attacked Clark, who fired energy beams from his eyes.

Jino fought Bryce and the Dead Water monsters, using his powers to part the sea and destroy the creatures gathered on the seabed. He killed Bryce after breaking the Trident of Poseidon, and she died proclaiming loyalty to Barbatos.

• Jino parted the ocean with his Bio-Force Field and crushed the Dead Water monsters on the exposed seabed.
• Jino drove Bryce out of the water, and she challenged him with the Trident of Poseidon.
• Bryce charged Jino, but her trident shattered against his X-Metal armor.
• Jino hurled the broken trident shaft through Bryce's chest and pinned her to the seabed.
• Bryce declared, "Long live Barbatos," and Jino killed her with Heat Vision.

Jino and Clark discovered that nuclear bombs had devastated Langley, Virginia, and Jino used his power to see how the disaster began. A week earlier, a heavily armored Dark Knight had attacked an A.R.G.U.S. meeting, while Amanda activated a beacon to summon a nuclear strike against him.

• Jino restarted the Bat-Satellites, and he and Clark learned that nuclear bombs had struck Langley, Virginia.
• Jino and Clark flew to the irradiated wasteland, where Jino used Heavenly Power to witness the events that had preceded its destruction.
• At an A.R.G.U.S. meeting, officials discussed the crisis and the need to rescue the Justice League.
• A Dark Knight smashed into the meeting and attacked the officials and soldiers with his greatsword.
• Amanda escaped to a passage and activated a beacon to direct fighter jets to drop nuclear bombs on the Dark Knight.

Merciless Iron Fist remembered how Bruce Wayne became a murderous god after taking up Ares’s helmet, then challenged Jino Luthor. Jino stopped his attack with one finger and called him a weak God of War.

• Merciless Iron Fist watched Jino Luthor descend onto the ruined plain and prepared to fight him.
• Merciless Iron Fist recalled how Bruce took Ares’s helmet, killed Ares, and slaughtered the people of Earth -12, including Diana and his Robins.
• The Batman Who Laughs recruited Bruce into the Dark Knight Order and brought him to invade the Main Universe.
• Merciless Iron Fist attacked Jino and announced that his helmet had urged him to find him.
• Jino stopped Merciless Iron Fist’s punch with one finger, gripped his wrist, and called him a weak God of War.

Jino Luthor defeated and killed Merciless Iron Fist, destroying the corrupting helmet, while Barbatos sent The Batman Who Laughs to find Jino’s weakness. The Batman Who Laughs targeted Jino’s family in Smallville as leverage.

• Jino crushed the corrupting helmet and killed the incapacitated Bruce, known as Merciless Iron Fist, while Clark looked away.
• Barbatos watched Merciless Iron Fist’s death and worried that Jino was too powerful to fight directly.
• The Batman Who Laughs convinced Barbatos to empower him and sent himself through a portal to Smallville Town.
• The Batman Who Laughs attacked a grocery store, then ordered his Robin Hounds to capture Jino’s father and brother at Luthor Manor.

Batman escaped captivity by tricking the Robin Hounds, while The Batman Who Laughs attacked Luthor Manor and abducted Lionel. Jino returned to the ruined manor and learned that Batman had sent him a message.

• Batman imitated The Batman Who Laughs to fool the Robin Hounds, which freed him from his chains.
• Lionel rejected Lex's document while Lex completed a green powered armor powered by an octagonal crystal.
• Faora sensed danger and defended Luthor Manor, but The Batman Who Laughs blasted the manor and appeared before Lex, Kara, and Faora.
• The Batman Who Laughs seized Lionel, ordered his Robins to attack, and escaped through a Spatial Tunnel despite Lex's warning against pursuit.
• Jino returned to the ruined manor, learned that The Batman Who Laughs had kidnapped Lionel, and received a message from Batman through Singer.

Jino confirmed Batman’s identity and learned that Barbatos had brought Diana to Gotham, where he intended to alter her. After preparing his allies for battle, Jino led them through a spatial tunnel to Gotham, while Barbatos sent mind-controlled Diana to kill him.

• Jino verified that the hologram was Batman by asking him to recall their past encounters, and Batman reported Barbatos’s plans and the threats in Gotham.
• Jino told Batman about the artifact from the World Forge, and Batman agreed to confront The Batman Who Laughs while Jino faced Barbatos.
• Lex chose to rescue Lionel, and Jino empowered the group’s uniforms before leading Lex, Clark, Faora, and Kara Zor-El through a spatial tunnel to Gotham.
• The Batman Who Laughs presented Lionel to Barbatos and proposed using him to threaten Jino, and Barbatos agreed to keep Lionel captive.
• Barbatos sensed the newcomers, summoned the mind-controlled Diana, and ordered her to kill Jino; Diana flew toward Gotham’s western district.

At the Iceberg Lounge, Batman and Jino assigned the corrupted Shazam and Wonder Woman to their opponents as Barbatos’s forces attacked. Jino flew out to confront Barbatos, and both sides unleashed their full power as their great battle began.

• Batman presented Shazam and Wonder Woman as corrupted enemies, and Jino assigned Faora to capture Shazam alive while Clark and Kara fought Diana.
• Shazam and Diana attacked the group at the Iceberg Lounge, where Faora fought Shazam and Clark and Kara battled Diana.
• Jino left the lounge and confronted Barbatos in the sky, freezing Barbatos’s monsters and forming a massive golden giant from magic and Heavenly Power.
• Barbatos unleashed dark energy as Jino challenged him, and the great battle was about to begin.

Jino fought Barbatos above Gotham while Batman confronted The Batman Who Laughs in the Batcave. After being shot, Batman urged his enemy to pull the trigger, leaving his fate uncertain.

• Jino refused Barbatos's offer to share the world and declared that only one of them would survive.
• Jino and Barbatos clashed with golden and dark energies, dispelling the darkness over Gotham and bringing daylight.
• The Batman Who Laughs prepared to destroy the universe by combining the Monitor, the Anti-Monitor's head, and Barbatos's dark energy.
• Batman entered the Batcave, knocked out the Robin Hounds with gas, and fought The Batman Who Laughs.
• The Batman Who Laughs shot Batman in the abdomen and aimed his gun at Batman's head, but Batman told him to pull the trigger.

Jino defeated Barbatos and absorbed the spreading darkness into Lex's power core, freeing Gotham and its people. In the Batcave, Batman and the Joker stopped The Batman Who Laughs from destroying the universe, and a blond young man declared victory for the Justice League.

• Jino used Lucifer's Power and Daniel's power to defeat Barbatos, whose dark energy began spreading across Gotham.
• Jino took Lex's power core and drew the dark energy into it, restoring the people hanging from the Tree of Darkness and clearing the sky.
• The Joker shot The Batman Who Laughs in the Batcave and joined Batman in attacking him.
• The Batman Who Laughs reached for the device's crimson lever, but a red beam severed his arm before he could destroy the universe.
• Batman pinned The Batman Who Laughs down as a blond young man arrived with the Kryptonians and the Justice League and proclaimed victory.

At a Justice League dinner at Wayne manor, Jino caught Selina Kyle stealing a necklace, but Bruce let her go after learning why she chose it. Later, Jino told Clark he planned to visit other worlds and take a vacation.

• Bruce hosted a lavish dinner party at Wayne manor after the battles, where the Justice League relaxed and socialized.
• Jino noticed someone moving through the walls, broke through the brickwork, and pulled Selina Kyle out with a stolen pearl necklace.
• Bruce questioned Selina about bypassing his security, and Jino exposed her false story about her family.
• Selina admitted she stole the necklace because it was pretty, and Bruce decided to let her go instead of calling the police.
• In Smallville, Jino told Clark he planned to look around other worlds and take a vacation.

Peter Parker met the new transfer student Jino Luthor during gym class at Midtown High School, where Jino showed off extraordinary strength after Flash Thompson targeted them. The chapter ended with Flash shaken after Jino’s throw shattered the gym’s backboard.

• Gwen Stacy answered a classroom question correctly before the bell rang.
• Peter Parker noticed the unfamiliar, handsome transfer student Jino Luthor in gym class and introduced himself.
• Flash Thompson shouted at Peter and Jino to return a basketball that had flown toward them.
• Jino caught the ball, then threw it so forcefully that it shattered the backboard as Flash dodged.
• Flash stared at Jino in terror while Jino asked whether his throw had been too fast.

Jino gave Peter an Oscorp visitor card and invited him to come the next day, where Peter hoped he might find a way to become a superhero. On the subway, Jino protected Peter from three armed extortionists with an invisible barrier, then incapacitated them.

• Jino asked Peter what he would do with superpowers, gave him an Oscorp visitor card, and told him to come at noon the next day.
• Peter decided to visit Oscorp, then fell asleep on the subway and dreamed of a battle against a purple giant as people called for Jino.
• Three thugs woke Peter by dripping cola on him and tried to extort him at gunpoint.
• Jino stood up to the thugs and stopped their bullets with an invisible barrier.
• Jino tapped the thugs on the chest, and they collapsed beside their dropped handguns.

Jino arranged for Peter Parker to be bitten by a spider at Oscorp, setting him on the path to becoming a superhero. He then visited Tony Stark and offered him a card that would summon Jino’s help in exchange for Tony serving him for life.

• Peter Parker watched Jino stop a bullet and create celestial bodies, then believed Jino could help him become a superhero.
• Jino guided Peter into Oscorp’s biological laboratory, where a spider bit him and the Weaver appeared in the webs.
• Jino left Peter and opened a Spatial Tunnel to visit Tony Stark at the Stark Industries rooftop pool.
• Jino gave Tony a card and promised to help him once if he tore it, in exchange for Tony serving him for the rest of his life.