Chapter Summaries

Su Ming and Lorna tracked the people behind the Liquid Metal Robots to Antarctica and prepared to go there. In Washington D.C., Green Arrow and Black Canary watched a robot patrol while planning to draw it out and free the city.

• Lorna found that the people they were seeking were in Antarctica, and Su Ming ordered Adjutant to teleport them there.
• Green Arrow and Black Canary hid near a Liquid Metal Robot as they discussed the attack on the Justice League and their plan to involve the military.
• Black Canary questioned Green Arrow about his past with Emiko and his recent distance from her.
• Green Arrow prepared a boxing-glove arrow to lure the robot closer while Black Canary readied her Canary Cry.

Green Arrow, Dinah, and Little Superman tried to draw out the controller of the liquid robots in Washington D.C. Their investigation was interrupted by an attack from dozens of apparent Deathstroke clones, whose rockets Little Superman caught before they could hit anyone.

• Green Arrow lured a liquid robot into an alley, where Little Superman melted its head and torso while leaving the remaining liquid for Oliver to examine.
• Oliver explained that he wanted to trace the robots to their hidden controller, while Little Superman continued protecting him and Dinah as Deathstroke had instructed.
• Superman learned that Little Superman had stayed with Green Arrow and Dinah instead of fighting robots, and the three went out together to help retake Washington D.C.
• Oliver spotted dozens of apparent Deathstrokes on a rooftop, and they fired rocket launchers at the alley where he, Dinah, and Little Superman stood.
• Oliver shielded Dinah as Little Superman caught all the incoming rockets and asked the attackers if they were ready to surrender.

Superboy-Prime killed a squad of fake Deathstrokes and performed a heroic speech while Green Arrow inspected the bodies. Green Arrow concluded that the identical, dim-witted Deathstrokes were likely clones sent as expendable troops, suggesting their enemy was becoming desperate.

• The fake Deathstrokes misunderstood Superboy-Prime’s orders to form up, then drilled into ranks before charging him.
• Superboy-Prime swept the squad with Heat Vision, killing them instantly, and delivered a dramatic speech for the cameras.
• Green Arrow emerged from hiding and helped his ex-wife, Dinah, who slapped him after finding her face covered in muck.
• Green Arrow examined the corpses and concluded that the Deathstrokes were identical clones with underdeveloped brains, likely deployed as cannon fodder.
• Green Arrow explained that the Deathstrokes’ repeated cries of “checkmate” were just a familiar catchphrase.

Su Ming and his companions tracked an invisible flying city to the center of Antarctica’s unnatural aurora storm. When tens of thousands of Liquid Metal Robots attacked, Polaris hurled them back into the sky.

• Su Ming, Bobo, and Batwoman arrived in Antarctica and used the Green Lantern Ring to shield themselves from the cold.
• Polaris sensed that the aurora concealed a flying invisible island at the storm’s center.
• Su Ming realized the aurora’s unnatural appearance came from a cloaked ship, while Bobo noted that no one had confronted them yet.
• Tens of thousands of Liquid Metal Robots poured from the sky, wearing blue briefs.
• Su Ming let Polaris handle the robots, and she used her magnetic power to send them back into the sky.

Su Ming identified the mechanical swarm as the work of Doctor Bedlam, a bodiless psionic member of Darkseid’s Elite, and prepared the group to face him. They flew toward the aurora protected by Tenth Metal discs that blocked mind control.

• Lorna hurled the mechanical enemies out of the atmosphere, and Su Ming ordered the Council of the Sky to teleport them into the sun.
• Su Ming took the group toward the aurora and gave Kate and Lorna Tenth Metal discs to attach to the backs of their heads.
• Su Ming explained that the discs would protect them from Doctor Bedlam’s mind-control abilities.
• Bobo and Kate recalled a bald, whiskered figure who could possess different bodies, but neither remembered his name.
• Su Ming identified the enemy as Doctor Bedlam and described his psionic nature, his Paranoid Pill, and his ability to drive people mad.

Su Ming explained that Doctor Bedlam had trapped Earth’s electricity in a vast maze and led the group into the hidden Floating City to find him. Doctor Bedlam began the game, leaving Su Ming and his companions to navigate the maze and recover the power.

• Su Ming explained Doctor Bedlam’s history and planned to enter his maze, find him, reclaim Earth’s electricity, and stop the Liquid Robots.
• Bobo joked that the group included three of Earth’s finest detectives, while Batwoman recalled Pharaoh’s traps in Gotham.
• Su Ming arranged to have allies outside act while the group flew through the aurora barrier and discovered the enormous Floating City.
• Su Ming spotted the maze’s entrance and led the group inside, where they found a red door and a screen showing Doctor Bedlam.
• Doctor Bedlam mocked Su Ming and his friends, refused to give them a hint, and challenged them to find him or lose Earth’s electricity.

Deathstroke and his group entered Doctor Bedlam’s maze and used mockery to provoke him into changing its traps. Strangle mapped the maze from its vibrations, and the group found vending machines that Doctor Bedlam had added in response to Bobo’s complaint.

• Deathstroke, Batwoman, Lorna, and Detective Chimp entered the maze as tense music played around them.
• Deathstroke, Bobo, and Batwoman ridiculed the maze while Lorna stayed focused on locating the enemy.
• Doctor Bedlam reacted to their insults by altering the maze before they chose a route.
• Strangle used vibrations to map the maze and identify the correct passage.
• Bobo complained that the maze had no vending machine, and the group soon found a row of newly installed machines.

Su Ming and the others mocked Doctor Bedlam’s maze and its conveniences to provoke him into appearing. After Deathstroke slaughtered a swarm of Parademons, the group praised his gruesome decoration while continuing to insult the maze.

• Su Ming bought coffee for the group, while Detective Chimp criticized the lack of hot drinks and then complained about the missing restroom.
• Doctor Bedlam produced a restroom, but Detective Chimp returned to complain that it had no hair dryer; Su Ming and the others played along with his criticisms.
• Su Ming, Kate, and Detective Chimp called Doctor Bedlam a low-ranking villain and threatened to leave if the maze’s monsters and treasures were unimpressive.
• The group encountered a swarm of Parademons, and Deathstroke killed them with a shotgun before carving his name into a corpse and pinning it to the wall.
• Detective Chimp and Batwoman praised Deathstroke’s macabre display and insulted Doctor Bedlam’s taste, while Su Ming warned them that Doctor Bedlam might hear.

Su Ming led the group through Doctor Bedlam’s maze while Bobo relentlessly criticized its design, driving Bedlam to summon a powerful monster from outside Multiverse 1. The chapter ended with the monster striking Deathstroke in the chest with a bending lightray.

• Doctor Bedlam decorated the maze walls with dead Parademons, and Mister Bobo mocked the display as plagiarism.
• Bobo criticized the maze’s missing rewards, poor amenities, weak enemies, and traps, prompting Doctor Bedlam to make changes.
• Su Ming followed Strangle’s map while Bobo continued provoking Doctor Bedlam with complaints about the lack of a mini-boss.
• A huge shadowy monster arrived through a Boom Tube, and the Adjutant told Su Ming its teleportation came from outside Multiverse 1.
• Su Ming blocked the monster’s launched fists, but its bending lightray struck Deathstroke in the chest.

Su Ming fought a Darkseid-like Black Diamond golem in Doctor Bedlam’s maze and destroyed it despite its Omega Beams and flying fists. He and his companions found the maze’s challenge disappointing and continued with Doctor Bedlam as their real target.

• Su Ming shrugged off a chest wound and told Bobo and Lorna to watch while he fought the maze’s enemy.
• The Darkseid-like foe fired Omega Beams and launched armored fists, but Su Ming deflected the beams and restrained the fists with his Yellow Lantern Ring.
• Su Ming identified the enemy as a Black Diamond golem with a soul infused into it and wondered whether Doctor Bedlam had more of them.
• Su Ming cut off the golem’s head, and it shouted “Darkseid Is!” before cracking apart and exploding.
• Su Ming dismissed the golem as a weak opponent and picked up Detective Chimp, while Bobo complained that Doctor Bedlam would never defeat Mister Miracle.

Superboy-Prime cleared a path toward the United States Capitol with Green Arrow and Canary until a squad of increasingly powerful Superman imposters attacked him. He abandoned his restraint and began killing them, leaving the city devastated as the battle continued.

• Superboy-Prime burned through Liquid Robots while Green Arrow explained that magnetism controlled them, then continued toward the Capitol with Green Arrow and Canary.
• A Superman imposter struck Superboy-Prime, and more than a dozen gaunt imposters surrounded him as sunlight strengthened them.
• Superboy-Prime warned Green Arrow to flee, and Green Arrow dragged Canary into the sewers to escape the fight.
• The imposters overwhelmed Superboy-Prime as they rapidly grew stronger, and he decided to fight more seriously rather than risk losing.
• Superboy-Prime killed several imposters with brutal attacks, including hurling one into the city and causing widespread destruction.
• Superboy-Prime pinned an imposter underground and beat him into a slab of meat before taunting the remaining fakes.

Superboy-Prime fought a swarm of fake Supermen until Black Adam arrived and destroyed them with magic. Black Adam then left with Naomi, while Superboy-Prime tried to warn him about the worldwide blackout and Brutus.

• The fake Supermen blasted Superboy-Prime into the Atlantic, then overwhelmed him when he returned to Washington.
• Black Adam struck the attackers with lightning, giving Superboy-Prime a chance to recover, while Naomi introduced herself and offered to take him somewhere safe.
• Black Adam unleashed divine thunder across the battlefield and killed the fake Supermen, with Superboy-Prime refusing to leave and watching the fight.
• Superboy-Prime questioned Black Adam about the blackout and told him Deathstroke was pursuing Brutus, but Black Adam said the matter was between him and Deathstroke before flying away with Naomi.
• Superboy-Prime regretted failing to explain that Superhuman clones were appearing worldwide and asked for that part to be cut from the broadcast.

Deathstroke and his companions advanced through Doctor Bedlam’s failing labyrinth while Adjutant reported that Darkseid had deployed cloned Supermen and Deathstrokes. They reached the final corner expecting a major enemy, but the chapter ended just as they discovered who was waiting there.

• Deathstroke discussed Darkseid’s cloned Supermen and concluded that the Deathstroke clones were botched copies, possibly deployed early after the raid on Soybean Earth disrupted Darkseid’s plans.
• Adjutant suggested that Darkseid’s focus on Superman and Deathstroke might give Batwoman an opening, but Deathstroke said he would not rely on her plans.
• Deathstroke, Bobo, Kate, and Lorna continued through the labyrinth as Doctor Bedlam’s disorganized vending machines gave Bobo more reasons to criticize the attraction.
• Deathstroke and Bobo speculated about possible final bosses, naming Steppenwolf, Yuga Khan, Desaad, and Granny Goodness.
• Deathstroke and his companions rounded the final corner and found the expected boss waiting at the end of the labyrinth.

Deathstroke trapped Doctor Bedlam and his group inside the Upside-Down Man’s Otherworld, intending to seal the incorporeal Psionic Being in a Black Diamond. He sent Polaris after the robots and joined Kate in confronting Doctor Bedlam.

• Doctor Bedlam raged at Bobo for criticizing his maze, while Bobo stayed calm and retreated behind Deathstroke’s group.
• At Deathstroke’s command, the Adjutant rearranged the Otherworld, inverting the space and trapping everyone inside.
• Deathstroke explained that Doctor Bedlam could not escape the magical dimension and that he planned to capture him in a Black Diamond.
• Bobo withdrew from the fight, and Deathstroke assigned Polaris to fight the robots and Kate to help him deal with Doctor Bedlam.
• Polaris attacked the robots, beginning the battle.

Deathstroke and Batwoman cornered Doctor Bedlam in the collapsing maze and captured his spirit in Black Diamond. Doctor Bedlam’s host survived but was left brain-dead, while Su Ming sought answers about the Clones and Darkseid statue.

• Doctor Bedlam failed to control Deathstroke with psychic powers or poison and tried to escape the maze.
• Deathstroke tricked Doctor Bedlam into ruling out possessing Detective Chimp, then had the chimp teleported away.
• Lorna destroyed the robots as the maze folded inward, trapping Doctor Bedlam with Deathstroke and Batwoman.
• Deathstroke demanded to know where Doctor Bedlam had obtained the Clones and Darkseid statue, but Doctor Bedlam refused to surrender.
• Batwoman stabbed Doctor Bedlam with Black Diamond, drawing his spirit into it and leaving his host collapsed.
• Su Ming had Strangle examine the host and learned that he was brain-dead.

After the group captured Doctor Bedlam, Su Ming identified his device as a Father Box that was likely causing the electricity blockage. Detective Chimp began experimenting with its controls, hoping to restore the power.

• Batwoman admitted that Doctor Bedlam's true body was trapped in the Black Diamond and redirected the conversation to the electricity problem.
• The Adjutant returned the group to normal surroundings, and Su Ming asked whether anyone had received calls from Earth.
• Su Ming examined Doctor Bedlam's remote and explained that it was likely a specialized Father Box responsible for the blockage.
• Su Ming handed the Father Box to Detective Chimp and asked him to work out how it operated.
• Detective Chimp guessed that the buttons required combination presses and began fiddling with the device.

After Detective Chimp accidentally sent the Antarctic Floating City into a chaotic flight, Su Ming helped stabilize it and returned to New York with Bobo and Polaris. At Cat Paradise, they began searching for clues and discovered the cats were playing with the severed heads of Superhuman Administration soldiers.

• Detective Chimp pressed random controls on the Father Box, sending the Floating City into uncontrolled rises and falls until he found a combination that stabilized it.
• Batwoman received a call that power and communications had returned, and Su Ming sent her back to Wayne Tower while he planned to leave with Detective Chimp and Polaris.
• Su Ming invited Polaris to keep traveling with him, then had Adjutant arrange for the floating fortress and its recovered items to be taken to Sepulk.
• Su Ming, Detective Chimp, and Polaris arrived on the rooftop of Harley's apartment building in New York, where Bobo appeared freshly washed and dressed in a new suit.
• At Cat Paradise, Su Ming sent Detective Chimp to search the Superhuman Administration soldiers' clothes while he looked for their brains, and Polaris saw cats batting human heads around.

Su Ming and Strangle examined the Clones’ memories and learned that Desaad had sent them after Poison Ivy and possibly The Green, but the Clones knew nothing about their base. Su Ming then turned to Bobo, who was sorting the raiders’ equipment, as the group continued investigating the attack.

• Su Ming traded food with the cats for the Clones’ Deadman’s Heads and had Strangle taste them for memories.
• Strangle learned that Desaad had created and dispatched the Clones, who had been ordered to target Poison Ivy with a super herbicide.
• Su Ming and Strangle found that the Clones were nearly identical, had little useful intelligence, and might have been targeting The Green.
• Su Ming speculated that the Clones’ base was somewhere barren and noted that their ordinary original template raised questions about Desaad’s motives.
• Su Ming gave Bobo catnip to draw the cats away, and Bobo returned to examining the raiders’ clothes and weapons.

Su Ming and Bobo examined the dead people’s clothes and found an unknown black beetle with seven red spots, prompting them to seek Black Orchid’s help tracing its origin. As Su Ming, Bobo, and Lorna went downstairs, Lorna learned that the building belonged to Harley and worried about what she fed her cats.

• Bobo searched the dead people’s clothes while Su Ming kept watch and reflected on New York’s return to normal life.
• Bobo found a tiny black beetle with seven red spots hidden in a collar and handed it to Su Ming.
• Su Ming and Bobo determined the beetle was likely not native to Earth and decided to ask Black Orchid to investigate its origin.
• Su Ming invited Lorna to come downstairs and told her that Harley owned the building and the cats.
• Lorna asked whether Harley ate people, and Bobo reassured her that Harley only fed human corpses to her cats.

Su Ming and his companions returned to Harley's wrecked suite after the attack and found that the attackers were clones sent by Desaad to target Poison Ivy. They asked Alba to trace a strange beetle while Su Ming warned Ivy to stay alert, and he revealed that Batwoman was investigating Grail.

• Su Ming, Harley, Poison Ivy, Black Orchid, and Bobo arrived at Harley's suite, where the women were cleaning up after the attackers had smashed the furniture and left blood everywhere.
• Harley greeted Su Ming with mock tears, then advised Polaris that a pet might help her feel happier.
• Su Ming showed Alba a beetle found on an attacker's clothes and asked her to contact The Red to identify its origin.
• Bobo said Su Ming had read the attackers' memories and learned they were clones sent by Desaad to deal with Poison Ivy.
• Su Ming warned Poison Ivy not to underestimate Desaad and Darkseid, and said they did not yet know what the clone squad had done during the blackout.
• Harley asked about Grail, and Su Ming said he had sent Batwoman to investigate.