Chapter Summaries

Su Ming kept the Prophet Ezekiel in a jar as the group traveled through the sewers, while discussing Charlie’s connection to Hypertime and the forces behind her. The group continued onward, with Ezekiel thanking Barry after Su Ming agreed to release him in the Main Dimension.

• Su Ming put Ezekiel in a cricket jar and refused to let him go, saying Charlie was cooperating with the person behind her rather than with him.
• Su Ming showed Ezekiel the Comedian’s badge, and they recognized that they both knew about Hypertime and Outside the Wall.
• Barry asked to talk to Ezekiel, and Hawkgirl volunteered to carry the unconscious Chief.
• Su Ming handed the jar to Barry, who said a cockroach pet seemed more fitting for Gotham than for Deathstroke.
• Su Ming agreed to free Ezekiel when they returned to the Main Dimension, and Ezekiel tearfully thanked Barry.

Su Ming and the Justice League sent the unconscious Chief out through the Speed Force Plane and used Doomsday Prophet to navigate toward the coming apocalypse. Elsewhere, Detective Chimp investigated a murder with an old friend, the Ragged Man, who had returned to Oblivion Bar after years in Los Angeles.

• Su Ming and the Justice League loaded the unconscious Chief into the Duck Boat and left the sewers, where a police officer jokingly ticketed them for lacking a child safety seat.
• Deathstroke sent Barry through the Speed Force Plane to deliver the Chief to Strangle, then told him to return so Ezekiel could lead them to Cyborg.
• Barry returned, and Su Ming made Doomsday Prophet guide the Duck Boat toward the coming apocalypse by threatening it with Vulcan's Sword.
• Diana killed a Vulture at a Los Angeles crime scene, and Detective Chimp examined the remains of Mr. Buryman.
• Detective Chimp questioned his old friend, the Ragged Man, who said he had lived in Los Angeles and asked who had killed Mr. Buryman.

Ragman’s history revealed how his family repeatedly broke the sacred oath tied to his bandages, while Rory’s faith collapsed after he learned the truth about The Spectre and Heaven and Hell. After years of confusion in Los Angeles, the bookstore owner’s murder finally jolted Rory awake.

• Ragman’s ancestors received the sacred bandages from God, but the first two Ragmen broke their oaths and lost their power.
• Rory’s father abandoned the oath, became wealthy, and later taught Rory to scavenge and remain faithful so he could inherit the bandages.
• Rory became the third Ragman and joined Shadowpact, but he betrayed the squad by spying for The Spectre, whom he believed represented God.
• The Voice of God’s dog revealed that The Spectre’s campaign against Mages was not God’s will, and Rory’s faith collapsed.
• Rory left Shadowpact, wandered through Star City, and then went to Los Angeles, where Lucifer mocked his search for the truth.
• After the bookstore owner who had treated him kindly was killed, Rory was jolted out of his confusion.

Detective Chimp and Wonder Woman investigated the murder of a shop owner and questioned Ragman Rory, who said he had found the body and could not fight the soulless Vultures. Zatanna’s attempt to reconstruct the scene triggered a powerful magical trap, but Detective Chimp used the clues to form a profile of the killer and began searching for the shop’s hidden ledger.

• Ragman Rory told Detective Chimp that he had found the corpse after his mind cleared, and explained that his soul magic could not harm the soulless Vultures.
• Detective Chimp vouched for Rory and suggested that he consider joining Justice League Dark.
• Zatanna cast Scene Reconstruction, but a magical trap shattered the vision, struck her with backlash, and left her coughing up blood.
• Detective Chimp inferred that the killer was a powerful, human-looking mage who had entered by invitation to collect something from the safe.
• Little Lucky Ape searched the shop for its hidden paper ledger, hoping to find records of the traded items and the killer’s identity.

Su Ming, Barry, Hawkgirl, and Ezekiel found Cyborg hiding in a prehistoric rainforest Consciousness Block. After reuniting with Barry, Cyborg explained that he had been hiding from hostile robots and trying to dry himself out and cook a dinosaur.

• Ezekiel led the group into a prehistoric rainforest, where it predicted Cyborg was hiding in a tree hollow.
• Su Ming killed a small dinosaur that had been watching them, but Barry and Hawkgirl refused to eat it.
• The group followed smoke through the forest and found Cyborg struggling to light a fire beside a dead lizard.
• Barry hugged Cyborg, and Su Ming poured gasoline over the damp wood to start a fire.
• Cyborg said he had been hiding from crazy robots for three days because the forest had few electronic devices, and Su Ming offered him salt while asking him to share intelligence.

Cyborg learned that Grid was pursuing him to reunite with a missing part of his personality and unlock secrets of the Mother Box in Cyborg’s brain. Deathstroke proposed relying on Ezekiel the cockroach for intelligence on Grid, leaving Cyborg skeptical but facing a new lead.

• Cyborg told Deathstroke, The Flash, and Hawkgirl that a voice in his head had grown more urgent and caused daily pain.
• Deathstroke revealed that Grid had returned and wanted Cyborg alive to complete its personality puzzle.
• Deathstroke theorized that Cyborg’s brain held a vault containing half a key to the Mother Box’s secrets, with Grid holding the other half.
• Cyborg admitted he did not understand how the Mother Box had reconstructed his brain and asked Deathstroke how they could fight Grid.
• Deathstroke presented Ezekiel, Chief’s cockroach, as a Prophet who could provide intelligence on Grid, while Cyborg questioned the plan.

Su Ming and his companions prepared for Cyborg’s coming confrontation with Grid, while the Prophet revealed Grid’s location and territory. Barry worried that Grid would overpower Cyborg, but Su Ming reassured him and agreed to pass along Barry’s knowledge of Grid’s weaknesses.

• Su Ming described how God had turned Ezekiel into a cockroach, and the Prophet then revealed Grid’s whereabouts and territory.
• Cyborg, Barry, and Deathstroke discussed whether Cyborg’s computing power and logic could defeat Grid inside the Consciousness Layer.
• Barry privately warned Deathstroke that Grid could drive Cyborg insane, but Deathstroke urged him to trust Cyborg’s past victories.
• Su Ming reassured Barry that he could deal with Grid if Cyborg returned with it, and Barry agreed to share Grid’s weaknesses indirectly.
• Deathstroke joked that he knew the weaknesses because he was Batwoman.

Su Ming and Barry planned to use a virus and Cyborg to defeat Grid, while the group prepared for the threat of malformed robots. After Beautiful Polly killed a giant dinosaur with a touch, Su Ming assigned the team’s roles for the coming fight.

• Barry explained Grid’s origins, its past conflicts with Cyborg, and its weaknesses to Su Ming.
• Su Ming and Barry agreed to connect Grid to a computer so Barry could overload it with commands while Cyborg took control.
• A giant dinosaur approached the camp, but Beautiful Polly killed it with a touch before it could attack.
• Su Ming told Cyborg the plan and claimed Batwoman had provided the information about Grid.
• Su Ming assigned Cyborg and Barry to fight Grid, himself and Kendra to handle malformed robots, and Polly to deal with the robots in her own way.

Deathstroke and the Justice League boarded a subway manifested by Charlie’s Driver Eight personality to travel through her consciousness toward Grid’s territory. As the train passed through the darkness between personalities, Deathstroke warned the team not to speak to any new passengers without his permission.

• Driver Eight created a subway line and train, then invited Deathstroke, Kendra, Barry, and Cyborg aboard.
• Deathstroke explained that the train bridged different people’s consciousnesses and traveled beneath the Consciousness Layer.
• Barry asked about the journey, and Deathstroke gave him Cockroach and a gold Wilson laptop.
• The train stopped, and Feifei, another of Charlie’s personalities, boarded before it continued into darkness.
• Deathstroke warned the group that more personalities might appear and ordered them not to speak to anyone without his permission.

Su Ming and the Justice League rode through Charlie’s Consciousness Layer as her many personalities boarded and left the subway. At the terminal, the Prophet called Nobody joined them as they prepared to enter the futuristic city known as Villain’s Lair.

• A ghostly personality called Resentment boarded, greeted Feifei, and hid beneath a seat.
• Charlie’s filthy Father personality boarded, followed by numerous other personalities who filled the carriage with their stories and chatter.
• A middle-aged salesperson personality harassed Barry with a pitch for haircare products, and Deathstroke refused to rescue him.
• As the train emptied, a dashed-line humanoid called Nobody remained aboard and rode with the group to the terminal.
• At Villain’s Lair, Nobody announced that she would join Su Ming and the others because she wanted to kill alongside them.

Su Ming and the others were surrounded by Grid’s robots after arriving in the steel hive city. Nobody used her causality-based killing power to make the robots destroy one another, and Su Ming led the group toward a manhole to continue their decapitation tactic.

• Nobody became enraged when Cyborg called her a pile of lines, but Su Ming calmed her before she could attack him.
• Grid’s robots surrounded the group and targeted everyone except Cyborg and Nobody.
• Nobody activated her power, causing the robots to malfunction and kill one another inside the circle she had drawn.
• Su Ming praised Nobody’s efficiency and said they still needed to carry out the decapitation tactic.
• Su Ming spotted a manhole cover and opened a path for the group.

Deathstroke led the team through underground energy tunnels toward Grid’s power facility while keeping Nobody calm with attention, tomato juice, and candy. The team prepared for Cyborg’s confrontation with Grid, with Nobody agreeing to leave the enemy for him.

• The Flash erased the team’s traces and followed Deathstroke underground, where they found glowing pipes carrying energy.
• Hawkgirl and Barry discussed the unsettling battle and worried about Nobody’s instability.
• Deathstroke soothed Nobody with tomato juice and candy, explaining that she acted out because she wanted care and attention.
• Deathstroke told Nobody to follow the energy pipelines to Grid’s power facility and leave Grid for Cyborg, and she agreed.
• The team discussed their next move and encouraged Cyborg to face his counterpart himself.

Su Ming and the Justice League reached the skyscraper where they expected to find Grid, but Alien Cyborgs suddenly attacked the building’s Grid robots. Deathstroke sent Nobody into the battle and ordered her to leave one Alien Cyborg alive.

• Su Ming led Deathstroke, Barry, Hawkgirl, Cockroach Prophet, and Nobody through the underground conduits toward the city’s tallest building.
• Cockroach Prophet tried to avoid the coming fight, but Deathstroke threatened to sell his soul to Lucifer, and he agreed to guide the group.
• Deathstroke cut through the building’s floor with Godslayer, and Su Ming deflected the Grid robots’ laser barrage as he emerged.
• Alien Cyborgs burst through the ceiling and attacked both the Justice League and the Grid robots, prompting Su Ming to recognize the answer to one of his doubts.
• Deathstroke told Nobody to kill the attackers but leave one long-necked Alien Cyborg alive, and she spread into black lines to begin her assault.

Su Ming defeated the Alien Cyborgs and questioned their claim that they sought power to save the world, concluding that they were trying to ensure their own existence. He left the others guarding the wreckage while he took their leader aside for a private conversation.

• The Flash and Hawkgirl finished disabling the robots, while The Flash apologized to Cyborg for dismantling them.
• Su Ming questioned the captured Alien Cyborg, who claimed that Cyborg needed power to defeat Darkseid and save the world.
• Su Ming accused the Alien Cyborgs of seeking to secure their own birth in the Timeline, and Cyborg challenged their claim by pointing out that their leader could not beat Deathstroke.
• Cyborg offered to hack into the captive's mind, but Deathstroke warned that doing so could infect him and pulled the captive's head from his neck.
• Deathstroke carried the captive's head aside and ordered The Flash, Hawkgirl, and Ezekiel to watch the others and the wreckage.
• The Flash awkwardly tried to keep Nobody company by asking her about engine cylinder misfires.

Deathstroke and the group destroyed the robotic wreckage and continued upstairs, while Charlie’s personalities kept switching and Hawkgirl suspected they were demonstrating their abilities. A new personality, Holy Arrival, joined them and Deathstroke identified her as a professional hacker.

• Deathstroke melted the robotic wreckage with Melt Grenades, and Cyborg confirmed he had not touched any parts.
• Nobody switched personalities, and Hawkgirl told Deathstroke she thought the personalities were deliberately showing off their abilities.
• Deathstroke questioned Kendra about J'onn and Hawkman, and Kendra said she loved J'onn and had nothing to do with Hawkman in this life.
• Holy Arrival appeared and offered to assist the group, then asked Deathstroke to call her Mom.
• Deathstroke introduced Holy Arrival as a professional hacker rather than a sorceress or prophet.

Su Ming led the Justice League through a high-rise while trading riddles with Holy Arrival, then chose the eighteenth floor as the place where Grid was hiding. The team found themselves in the middle of a chaotic battle between robots, and Su Ming used Barry’s speed to cut through the enemies.

• Su Ming and Holy Arrival exchanged riddles as the group climbed, while Barry, Hawkgirl, and Cyborg guessed at Su Ming’s questions.
• Su Ming stopped at the eighteenth floor, claiming he could sense Grid there, despite Cyborg detecting no energy source behind the door.
• Hawkgirl charged through the door and led the group into a corridor packed with Grid’s split bodies and Alien Cyborgs fighting.
• Su Ming leaped onto Barry’s back and ordered him to run toward the enemies’ rear, using the charge to slice the robots into pieces.
• Su Ming praised Barry and gave him chocolate, while Barry protested that he was not a horse.

Merlin entered the hidden pocket dimension beneath Bruun and killed Ainala Rostu, who refused to abandon her oath guarding a sealed secret. He opened the magically sealed door, and pitch-black light began to emerge.

• Ainala Rostu awakened and challenged the intruder approaching across the glowing lake.
• Merlin revealed himself and told Ainala that King Arthur had been dead for fifteen hundred years and her mission was over.
• Ainala refused to hand over the guarded object without King Arthur's order, so Merlin embraced her and pierced her heart.
• Merlin shoved Ainala into the lake, took her sword, and crossed to the sealed door.
• Merlin spoke a word to release the door's three hundred and sixty magical seals, and pitch-black light flowed through its opening.

Su Ming’s group confronted Grid and the Alien Cyborgs, then discovered that their journey had taken place inside a Consciousness Layer representing Victor’s divided personalities. After Su Ming used an EMP to put the Cyborg manifestations into safe mode, Barry began connecting the Justice League Cyborg to a laptop to help bring them together.

• Grid recognized Victor as the group entered the hall, and the Alien Cyborg reinforcements arrived, with every copy identifying itself as Victor.
• Deathstroke asked Holy Arrival which of the hundreds of robots was the real Cyborg, and she answered that all of them were.
• Su Ming explained that the Cyborgs were connected through one consciousness, then used Godslayer as an EMP generator to knock them into safe mode.
• Barry caught the fallen Cyborg and, with Holy Arrival’s help, connected him to the laptop as Su Ming explained that the group was inside Victor’s mental conflict.
• Su Ming recounted how clues from the Chief, the reinforcements, and Grid’s appearance had led him to conclude that Victor’s personalities were all manifestations of one consciousness.

After Cyborg’s personalities were rebooted, Su Ming and Hawkgirl searched the Consciousness Layer’s top floor for the source of the world and found the Mother Box behind Cyborg’s beeping. Su Ming took the box, while Hawkgirl challenged his habit of disguising his motives as Justice League business.

• Su Ming recalled that he had misled Cyborg about his plans because Grid and Alien Cyborg could access what the other personalities knew.
• Su Ming and Hawkgirl left the silent building’s eighteenth floor and flew toward its roof as he explained that Cyborg’s split personalities could not account for the whole Consciousness Layer.
• Hawkgirl broke through the top-floor window and found a display case containing a Mother Box, which Su Ming identified as the shared mother personality in Cyborg’s subconscious.
• Su Ming had Cockroach touch the Mother Box to test whether it was dangerous, then picked it up after Cockroach found no danger.
• Hawkgirl asked whether Su Ming was using the Justice League as an excuse again, and he refused to explain himself.

Su Ming explained that Cyborg’s conflicting brain halves caused his split personalities and that the Mother Box became a maternal figure after his mother’s death. He and Hawkgirl decided to return and use the Mother Box from Cyborg’s mindscape to strengthen him and investigate what remained in his subconscious.

• Su Ming explained that Cyborg’s electronic right brain and biological left brain had developed conflicting rational and emotional personalities.
• Hawkgirl compared superheroes’ masked identities to split personalities, and Su Ming agreed that years of hero work could harm their ability to live ordinary lives.
• Su Ming revealed that Cyborg’s father was alive but emotionally distant, while Cyborg’s mother had raised him before dying in a car accident.
• Su Ming explained that Cyborg came to see the Mother Box as a mother because it had protected him and helped him find purpose after his mother died.
• Su Ming said Cyborg’s subconscious might retain the step he had taken under Darkseid’s control, and identified it as the focus of further research.
• Hawkgirl accepted Su Ming’s encouragement, and they decided to return and use the mindscape’s Mother Box to strengthen Cyborg.