Chapter Summaries

Chen Tao interrogated the Three Jokers and tried to make The Comedian help locate the White Lantern Life Entity, Existence, but the Joker resisted because he wanted to become Batman’s greatest source of pain. Chen Tao and Bane tricked him into believing his Black Death Emperor power was being extracted, forcing him to agree to help find Existence.

• Chen Tao gathered the Three Jokers in the Justice League interrogation room and questioned them about Emperor Joker’s plans.
• The Comedian revealed Criminal Joker’s plan to make Joe Chill into a Joker, then told Chen Tao that he did not know how Emperor Joker could leave the Over-Time Stream.
• Chen Tao asked The Comedian to use Black Death Emperor’s power to find and retrieve Existence, but the Joker refused and declared he wanted to make Batman suffer.
• The Jester and Criminal died from delayed poison and became Black Lanterns, leaving The Comedian as the only Joker.
• Chen Tao’s torture and Purple Lantern Ring failed to control the Joker, so he brought in Bane and pretended that Bane would replace him as Batman’s closest companion.
• Bane used remnants of Black Death Emperor’s power gathered through The Black to fake its extraction, frightening the Joker into agreeing to help find Existence.

Anton Arcane unified the Black and grew confident in his power, but Huo Rong lured him into Black Death Emperor’s domain, where he was defeated. Huo Rong then planned to use Arcane’s power to forge a central Black Lantern battery and trigger Blackest Night in Batman’s universe.

• Anton Arcane absorbed the last Council of Decay member, unified the Black, and turned Mistress Nyx, Lady Styx, and Despero into servants.
• Arcane resolved to spread death and kill Maxine, while using the seven Emotional Spectrum powers granted by First Lantern to strengthen himself.
• Huo Rong asked Arcane to rescue him from a death demon, and Arcane followed the spatial coordinate into another dimension.
• The white chamber transformed into a graveyard in Black Death Emperor’s domain, where Arcane failed to escape and attacked its ruler.
• Black Death Emperor defeated Arcane in eighteen minutes, and Huo Rong emerged to discuss Arcane’s scattered power.
• Huo Rong decided to restore Arcane’s power and use it to forge a central Black Lantern battery to trigger Blackest Night in Batman’s universe.

Chen Tao located his universe’s Spirit of Existence and became a White Lantern, but the tiny entity held too little power to help him fight the Black Death Emperor. He decided to search other Dark Multiverses for a stronger Spirit of Existence.

• Chen Tao used the Joker, the Emotional Spectrum, and dead Guardians of the Universe to locate the Spirit of Existence while Bane dug underground.
• Chen Tao and Bane sensed that Anton Arcane had been controlled and his power as Lord of The Black had been stolen, giving the Black Death Emperor a new source of power.
• The Joker summoned the Spirit of Existence from beneath the ground, and Chen Tao drew its White Lantern energy.
• Chen Tao discovered that the Spirit of Existence was tiny and too weak to provide meaningful power, despite making him a White Lantern.
• Chen Tao vowed to use what the Batman Who Laughs had taught him to find a more powerful Spirit of Existence in another Dark Multiverse.

Chen Tao devised a brute-force strategy to anticipate The Batman Who Laughs and sought Zatanna’s help entering a universe threatened by Black Death Emperor. Unable to assemble enough mages locally, he began selecting allies for his plan, starting with Clayface.

• Chen Tao reasoned that The Batman Who Laughs might recruit outside forces and began writing contingency plans for likely Dark Multiverse candidates.
• Chen Tao asked Zatanna to help him enter a universe nearly consumed by Black Death Emperor and retrieve its Spirit of Existence.
• Zatanna explained that crossing the universe’s boundary unnoticed required a large group of powerful mages, which Chen Tao’s world lacked.
• Chen Tao said he knew a universe rich in mages and began deciding whom to bring for the ritual.
• Chen Tao visited Clayface in Gotham City and asked him to send part of his body with independent intelligence to serve as an assistant.

Chen Tao departed with Bane to search the Dark Multiverse for a new Spirit of Existence, leaving the Justice League to defend their universe against Black Death Emperor and other threats. They arrived in a gun-crazed Gotham City and set out to find its Batman.

• The Justice League fought hordes of Orange Lantern ghosts outside Earth while Lex Luthor explained that Larfleeze had been influenced by Black Death Emperor.
• At a meeting, Chen Tao revealed that he needed to find a new Spirit of Existence and chose Joker, Clayface, and Bane to accompany him, while the Justice League prepared to defend the cosmic fortress.
• Bane restrained Joker and gave him a green hood, and Chen Tao stored Joker beside Clayface before departing with Bane.
• Chen Tao used Ion Shark's energy to travel through the Dark Multiverse and locate the world they sought.
• Chen Tao and Bane landed in Gotham City, where armed residents opened fire and started a chaotic gunfight.
• After calming the citizens, Chen Tao and Bane decided to find the universe's Batman.

Chen Tao and Bane tried to meet this universe’s Batman, but a staged moving portrait of Bruce’s parents provoked a furious attack and an armed battle. After subduing Batman and Alfred, Chen Tao explained the situation and turned to the larger threat: Queen Hecate, whose universe he had entered to recruit magic-side heroes.

• Chen Tao and Bane approached Wayne manor, where Chen Tao used Clayface and nanomachines to make Bruce’s parents appear to speak from their portrait.
• Bruce Wayne kicked open the door, admitted he was Batman, and attacked Chen Tao while Alfred fired a rocket launcher at Bane.
• Batman launched a Batplane and more than a dozen Batmobiles, but Chen Tao and Bane defeated and bound him and Alfred.
• Chen Tao shared his memories with Batman and explained that this universe’s Wonder Woman had become Queen Hecate and slaughtered nearly the Justice League.
• Chen Tao revealed that he had come for this world’s magic-side heroes and proposed gathering the Justice League before confronting Queen Hecate.

Chen Tao watched the Justice League prepare to confront Queen Hecate with Superman’s plan to win through persuasion, then intervened when the meeting’s attendees dismissed him. After Guy Gardner insulted him, Chen Tao knocked him out, incapacitated Superman with kryptonite, and turned toward the other heroes.

• Chen Tao endured Superman’s long speech and learned that the Justice League planned to persuade Hecate-controlled Diana and the Amazon guards instead of attacking.
• Chen Tao objected to the plan and stepped forward to explain that Queen Hecate had already taken control of Diana.
• Martian Manhunter blocked Chen Tao from sharing his memories telepathically, while Ultra-Masculine Batman introduced him to the League.
• Guy Gardner mocked Chen Tao’s appearance and challenged him, so Chen Tao punched him unconscious.
• Chen Tao dropped kryptonite on Superman and watched him collapse, then faced the remaining heroes with a broad smile.

Chen Tao subdued Blabbermouth Superman and took command of the Justice League, then planned to rescue Diana from Queen Hecate. Elsewhere, The Batman Who Laughs recruited Surtur by tempting him with a supposedly perfect world, while Queen Hecate met the Batman Who Laughs in her world.

• Chen Tao knocked out Blabbermouth Superman, learned that Superman could sense goodness, and persuaded him to follow his orders to rescue Diana.
• Blabbermouth Superman knocked Guy Gardner unconscious again after Guy challenged Chen Tao.
• Surtur controlled Dread Lantern and destroyed a world while Alan Scott mourned the Justice League members he had killed.
• The Batman Who Laughs posed as Batman Dragon and invited Surtur to join the Dark Multiverse Resistance, claiming he had a perfect world to offer.
• Queen Hecate asked The Batman Who Laughs what had brought him to her world.

Chen Tao prepared a trap for Queen Hecate by enlisting the Moon’s magical heroes and hiding the Justice League inside himself before using Clayface to create decoys. Posing as the Batman Who Laughs, he invited Queen Hecate to meet Barbatos, while she secretly planned to turn his ambush against him; she reached the Moon and sensed the hidden heroes.

• Chen Tao worked with Zatanna, Madame Xanadu, Doctor Fate, and Phantom Stranger to prepare a trap on the Moon and forge fake Dark Metal goggles.
• Chen Tao swallowed the Justice League and Dark Justice League, then spat out Clayface duplicates to make replacement teams.
• Chen Tao posed as the Batman Who Laughs and invited Queen Hecate to join the Dark Knights.
• Queen Hecate recognized that Chen Tao had moved the heroes to the Moon and decided to use her magic to ambush them instead.
• Queen Hecate accepted the invitation to meet Barbatos, reached the Moon, and sensed the Justice League hidden in an alternate space.

The Batman Who Laughs manipulated Queen Hecate into accepting an alliance while keeping the Dark Justice League’s location secret. He then arrived with Dread Lantern at Hecate, Queen World, where he spotted another version of himself beside Hecate.

• Queen Hecate consumed the power from the Justice League’s corpses and threatened Chen Tao while demanding the Dark Justice League’s location.
• Chen Tao exposed Hecate’s precaution of keeping the God of Fear outside, then persuaded her to join a Dark Multiverse Resistance against Barbatos.
• Hecate agreed to the alliance but demanded more power and the Dark Justice League’s location, and Chen Tao refused until she helped him oppose a future enemy.
• Dread Lantern arrived at Hecate, Queen World, with The Batman Who Laughs, who worried that the Batman Dragon might be planning against him.
• The Batman Who Laughs saw Queen Hecate waiting beside another version of himself and realized the Batman Dragon was likely nearby.

Chen Tao attacked The Batman Who Laughs, but the villain escaped to his own universe after losing part of a finger. Chen then impersonated him to provoke Dread Lantern and Queen Hecate, and faced the newly arrived OMAC Blue Beetle and Gaia Terra.

• Chen Tao recognized The Batman Who Laughs and launched a barrage of attacks to capture him before he could react.
• The Batman Who Laughs dissolved into the air, escaped to his universe, and discovered that the tip of his left middle finger was missing.
• Chen Tao fought Dread Lantern while taunting his hidden allies, then dodged a combined attack from Dread Lantern and Queen Hecate.
• Chen Tao attacked Queen Hecate and Dread Lantern while pretending to be The Batman Who Laughs, using wild attacks and taunts to make them fear him.
• OMAC Blue Beetle and Gaia Terra appeared behind Chen Tao, confirming that Dread Lantern had not come alone.

Shadow Hordes used Warworld on Earth-One to help First Lantern recover while planning to weaken Batman Dragon before their future alliance. When Emperor Joker’s power began rising earlier than expected, Shadow Hordes decided he had to help Batman Dragon defeat him, unaware that the Third Army members behind him might be influencing events.

• Shadow Hordes and First Lantern took over Mongul’s Warworld and brought it to Earth-One, where First Lantern began absorbing the multiverse’s Emotional Spectrum.
• Shadow Hordes recalled a future deathmatch in which First Lantern lost, then resolved to change history and secure the power needed to resurrect his mother.
• Shadow Hordes planned to weaken Batman Dragon by preventing him from assembling the Dark Multiverse Resistance.
• Warworld’s instruments detected Emperor Joker’s power recovering, and Shadow Hordes realized he had to help Batman Dragon defeat him before the altered future erased his foresight.
• Two Third Army members exchanged a glance behind Shadow Hordes, hinting that their intelligence and origins were more complicated than he believed.

The Batman Who Laughs prepared a Joker-Virus-controlled Jason Todd as a contingency while Batman Dragon and his allies faced a shifting confrontation involving Queen Hecate, Dread Lantern, Gaia Terra, and OMAC Blue Beetle. The battle ended with Chen Tao and the Batman Who Laughs repeatedly swapping identities, leaving Gaia Terra and OMAC Blue Beetle confused.

• The Batman Who Laughs abandoned his plan to graft his mind onto a Talon Bruce Wayne and instead used a machine to control the Amber Gold-enhanced Jason Todd.
• Gaia Terra and OMAC Blue Beetle explained their goals while Chen Tao waited for Dread Lantern to attack and prepared to redirect the assault.
• Queen Hecate placed a hand on Chen Tao, and the Batman Who Laughs appeared with Dread Lantern, claiming he had arranged for Hecate and Dread Lantern to side with him.
• Hecate repeatedly broke free of competing control and attacked Chen Tao, while Gaia Terra and OMAC Blue Beetle struggled to work out whom to fight.
• The Batman Who Laughs repeatedly changed between Batman Dragon and his own appearance, canceling Chen Tao's identity trick as the two men traded disguises.

The Batman Who Laughs’s plan to use Dread Lantern, OMAC Blue Beetle, and Terra against Chen Tao began to unravel when Chen Tao drove Hecate, Goddess of Magic, into Dread Lantern’s body. Meanwhile, the Third Army tried to prevent Emperor Joker from disrupting history, but realized too late that his attack targeted The Batman Who Laughs.

• The Batman Who Laughs drew Dread Lantern’s attack toward Chen Tao while OMAC Blue Beetle and Terra moved to keep Batman occupied and threaten the mages of Hecate, Queen World.
• Chen Tao used Queen Hecate as a shield and forced Hecate, Goddess of Magic, out of her body and into Dread Lantern.
• The Third Army debated how to stop Emperor Joker from gaining power and concluded that Batman had to survive long enough to complete a temporal loop.
• The Third Army formed a giant hand to intercept Emperor Joker’s attack as Black Death Emperor’s power let it briefly enter reality.
• The Batman Who Laughs saw an image of Emperor Joker and realized that the clown’s attack was aimed at him, not Batman Dragon.

The Batman Who Laughs fled Emperor Joker’s reality-warping attack and hid in a prepared coffin, while members of the Third Army learned he had to survive because his secrets were vital to the war. Meanwhile, Hecate possessed Dread Lantern but found herself outmatched by Surtur’s control of the body.

• The Batman Who Laughs abandoned Jason Todd’s body and threw Jason’s head at Chen Tao, who mocked the attempted psychological attack.
• The Batman Who Laughs fled to his Batcave and sealed himself inside a Dark Metal coffin that shielded him from Emperor Joker’s weakening power.
• Members of the Third Army debated whether the Batman Who Laughs should die until a returning member warned that Emperor Joker had won disastrously in another timeline using secrets stored in the Batman Who Laughs’s mind.
• The newly arrived Third Army member explained that killing the Batman Who Laughs would send those secrets to Emperor Joker and urged the group to stop Emperor Joker while weakening all war participants equally.
• Hecate entered Dread Lantern’s body and tried to escape, but Surtur’s control left her at a disadvantage.

Chen Tao forced Hecate and Surtur toward a balance inside Dread Lantern while repeatedly fending off Gaia Terra and OMAC Blue Beetle. Meanwhile, The Batman Who Laughs prepared to surrender to Emperor Joker, but Chen Tao arrived and claimed he would split the captive between them.

• Chen Tao used Green Lantern energy to shield the moon and protect Diana while directing Dread Lantern toward its center, where mages could balance Hecate and Surtur.
• Chen Tao repeatedly banished Gaia Terra and OMAC Blue Beetle with Dark Father's Omega Sanction as they returned with asteroids and robot armies.
• The Batman Who Laughs used stolen Anti-Monitor antimatter energy and Barbatos's dark matter power to repel Emperor Joker, then decided to negotiate and surrender.
• Chen Tao reached The Batman Who Laughs's lair and began prying open his coffin, telling Emperor Joker they would split The Batman Who Laughs between them.
• The Third Army panicked when its members realized Batman Dragon and Emperor Joker appeared to have joined forces.

Chen Tao raided The Batman Who Laughs' lair, stealing intelligence, materials, and captured Batmans before cutting off The Batman Who Laughs' head and escaping. The Batman Who Laughs survived by regrowing his head, but found his home stripped bare as Barbatos demanded an explanation.

• Chen Tao pried at The Batman Who Laughs' coffin while using Bat-Brainiac to copy data from the Batcomputer and rescue imprisoned Batmans.
• Chen Tao found the hidden lower levels of the cave and looted its weapons, materials, and stores of Dark Metal, N metal, Wine God Factor, Promethium, and Bat-Gold.
• Members of the Third Army appeared, sealed Emperor Joker's reality-warping power, and warned Chen Tao that The Batman Who Laughs had to live.
• Barbatos' power enveloped the world, but Chen Tao chopped off The Batman Who Laughs' head, took it, and escaped through a portal.
• The Batman Who Laughs regrew his head and discovered that Chen Tao had taken his goggles, Batcomputer, and nearly everything in his lair.
• Barbatos appeared before The Batman Who Laughs and demanded to know what had happened.

The Batman Who Laughs placated Barbatos after Batman Dragon and Emperor Joker robbed Barbatos’s metal, then secretly gave Emperor Joker a misleadingly incomplete lead to Mister Mxyzptlk. Chen Tao returned to Hecate, Queen World as the mages bound Surtur and Hecate inside Dread Lantern, and he said he planned to introduce another power to strengthen the unstable seal.

• The Batman Who Laughs blamed Batman Dragon and Emperor Joker for stealing Barbatos’s metal, and Barbatos punished him before ordering him to restore the losses and speed up the Monitor-capturing plan.
• Barbatos told The Batman Who Laughs not to provoke Batman Dragon yet and warned that a powerful Brainiac might cause major trouble as the Over-Time Stream trembled.
• The Third Army members discussed how their interference had kept Emperor Joker from killing The Batman Who Laughs, while one member recounted that Emperor Joker would eventually find Mister Mxyzptlk.
• The Batman Who Laughs secretly contacted Emperor Joker and offered a general location for Mister Mxyzptlk, planning to send him into a dangerous trap.
• Chen Tao returned to Hecate, Queen World and saw that the mages had bound Surtur and Hecate inside Dread Lantern, though Doctor Fate warned that the seal was fragile and temporary.
• Chen Tao told Doctor Fate he intended to introduce another power to strengthen the seal.

Chen Tao examined The Batman Who Laughs’ empty head, then intervened when the U.S. government continued attacking the Amazons, destroying the world’s weapons and forcing officials to negotiate. After reaching an agreement on the Amazon crisis, he asked the Justice League to help open Black Death Emperor’s seal on a Dark Multiverse so he could obtain an existence spirit.

• Chen Tao discovered that The Batman Who Laughs’ severed head held no brain or useful information, removed its Dark Metal goggles, and decided to display the head.
• Chen Tao flew from the Batcave after hearing an Amazon was surrounded by soldiers and learned from Blabbermouth Superman that the government still treated the Amazons as enemies.
• Chen Tao used hundreds of Time Remnants to disperse poison, destroy the soldiers’ weapons and tank, and strip the officer before breaking the Amazon woman’s arm as she tried to attack him.
• Chen Tao appeared at the White House meeting with The Batman Who Laughs’ head as a decorative liquor flask and secured an agreement on the Amazon issue.
• Chen Tao asked the Justice League to help open Black Death Emperor’s seal on a Dark Multiverse so he could obtain an existence spirit.

Chen Tao prepared to leave Hecate, Queen World and led mages to breach the Dark Multiverse world ruled by Black Death Emperor, where he used a decoy and a stronger third party to capture Dread Lantern. He then traveled to another Dark Multiverse world, arriving before a golden statue of Reverse-Flash.

• Chen Tao patrolled Earth to destroy its weapons and used Bat-Brainiac's abilities to alter influential criminals' minds before leaving Hecate, Queen World.
• Shadow Hordes sensed Brainiac's universe capture happening early, and the Third Army decided to seek Batman Dragon after learning Emperor Joker might gain Mister Mxyzptlk's power.
• Parallax Hal anticipated a multiverse-wide upheaval, while Black Death Emperor hungered for more death and Surtur and Hecate secretly planned to betray Batman Dragon.
• Chen Tao and the mages opened Black Death Emperor's barrier, but Zatanna sensed a trap and watched the real Chen Tao remain outside as a decoy entered with Dread Lantern.
• Black Death Emperor corrupted Dread Lantern, who fled the universe and was captured by Chen Tao; Chen Tao sent the mages home and said he needed a true ally.
• Chen Tao tore open space in another Dark Multiverse world and found a golden statue of Reverse-Flash.