Chapter Summaries

Miao Mu defeated Deathstroke in a brutal fight, but discovered that Brucie had disappeared. After Deathstroke attacked him again, Miao Mu overwhelmed him and repeatedly bombed the shop where he had crashed; Deadshot watched from a rooftop and received a shocking message.

• Miao Mu used his Nth Metal bayonet to cut Deathstroke's armor, then charged him through the glass wall of Wayne Tower, sending him falling outside.
• Miao Mu found Brucie missing, shouted in anger, and rappelled down the tower to search for him.
• Deathstroke survived the fall and shot Miao Mu, whose white flames and Demon Armor let him withstand the attack and beat Deathstroke into a nearby shop.
• Miao Mu threw several grenades into the shop, blasting it apart as he left and returned to bomb it again.
• Deadshot watched Miao Mu from a rooftop while treating his own wounds, then read a new message and widened his eyes in disbelief.

Harley Quinn rejected the bounty’s killing game and decided to create her own chaos, while Miao Mu fought Mad Hatter and Crocodile Woman after learning Brucie was in Crime Alley. He recovered Mad Hatter’s hypnotizing perfume and left to prepare to rescue Brucie.

• Harley Quinn saw the bounty poster featuring Batwoman and decided to make the contest fun by driving people insane instead of hunting for a winning ticket.
• Mrs. Alfred told Miao Mu that Brucie was in Crime Alley, and he broke the miniature computer after ending the call.
• Mad Hatter sent hypnotized people to attack Miao Mu, but Miao Mu fought through them and confronted Crocodile Woman.
• Miao Mu incapacitated Crocodile Woman and Mad Hatter, then found a bottle of men’s perfume among Mad Hatter’s belongings.
• Miao Mu took the perfume and left to prepare to stay alive and rescue Brucie.

Miao Mu used a hypnotic perfume on Dick, then fought through Gotham’s villains to rescue Brucie, only to discover he had been lured into an explosive trap. Brucie woke restrained in the ruined Batcave, where a masked woman suggested she had forgotten something.

• Miao Mu returned to the house in Gotham Old Town, overpowered Dick, and hypnotized her with perfume.
• Black Mask and Penguin Woman held Brucie captive in Crime Alley while Poison Ivy Man guarded the area with man-eating plants.
• Miao Mu crashed into the alley, fought off the villains with grenades, freezing agents, and herbicide, and freed Brucie from her chains.
• Female Clayface crushed Miao Mu while Poison Ivy Man confronted him, but the helmet concealed an explosive that blasted them both apart.
• Miao Mu saw Caesar’s face on his coin and leaped from the rooftop.
• Brucie struggled against restraints in the ruined Batcave as Harley Quinn examined old files and a woman in an owl mask told Brucie she seemed to have forgotten something.

The owl-masked woman and her Talons recovered radioactive stones from Batwoman’s Batcave while leaving Harley Quinn behind to guard Brucie. Miao Mu arrived, confronted the woman, and knocked Harley aside, leaving the clash over the stones unresolved.

• The owl-masked woman detonated the collapsed structure again and ordered the Talons to retrieve a safe from the bottom of Batwoman’s Batcave.
• The Talons crushed the safe open and recovered black radioactive stones that Batwoman had found at an abandoned base.
• The owl-masked woman ordered the Talons to secure the cave and Brucie, then tossed Harley Quinn an ivory-white pistol as payment before leaving with the stones.
• Miao Mu rode into the Batcave, used grenades to blow up a Talon, and aimed his gun at the owl-masked woman.
• Harley Quinn pressed the pistol to Brucie’s head, but Miao Mu rushed over and punched Harley into the wall.

Miao Mu and Brucie escaped their restraints and confronted the owl-masked woman, whom Miao Mu recognized as Thomas Elliott. When the Smile Pocket devoured the black stones and attacked Miao Mu, its poisoned blade left him collapsed on the floor.

• Miao Mu freed Brucie, gave her his Utility Belt, and tried to swallow Harley Quinn with the Smile Pocket, which spat her back out.
• Miao Mu used Harley Quinn as leverage, but the owl-masked woman refused to negotiate, and Brucie knocked off her mask during their fight.
• Miao Mu recognized the woman as Thomas Elliott, then fought a Talon over a bag of black stones.
• The Smile Pocket sprouted a hand and rapidly swallowed the scattered stones while Miao Mu grabbed several for himself.
• The Smile Pocket attacked Miao Mu, stabbed his hand with a poisoned blade, and swallowed the remaining stones.
• Miao Mu stabbed the Smile Pocket with his bayonet, then collapsed as the poison made him dizzy and numb.

Miao Mu woke after a week and learned that the apocalypse had ended, while Joker had been found dead under mysterious circumstances. Twenty days later, he used Jesse Quick’s Speed Force to travel away from Gotham, leaving Brucie behind; afterward, a package arrived at Wayne Manor.

• Miao Mu woke from his week-long coma, and Brucie explained that his flask had helped treat the poison and that order had returned after the apocalypse.
• Brucie told Miao Mu that Joker had been found dead with her neck broken and her heart missing, with no matching fingerprints or palm prints.
• Twenty days later, Miao Mu and Brucie took a photograph together at the old Gotham manor, and Miao Mu prepared to leave to retrieve Barry.
• Jesse Quick arrived, charged Miao Mu’s Time Grandfather Clock with Speed Force, and Brucie pressed its lightning-bolt button to send him away.
• Jesse Quick answered the Wayne Manor doorbell and brought Mrs. Alfred an unexpected package addressed to the manor.

Miao Mu and Barry collided while traveling through the Speed Force and became trapped in a frozen field. Miao Mu used the Hyper-Adapter to escape with Barry, and they landed in the Batcave long after Miao Mu had left.

• Miao Mu and Barry crashed into each other in the Speed Force, and their entangled powers vanished, leaving them frozen in a falling pose.
• Barry unleashed his Speed Force, while Miao Mu slowly reached for the Hyper-Adapter and used its Omega Energy to pierce the stillness field.
• Barry wrapped Miao Mu in the Speed Force and ran in place, carrying them out of the field as Miao Mu’s memories flashed past.
• Barry struck the ground and was knocked unconscious when the Time Grandfather Clock fell on him.
• Miao Mu recognized the Batcave beneath Wayne Manor, freed himself from the clock, and retrieved a photograph and the repaired Smile Pocket from the display cases.

Miao Mu found Brucie injured and preparing to transform herself with Dead Water, so he tore through the shelter door and destroyed the machine before the change could finish. He tried to save her with Dionysium and plasma as a mysterious voice offered him a deal to save her.

• Miao Mu followed the bloodstains to a sealed vault and removed the armed Gatling gun blocking it.
• Brucie prepared to become one with Dead Water, hoping to find a way to stop it after it had devastated the world and killed Mrs. Alfred.
• Miao Mu tore through the vault door, destroyed the transformation machine, and burned the escaping Dead Water with Holy Flame.
• Miao Mu treated Brucie's wounds with Dionysium and plasma and urged her to stay alive.
• The Ouroboros mark on Miao Mu's wrist changed as Brucie's blood touched it, and a voice offered him a deal to save her.

Miao Mu made a deal with White Mammon to save Brucie and learned that Batman Who Laughs had been manipulating events and watching him. After Dead Water attacked and Miao Mu shielded Brucie, he concealed her and set out to settle things before White Mammon’s protection wore off.

• Miao Mu heard a voice from Hell, and White Mammon offered to help Brucie in exchange for an unconditional favor.
• Brucie’s heartbeat returned, but Dead Water attacked Miao Mu in the operating room.
• Miao Mu trapped Dead Water in the Smile Pocket and burned it with holy fire.
• Miao Mu realized Batman Who Laughs had been influencing events and learned White Mammon had blocked Batman Who Laughs’s perception for an hour.
• Miao Mu put the Cloak of Levitation on Brucie, strapped blood bags to her, and carried her away to settle things.

Miao Mu and Barry reached the Court of Owls’ maze, where Miao Mu found The Drowned beneath the fountain and demanded to know what Batman Who Laughs had taken. The Drowned attacked him, but Brucie intervened, and she revealed her hatred and envy of her former friend.

• Barry carried Miao Mu and Brucie to a villa, where he trapped the Dead Water in the Smile Pocket while Miao Mu opened a hidden passage.
• Miao Mu broke through the dry fountain in the Court of Owls’ maze and found a hidden aquarium filled with monsters and The Drowned.
• Miao Mu asked The Drowned what Batman Who Laughs had taken, but she attacked him with Dead Water.
• The Drowned wounded Miao Mu and lifted him by the throat until Brucie threatened her with an Nth Metal bayonet.
• The Drowned released Miao Mu and told Brucie that she had envied her, wanted to become her, and hated her.

Miao Mu killed The Drowned and rescued Brucie, then helped Barry neutralize the Dead Water in the living room. Wounded and exhausted, he was attacked by the Joker as the chapter ended.

• Miao Mu knocked Brucie unconscious to spare her from facing her former friend, then fought The Drowned with his Nth Metal bayonet and revolver.
• Miao Mu pinned The Drowned to the glass wall, battered her, and stabbed her in the head before swimming back through the pipe with Brucie.
• Miao Mu emerged from the pipe and helped Barry shrink the Smile Pocket and cut the Dead Water into harmless seawater.
• Miao Mu asked Barry to contact the Justice League, and Barry treated his wound before leaving.
• A figure with a crowbar struck Miao Mu and sent him flying, and Miao Mu recognized him as the Joker.

Miao Mu received two nearly identical Joker-marked USB drives and left Gotham with Brucie's body as Supergirl took charge of the rising-sea crisis. In the Batcave, the drives revealed a layered map of the Multiverse and a sinister message, but Miao Mu destroyed the computer before the map could fully load.

• Halin gave Miao Mu a Joker-marked USB drive and left after claiming Puddin' was inside her chest.
• Miao Mu found a second USB drive hidden inside Halin's crowbar and identified it as a special item containing an unimaginable secret.
• Supergirl arrived in Gotham and explained that the seas were still rising, so the heroes planned to build floating cities with Steel Fortress.
• Miao Mu told Supergirl that Brucie was dead, left her to handle the crisis, and took Brucie's body away with Barry.
• In the Batcave, Miao Mu and Barry assembled a crude Batcomputer and used a coin toss to choose which USB drive to open.
• The first drive displayed a layered Multiverse map, and the second triggered a laughing message and coordinates, so Miao Mu smashed the computer before the map finished loading.

Batman stopped an armed truck carrying a cryogenic chamber with a corpse that looked almost exactly like an older version of him. Meanwhile, Miao Mu showed Brucie his world and proposed, but Brucie insisted that by his world's customs Miao Mu would be marrying him.

• Batman pursued the armed truck across Trigate Bridge, disabled it, and found a cryogenic chamber containing a corpse resembling an older him.
• Miao Mu returned home with Brucie and found that only a month had passed in his world.
• Miao Mu showed Brucie a newspaper clipping scrapbook, revealed that he was the sheriff of Arkham District, and introduced his adopted son Jason Todd.
• Miao Mu proposed to Brucie with a Wayne Family ring, and Brucie replied that their world's customs made Miao Mu the one marrying him.

Bruce Wayne and Alfred examined a corpse whose DNA matched Bruce’s and found evidence that he was an older Batman from a parallel universe. At a gathering in Gotham, Miao Mu heard about the city’s escalating gang violence while Brucie investigated his associates and wondered about this world’s Batman.

• Alfred’s autopsy found that the corpse was older than Bruce, had been married, and had survived a broken spine with a nanomaterial support device before dying from poisoning.
• Alfred identified the corpse as Batman, but Bruce’s burn scar showed that the dead man came from a parallel universe rather than Bruce’s future.
• Bruce considered investigating the company or visiting Blackgate Prison to learn more about the corpse.
• At a crowded Mexican restaurant, Jerry told Miao Mu that gang violence and a flood of unidentified bodies had overwhelmed Gotham’s Homicide Division.
• Nygma asked Miao Mu to speak privately, while Brucie studied Miao Mu’s associates and became curious about this world’s Batman.

Miao Mu learned that Chicago mafiosi were killing Gotham officers and their families, and Nygma gave him Harvey Dent’s address while warning that Gilda might be an assassin. Meanwhile, Gordon worked undercover as the Black Knight and prepared to end the gang conflict, with Batman warning him not to trust Falcone.

• Nygma told Miao Mu that six families of officers involved in the gang conflict had been murdered, including the family of Qiang Weisen.
• Nygma gave Miao Mu Harvey Dent’s address and said he suspected Harvey’s wife, Gilda Dent, was an assassin.
• Brucie left to take a walk, and Miao Mu returned to the restaurant to hear what his underlings wanted.
• Gordon operated undercover as the Black Knight while investigating the murders and said he had found clues that might end the violence.
• Batman told Gordon that Miao Mu had returned and warned him that Falcone was using one gang against another.
• Gordon said he wanted to end the conflict as soon as possible and left without turning back.

Brucie fought Batman and was launched away by his Bat Raptor’s ejection seat. She later discussed helping Miao Mu’s businesses and his plans for Arkham District, while remaining wary of the secrets he kept.

• Batman and Brucie clashed on a dark street, and Brucie used her knowledge of his fighting style to gain the upper hand.
• Batman tricked Brucie with the Bat Raptor’s headlights and ejection seat, sending her flying and leaving her unconscious.
• At the martial arts gym, Miao Mu asked whether Brucie intended to help Gordon solve the case, and she changed the subject.
• Miao Mu offered Brucie a popular stock and two struggling companies to manage, and she agreed to expand the businesses and take them public.
• Brucie questioned Miao Mu about his income and remained suspicious of his secrets and potential for wrongdoing.

The Joker, unable to laugh after returning from Hell, arrived at Arkham Asylum and was admitted as a patient under the name Jack. There, he met Harleen Quinzel, who was assigned to observe him, while Brucie took over MW Company and its planned work on Arkham Asylum.

• The Joker smashed another mirror and decided he needed treatment because he could no longer laugh or come up with jokes.
• Brucie questioned Nygma about MW Company's finances and structure, then officially took over the company and approved of its logo and car.
• The Joker arrived at Arkham Asylum under the name Jack and was admitted to a shared ward.
• Jack strangled his neighboring patient with the man's intestines, so the staff moved him into a private room.
• The professor assigned Harleen Quinzel to record Jack's behavior and warned her not to communicate with him.
• Jack told Harleen that she had more color than the professor, and she shut the window after saying she could not talk to him.

Jason and Alexis investigated strange noises coming from a safe in Miao Mu’s study, only for Deadpool to emerge from it and spot a Batarang. Jason opened fire on the intruder, whose swords failed to block the bullets.

• Alexis teased Jason about fearing Brucie while he cleaned the living room, and they heard a crash from the study.
• Jason and Alexis found the study apparently empty, but later heard thumping from the safe and realized something was inside.
• Jason struck the safe to silence it, and a blade stabbed out through its side.
• Jason shoved Alexis aside and fired his shotgun as Deadpool cut open the safe and climbed out.
• Deadpool noticed the Batarang on the dartboard, and Jason grabbed an M16 and opened fire; Deadpool’s swords stopped only one bullet.

Jason and Alexis fought off Wade Wilson after he appeared in Gotham and could not escape with his Time Watch. Brucie intervened when Wade chased them to Arkham Supermarket, but after she broke his arm, she had yet to account for his regenerative ability.

• Wade Wilson arrived in Gotham, discovered his Time Watch could not send him away, and was shot by Jason.
• Alexis sprayed Wade with pepper spray, and Jason set off an explosion before the two fled the study.
• Wade recovered, picked up a flyswatter, and chased Jason and Alexis through the house.
• Jason and Alexis ran to Arkham Supermarket, where Brucie was shopping and recognized the danger Wade posed.
• Brucie pushed Jason and Alexis into the supermarket, attacked Wade, and snapped his arm in a reverse joint lock.

Wade fought Brucie and escaped after the cashier and Jason intervened. Unable to use his Time Watch to leave the enclosed timeline, he decided to seek out his distant cousin Wilson.

• Brucie snapped Wade’s arm and kicked him away, but Wade repaired it and attacked her with his katanas.
• Brucie fought back with her retractable blade and a spider-like mechanical compact that shocked Wade unconscious.
• The cashier arrived with a shotgun, and Jason warned Brucie that Wade was escaping; Wade left behind his suit and fled in his underwear.
• Wade tried repeatedly to use the Time Watch, concluded that the world’s timeline prevented jumps, and decided to look for his distant cousin Wilson.