Chapter Summaries

Su Ming and his companions crossed the corrupted Eden with Gabriel, who explained his conflicted efforts to love humanity. Gabriel led them to a doorway into the Fifth High Heaven, where they hoped to find a loyal dog’s soul, and left Bobo’s question about why he called God by name unanswered.

• Su Ming asked Gabriel about Heaven’s seven levels, and Gabriel said Lucifer might know more.
• Gabriel explained that Lucifer loved humanity and that he himself had tried to learn to love people through his relationships with them.
• Su Ming and his companions crossed Eden, seeing its corrupted fruits, polluted streams, and malformed animals.
• Gabriel led the group to a mountain doorway and said it opened into the Fifth High Heaven, where human souls and the loyal dog’s soul had once lived.
• Gabriel said God regarded humans, dogs, insects, and angels alike, and he smiled without answering when Bobo asked why he called God by name.

Su Ming and his team entered Heaven’s Fifth Heaven, where they found a decaying city and impoverished souls. Gabriel began searching for the dog soul using the details Su Ming provided.

• Su Ming, Donna, and Shazam surveyed the cloud-city and found its residents robbing newcomers of their white robes.
• Gabriel mourned the ruined waterfalls and fruit trees, while Bobo explained that Heaven was dying without the Body of God.
• Su Ming speculated that chaos might be behind Heaven’s decay, then ordered the group to search for the dog.
• Su Ming told Gabriel the dog had died after Nano Clayface Plasma Robots occupied its body to transform into Krypto.
• Gabriel questioned the gathered dog souls for information about the target.

Su Ming’s group recovered Lockjaw’s soul from Heaven, and Su Ming chose to lead them to the Angel Rebirth Pool rather than return to the Main Dimension. Gabriel warned that the pool was heavily guarded, but Su Ming and the others prepared to go.

• Wally helped souls rebuild while Donna searched for information about recently arrived dogs, and Shazam and Bobo stayed behind.
• Bobo told Su Ming that he had learned to speak dog language while working in a circus.
• Gabriel returned with Lockjaw, and Su Ming used a Soul Crystal to contain the dog’s soul.
• Gabriel warned that taking Lockjaw out would expose the group and offered to hold Michael off, but Su Ming refused to let him sacrifice himself.
• Su Ming asked Gabriel to lead the group to the Angel Rebirth Pool, and Gabriel agreed despite warning that it could be guarded by a hundred million insane Angels.

Gabriel led the group through Eden to the First Day, where they encountered fanatical angels guarding a distant cluster of buildings. As Gabriel and the others fought back, Shazam charged into the angel ranks while Su Ming watched from below.

• Gabriel led the group through Eden toward the First Day, and Bobo asked what Gabriel thought of Ezekiel becoming a cockroach.
• Gabriel said Ezekiel was atoning for the sins of Judas's descendants, then opened a door into a barren white dimension.
• Red-eyed angels spotted the group and gathered in the air, shouting, "Obey my Lord!"
• Gabriel fired his automatic rifle at the angels, and the team charged into battle.
• Shazam rushed into the enemy ranks, knocking away swords and tearing off wings as he gleefully fought the angels.
• Su Ming stayed below with Bobo and watched Shazam battle.

Su Ming and his allies fought through a vast swarm of Angels while waiting for Michael to appear, then decided to advance toward the Reincarnation Pool. They regrouped and continued toward the mysterious building, with Shazam newly impressed by Deathstroke.

• Strangle killed an Angel that tried to ambush Deathstroke, while Bobo suggested they investigate the Reincarnation Pool.
• Su Ming agreed to move toward the building, and Bobo said he could either understand the Pool’s alterations or destroy it.
• Donna called the group together as she and Wally fought off the Angels, while Su Ming cleared the way with giant flyswatters conjured by his Power Ring.
• Gabriel questioned his seemingly inexhaustible rifle, and Su Ming explained that its spatial-folding magazine held a hundred thousand rounds.
• Deathstroke used The Force to pull Shazam back to the group, then promised to give him a recording of his battle, earning Shazam’s admiration.

Deathstroke and Bobo searched Heaven’s empty building for the Angel Rebirth Pool while Bobo explained Michael’s history and weaknesses. Bobo’s hint gave Deathstroke a new plan for defeating Michael, though Bobo feared Deathstroke’s matchmaking more than the battle.

• Deathstroke left the others guarding the entrance and took Bobo into the building to find the Angel Rebirth Pool.
• Bobo warned Deathstroke that Heaven seemed deserted despite the building being clean and undamaged.
• Bobo described Michael’s weapons, titles, and close relationship with Lucifer.
• Bobo revealed Michael was called the Sleepless Angel and Protector of Women and Children, and Deathstroke recognized a practical way to exploit those weaknesses.
• Deathstroke claimed their chances against Michael were one thousand percent, while Bobo begged him not to introduce him to more girlfriends.

Su Ming and Bobo discovered that Nanomachines had contaminated Heaven’s Reincarnation Pool, turning souls into red-eyed Angels. Unable to repair or disable it, Su Ming compressed the pool into a two-dimensional plane and left to seek answers about who had tampered with it.

• Su Ming teased Bobo about finding a mate, and Bobo angrily insisted that he was an ape, not a monkey.
• Su Ming sent Strangle through the pool’s invisible barrier to taste the liquid, which it identified as water infused with an unknown energy.
• Su Ming sent Bobo to investigate how the Reincarnation Pool worked, but Bobo could not determine its principles or stop it.
• Su Ming tested the pool with alien test subjects, which emerged as red-eyed Angels shouting for Deathstroke to obey their master.
• Su Ming destroyed the contaminated pool by compressing it into a Two-Dimensional Plane State, then wondered who had targeted God and hoped to question the dog after leaving Heaven.

Deathstroke and the others battled the Angels until Michael descended and confronted Gabriel, demanding that they submit to his Lord. Deathstroke challenged Michael directly and leapt to meet his attack, while secretly activating a backup plan.

• Donna urged the team to withdraw before Michael appeared, while Shazam wanted to stay and fight for experience.
• Wally returned to the group, and a pillar of golden light brought Michael down from the sky.
• Michael questioned Gabriel’s rebellion, and Gabriel answered that the true God had died.
• Deathstroke stopped Gabriel from responding and challenged Michael to fight.
• Michael attacked with his Red Greatsword, and Deathstroke leapt up with a transformed Lightsaber while ordering Strangle to activate the backup plan.

Deathstroke and Michael clashed in the sky, shattering space and forcing Wally to shelter the team inside the temple. Deathstroke changed into a little girl to exploit Michael’s instincts, but Michael transformed into one too; Su Ming revealed that this was the outcome he had anticipated, and Deathstroke prepared a surprise attack.

• Wally moved his teammates into the temple, whose properties protected them from the spatial turbulence caused by Deathstroke and Michael’s clash.
• Deathstroke transformed into a blonde little girl, but Michael answered by turning into a red-haired girl, leaving the fight evenly matched.
• Bobo regretted that his intelligence had failed, while Shazam hoped the two could settle things peacefully and Donna reminded him that Deathstroke had only changed his appearance.
• Wally asked Donna and Bobo how he could help Deathstroke, but Bobo saw no way for the team to overcome the vast difference in strength.
• Su Ming laughed because Michael had taken the bait and transformed as he had expected; Deathstroke trapped Michael’s greatsword and had Strangle pull sparkling powder from his pouch.

Deathstroke defeated Michael after discovering that the archangel had lost his world-altering authority. He put Michael to sleep with Dream’s Sand of Time and handed the captive to Gabriel.

• Deathstroke taunted Michael over his missing powers, and Su Ming realized that God had stripped Michael of his authority and turned Heaven into a trap for the Angels.
• Michael denied that his Lord had abandoned him and attacked Deathstroke, who held his sword in place and used Strangle to blow Dream’s Sand of Time into his face.
• Michael fell asleep, and Deathstroke had Strangle capture him before rejoining Donna and the others.
• Deathstroke handed Michael to Gabriel, who cradled the unconscious archangel and asked what Deathstroke had used.
• Deathstroke explained that he had disguised his plan and exploited Michael’s lack of experience resisting sleep to render him helpless.

After Deathstroke subdued Michael in Heaven, Gabriel agreed to take him to Lucifer while Su Ming brought the stolen dog to Sepulk. The dog was installed in a powerful mechanical body and identified as a narcotics dog, giving the team a promising lead for finding its killer in Metropolis.

• Bobo worried that Deathstroke might have killed Michael, but Su Ming assured him that Michael was only asleep and told Gabriel to take him to Lucifer.
• Gabriel carried Michael out of Heaven, while Deathstroke warned that he would discuss Gabriel's debt with his sponsor and send men to handle Gabriel's business.
• At Sepulk, the Adjutant and the Great Liches placed the dog's soul in a weakened mechanical animal-god body and brought it online as Dog Leftovers.
• Su Ming decided to take Dog Leftovers to Metropolis to investigate the dog's death, and Bobo recognized its digging as the behavior of a trained narcotics dog.

Su Ming investigated the disappearance of a Metropolis police dog and learned that Dog Leftovers had vanished during a drug bust after finding a beheaded suspect. He promised to help the dog return to duty in exchange for its assistance, and the group prepared to pursue a lead.

• Su Ming ordered Adjutant to search Metropolis police and customs records for missing drug-sniffing dogs.
• Adjutant projected Dog Leftovers' case file, which said the dog disappeared after its handler found a dead, beheaded drug buyer.
• Dog Leftovers whimpered when he saw his former partner's Internal Affairs interrogation, and Su Ming offered to help restore him to duty if he helped with the investigation.
• Su Ming fed Dog Leftovers Space Whale and other dishes, and the dog accepted the deal.
• Donna asked why Paradise Island had no dogs, and Su Ming joked about Zeus turning into one before Bobo stopped him from discussing the subject around minors.
• Su Ming told the group to finish eating so they could solve the case, saying he suspected they were close to an important discovery.

Batwoman watched Gotham celebrate the survivors of its latest catastrophe while investigating Deathstroke’s account of the case. After confirming the surveillance footage had not been tampered with, she remained convinced that something was wrong with the city that night.

• Gotham’s citizens celebrated their survival, and Batwoman told her teammates that the city’s people exploited disasters for personal gain.
• Batwoman brought Superman, J’onn, Green Lantern, and Green Arrow to the police station rooftop to observe the celebration and assess whom she could trust.
• Guy complained about the rain and Gotham, while Green Arrow explained that Batwoman suspected Deathstroke had killed someone.
• Batwoman asked a young woman monitoring the city to report her findings.
• The young woman said the surveillance footage matched Deathstroke’s evidence and had not been altered, while serious crimes continued across Gotham.
• Batwoman recalled Deathstroke’s money transfer to Barbara and said she could feel that something was wrong with Gotham.

Barbara traced the police station shooting to a suspect wearing Deathstroke’s armor, while Batwoman headed for City Hall to pursue the lead. Across the city in Metropolis, Deathstroke’s team investigated a separate killing and learned Batman had identified another Deathstroke as a suspect.

• Barbara used Gotham’s gunshot detectors and a homeless man’s blurry photo to identify the police station killer as someone wearing Deathstroke’s black-and-yellow armor.
• Barbara told Batwoman that the killer was hiding in City Hall during a masquerade ball, and Batwoman led her team toward the building.
• Deathstroke had the mechanical dog reenact its handler’s murder, then assigned Bobo, Adjutant, and Dog Leftovers to search for evidence and the killer.
• Adjutant reported that Batman had confirmed Barbara’s information and suspected another Deathstroke, but Deathstroke said the killers were Chameleons who could evade investigation.

Su Ming and his team traced the murder of Dog Leftovers to Delly, a recently released criminal with a grudge against the police dog. They arrived at Delly’s heavily guarded mansion, where Wally and Shazam stayed outside while Donna prepared to enter with Su Ming.

• Bobo inspected the crime scene and found clues the Metropolis Police Department had missed, while Adjutant identified suspects among criminals Dog Leftovers had helped arrest.
• Su Ming and his teammates reasoned that the killer had murdered Dog Leftovers out of revenge and only then used the dog as part of a plan involving Krypto and Clayface Plasma Nanomachines.
• Adjutant matched the evidence to Delly, whose long criminal record and recent release made him their leading suspect.
• Su Ming brought the team to Delly’s mansion and promised Bobo the blue whale fountain sculpture as a reward.
• Wally and Shazam refused to enter the mansion and stayed outside, while Donna armed herself and prepared to accompany Su Ming.

Su Ming, Donna, Bobo, and Strangle raided a mansion to find the person who had killed Dog Leftovers. Strangle killed the household’s occupants and rescued trafficking victims, but the target, Delly, was missing.

• Bobo refused Deathstroke’s gun, and Donna carried him as Su Ming prepared to enter the mansion with Strangle and Dog Leftovers.
• Su Ming shot the mansion’s patrolling guards while Dog Leftovers followed the killer’s scent through the grounds.
• Su Ming’s group entered the mansion, where he took a luxury yacht, and he sent Strangle through the house to kill the remaining occupants.
• Strangle found Shazam’s gold game console and reported that Adjutant had sent several hundred imprisoned South American girls to the police station.
• Strangle reported that it had killed 132 people in the household but had not found Delly, and Adjutant projected a replay of its actions for Bobo and Donna.

Su Ming and his companions waited at Delly’s villa while discussing how the traffickers had hidden their operation from Superman. As Delly’s car approached, Su Ming prepared to deal with him.

• Su Ming explained that lead-lined walls and legal paperwork had helped Delly’s trafficking ring evade Superman.
• Su Ming had Strangle remove the villa’s whale statue and sent it to Oblivion Bar while the group waited for Delly to return.
• Su Ming and the others watched Harley recount how she had killed a trader who gave her expired medicine in the MonsterVerse.
• Su Ming showed the group broadcasts from Skull Island and the Bad Pacific while they waited.
• Strangle sensed a vehicle approaching the villa, and Su Ming realized Delly was probably coming home.

Su Ming and his allies captured Delly at his manor and used Donna’s lasso to learn that a mysterious figure called L had given him armor and nanomachines. Delly revealed that L had ordered him to inject a dog in Metropolis, but he had never seen the mastermind, leaving the group with a lead to investigate in Gotham.

• Su Ming hid with Dog Leftovers in a flowerpot, then sent the dog to attack Delly when he arrived home, allowing the team to pin him down.
• Deathstroke recognized Delly as someone who believed he was the real Deathstroke, and Su Ming broke the captive’s limbs before Donna interrogated him with her lasso.
• Delly confessed that a stranger named L had contacted him in Gotham, given him a Deathstroke-like suit of Promethium Alloy armor, and offered him greater power.
• L had instructed Delly to return to Metropolis and inject a dog with nanomachines, but Delly had never seen L and had used his new strength for revenge.
• Su Ming sent Delly’s head to Sepulk for further interrogation, while Bobo noted that the group could investigate what had happened in Gotham.

Su Ming investigated Delly’s missing messages, then left for Rhode Island while claiming the manor as a school campus. In Gotham, Batwoman sensed the real Joker among a crowd of impostors and ordered everyone to leave.

• Bobo and Donna debated the meaning of “my lord” while Men in Black cleaned the manor.
• Su Ming handed Delly’s phone to Bobo, who found no messages or contact for L and suspected remote control.
• Su Ming set off for Rhode Island with Donna, Bobo, Shazam, and Wally, declaring the manor Loyalty Shrine Academy’s autumn and winter campus.
• At Gotham City Hall, Batwoman sensed the real Joker among dozens of costumed people and incapacitated an obese woman dressed as Catwoman.
• Green Arrow and Dinah offered to help search the guests, but Batwoman pressed her forehead to Green Arrow’s and ordered everyone out.

After Batwoman sent the other heroes away, she began searching for Joker among the guests at City Hall and anticipated the traps he had set. She disabled the building’s circuitry with an EMP, plunging the hall into darkness and giving her the advantage, while Batman unknowingly smiled.

• Green Arrow and the other heroes left City Hall and went to a nearby cop bar after Batwoman chose to face Joker alone.
• Batwoman told Oracle that Superman and the others were bait, then refused a facial scan so she could keep the game undisturbed.
• Batwoman reasoned that Joker had likely rigged the air-conditioning controls and planted traps among the blue-and-white vases.
• Batwoman declared the ball over and threw an EMP Batarang at the chandelier, blacking out City Hall and cutting off her communication with Oracle.
• In the darkness, Batwoman gained the advantage, and Batman unknowingly curled his mouth into a smile.