Chapter Summaries

Su Ming and Diana discussed Batman’s investigation into Starman and realized that Luthor had likely planted a trap for Bruce. Su Ming took Diana to the Iceberg Lounge in a Batman disguise, where they ran into Damian and the Teen Titans.

• Su Ming flew with Diana and learned how the flood had affected Paradise Island and that Batman had used Starman’s brain to investigate.
• Diana told Su Ming about Starro, Starman, and Bruce’s experiment, and Su Ming warned that Luthor could have chosen which half of Starman’s brain remained to mislead Batman.
• Diana wanted to return and warn Bruce, but Su Ming recalled how Batman had escaped the Hall of Justice before and decided Bruce would likely need rescuing.
• Su Ming transformed into Batman and took Diana to the Iceberg Lounge for a late-night meal.
• Damian and the Teen Titans arrived, and Damian confronted Su Ming, unaware that the Batman before him was Su Ming in disguise.

Damian led the Teen Titans to investigate a brutal killing in Gotham, but Su Ming disguised as Batwoman sent them away after pointing them toward ancient dark creatures. After Damian and his team left, Su Ming and Diana dined with Penguin and discussed the threat and Damian’s safety.

• Damian reported that a new criminal called It Thing had appeared in Gotham and asked Su Ming for guidance.
• Su Ming told Damian that It-Things were ancient dark creatures and sent him and the Teen Titans back toward New York.
• Damian left pleased that Su Ming had acknowledged his strength, while Wally teased him about Wonder Woman becoming his stepmother.
• Su Ming and Diana ate at Penguin’s Iceberg Lounge after intimidating Penguin into serving them.
• Su Ming revealed that the It-Things were Vampire-Werewolf hybrids and explained that Damian’s teammates could protect him.

Su Ming and Diana discussed The Totality and possible sources of information about it, concluding that Joker might oppose The Batman Who Laughs and contact Batwoman. Diana asked Su Ming to help the Justice League, but hesitated over her lack of money, so he asked about her relationship with Green Arrow.

• Su Ming told Diana that The Totality was a powerful, monster-filled world, but he did not know what it contained.
• Su Ming suggested Cheetah as a possible source of information, but Diana explained that their relationship had deteriorated and Cheetah wanted to kill her.
• Su Ming reasoned that Joker might oppose The Batman Who Laughs and Luthor, and could secretly contact Batwoman.
• Su Ming invited Diana to Two-Face's nightclub, and Diana asked whether he would help the Justice League.
• Diana hesitated because she could not afford to hire Su Ming, so he asked how she knew Green Arrow.

Su Ming disguised himself as Batwoman to lure Joker out while investigating a brutal murder tied to cultists summoning It-Things. He left Gordon with no answers and the police kept away from the killer as Su Ming pursued the investigation alone.

• Su Ming planned to recruit Green Arrow and Barry for his team while keeping Cyborg off it because of the dangerous Mother Box inside him.
• Su Ming disguised himself as Batwoman and flew around Gotham, intending to draw Joker out before returning to New York and waiting at Harley’s apartment.
• Su Ming landed on the police station roof and persuaded Gordon that he was Batwoman, then examined the report of a ritualistic murder.
• Su Ming identified the crime as the work of cultists who had summoned an It-Thing, after seeing the victim’s mutilated body and strange markings.
• Gordon asked how the police could help, and Su Ming ordered him to keep his people away from the killer.

Su Ming suspected that cultists were using Gotham’s sewers and planned how to secure support in the Justice League for the Beyond Door Handle. He persuaded Alfred to let him use Brother Eye to look for Damian and the Teen Titans, intending to intervene as Deathstroke.

• Su Ming reasoned that the cultists summoning the It Thing had likely traveled through Gotham’s sewers and planned to check Wayne Manor’s surveillance footage.
• Batwoman vanished from the police station rooftop, and Su Ming greeted Alfred at Wayne Manor while concealing his political plans for the Justice League.
• Su Ming asked Alfred to use Brother Eye, claiming Damian might be in danger because a powerful monster had appeared in Gotham.
• Alfred took Su Ming to the Batcave and helped him access Brother Eye so he could search for Damian and the Teen Titans.

The Teen Titans investigated a muddy suburban road that Damian identified as the real crime scene, while Emiko remained detached from her teammates and brooded over her past. Deathstroke watched them from a nearby rooftop as Su Ming planned to help Green Arrow regain a role in the unfolding conflict.

• Wally, Crush, Djinn, and Billy arrived at the muddy crime scene, where Damian scanned the footprints and examined the evidence.
• Crush and Billy argued while Damian focused on investigating, and Emiko stood apart from the team.
• Emiko recalled her childhood as Shado’s weapon, her attempt to kill Oliver, and how Oliver later took her in as his sister.
• Oliver had sent Emiko to the Teen Titans to make friends, though she remained indifferent to the team and their operations.
• Su Ming decided to help Green Arrow after Batman secretly treated him as a potential last resort, while Deathstroke watched the Teen Titans from a rooftop.

Damian investigated a ritualistic murder scene with the Teen Titans, while his doubts about his parentage and the team’s dysfunction weighed on him. Djinn used her magic to recreate the missing victim’s body so Damian could continue investigating.

• Damian examined the dirt outside the crime scene and noted that hundreds of people had passed through without any monsters appearing, but his teammates ignored him.
• Damian reflected on the Teen Titans’ poor coordination and on Tim’s DNA reports suggesting that Deathstroke, rather than Batman, was his father.
• Damian entered the crime scene with the distracted Emiko and concluded that the murder had been a sacrifice, though he could not explain why the summoned creature had appeared elsewhere.
• Black Wally and Djinn joined Damian after Crush and Roundhouse stopped arguing, and Damian asked Djinn to show him what the victim had looked like.
• Djinn filled the room with purple light and formed an image of the body that the police had removed.

Damian examined a magically projected corpse and assessed clues and risks while the New Teen Titans investigated a murder without killing. Millie and Black Wally vanished outside, and Emiko identified Deathstroke as the figure responsible.

• Damian studied the corpse and its black runes, concluding that its organs had been removed with a small knife and that it had been transported to the room barefoot.
• Damian considered the team's no-killing rule and explained that he needed to assess the enemy's abilities to keep everyone alive.
• Emiko saw Deathstroke outside but kept his presence secret, while Millie grew suspicious of her behavior.
• Millie flew outside to investigate and vanished; Black Wally rushed after her and disappeared as well.
• Damian stopped Crush and Roundhouse from rushing outside, gathered the remaining teammates, and asked Emiko what she had seen.
• Emiko told Damian that the figure outside was Deathstroke.

Damian’s team rushed out to confront the apparent Deathstroke, but Su Ming captured Damian and the others before they could fight. Billy Wu recognized the danger and staged an elaborate surrender, impressing Su Ming, who left the captives bound in a sewer while praising Billy’s judgment.

• Damian led Roundhouse, Crush, and Emiko out of the house to confront the armored figure, but they discovered he was missing.
• Billy Wu announced that he would use his trump card, then performed a dramatic aerial routine before surrendering in the mud.
• Su Ming revealed that he had captured Damian, Millie, and Wally, while Millie and Wally were already bound and gagged.
• Su Ming explained that he had used the ruined street and its sewer access to ambush the team, and that Billy had correctly realized he was not trying to kill them.
• Su Ming praised Billy’s intelligence and recruitment by Damian, while Wally struggled to claim credit for bringing Billy into the team.

Su Ming emerged from the underground with Damian and the others, then realized Damian believed Deathstroke might be his father. He chose not to correct Damian's tangled suspicions, leaving the boy's uncertainty as something he could exploit.

• Su Ming released Damian, Wally, Millie, Emiko, Crush, and Blue Fatty after stopping the fight.
• Damian calmly asked Su Ming why he had come, prompting Su Ming to question why Damian was not afraid of Deathstroke.
• Su Ming recalled how Talia forged DNA reports and spread rumors that Damian was Deathstroke's son, setting off Damian's conflict with Batwoman.
• Damian came to distrust every possible test or explanation, while even Batwoman began to doubt his own parentage.
• Su Ming decided not to tell Damian the truth and instead recognized that Damian's fear and helplessness could be exploited.

Su Ming, posing as Deathstroke, warned Damian and the New TT that the dark monster they were pursuing was too dangerous for them, especially because Millie lacked combat experience. He explained Millie’s history and her decision to use her magic only to help stray cats, leaving Damian to decide how to protect the team while helping her find her own purpose.

• Su Ming teased Damian, then admitted he had been watching the team and warned that a dark monster posed a serious threat.
• Damian defended the team by pointing out that Millie was their Mage, but Su Ming criticized her lack of combat ability and experience.
• Su Ming recounted how Millie had spent millennia imprisoned in a jar before a Gotham criminal exploited her wish-granting powers to fuel a gang war.
• Batwoman defeated Millie and the criminal, but Damian persuaded Batwoman to return Millie’s jar and let her go.
• Millie learned from the stray cats she helped that money could bring misery, and she now used her powers to grant their simple wishes.
• Damian recruited Millie into the New TT, hoping to help her find her own purpose despite her limited ability to fight.

Su Ming explained the It-Thing’s powers to Damian and advised him to leave the case to Batwoman, but Damian wanted to prove himself and asked to buy information about its weakness. Su Ming refused to sell it and instead offered to teach Damian how to find it if Damian let him touch his head, leaving Damian to accept the strange bargain.

• Su Ming described the It-Thing’s supernatural abilities to Damian and urged him to return to New York and leave the investigation to Batwoman.
• Damian refused to back down, asked Su Ming how much he wanted for information about the creature’s weakness, and was told the information was not for sale.
• Su Ming offered to show Damian how to obtain the information if Damian let him play with his head.
• Wally and Billy encouraged Damian to accept, while Crush and Millie showed their support for continuing the investigation.
• Damian removed his hood and approached Su Ming, who revealed his young face as Wally blocked Millie’s view and joked with her.

Su Ming taught Damian several methods of logical deduction and explained his own Leaping Puzzle Method. Damian grew impressed by Su Ming's ability to solve cases as Su Ming finished describing how he pieced together many possible chains of evidence.

• Su Ming unexpectedly hugged Damian, then invited him to learn how to solve a case.
• Su Ming explained five deduction methods and connected them to Batwoman, Rorschach, and Brother Eye.
• Su Ming described how human choices could evade mathematical prediction, and Billy offered a breakfast example.
• Su Ming called his approach the Leaping Puzzle Method, teased Crush, and let Damian pat his head.
• Su Ming explained how he built and tested many chains of evidence, leaving Damian impressed by his investigative skill.

Su Ming taught Damian and the others to examine the crime scenes closely, revealing that the apparent monster attacks had been staged by humans and that a blood-drinking creature was still involved. He prepared to show them what happened next.

• Su Ming pointed out that matching claw marks appeared at both crime scenes despite the different ways the bodies had been mutilated.
• Strangle identified the blood on the marks as chicken blood, leading Damian to suspect the marks were a human-made summoning ritual rather than real claws.
• Damian proposed that cultists had summoned a monster to attack the victims, but Emiko argued that humans had damaged both bodies.
• Emiko explained that the first corpse had been reduced to scattered flesh while the second had lost too little blood, exposing the staged bite marks and supporting Batwoman's theory of a blood-drinking creature.
• Su Ming told Damian to trust his teammates and announced that they were about to witness a miracle.

Su Ming summoned an It-Thing and used the encounter to teach the Teen Titans how to assess an enemy and ask for help when outmatched. He demonstrated that the creature had immense strength, high physical resistance, and magic immunity, then asked Damian to devise a way to defeat it.

• Su Ming activated the summoning circle with Ren Dao Dian, bringing a winged It-Thing into the room.
• Su Ming shielded the Teen Titans and explained that heroes should call for backup against overwhelming enemies, while Damian reconsidered the team’s place among more powerful forces.
• Su Ming taught the Titans to judge an enemy’s intelligence, weapons, defenses, and likely abilities by observing its behavior and body.
• Su Ming tested the It-Thing with a thrown shield and five fireballs, finding that it could knock the shield aside and resist the magic.
• Su Ming asked Damian what tactics the Titans should use to defeat the It-Thing.

Su Ming trained the Teen Titans to fight the smiling monsters while Batwoman arrived in Gotham. After another monster appeared, the group realized the threat tied to Barbatos had returned and that Batwoman’s counterpart was involved.

• Su Ming killed a monster with one slash, then explained that Nth Metal and Wally’s Speed Force Storm could harm the creatures.
• Su Ming summoned another monster and watched as Damian led the Teen Titans into battle, shouting instructions while they struggled to coordinate.
• Batwoman appeared and insisted that the Teen Titans did not belong in Gotham, but Su Ming stopped her from intervening.
• Damian and the others found another smiling monster head, and Su Ming said the enemy Green Arrow had fought in the sewers was reaching out again.
• Su Ming told Damian that the monster resembled another Batwoman, leaving the group to face the return of the threat connected to Barbatos.

Su Ming gathered Damian and the Teen Titans at the Oblivion Bar after deciding the Dark Multiverse threat required a secure base and a team of mages. He set out to recruit Shadowpact, while Bobo reluctantly agreed to help and Damian reached for a drink.

• Su Ming opened a portal to the Oblivion Bar and led Damian and the Teen Titans through it.
• Su Ming told Bobo that the Dark Multiverse was causing trouble and that he needed a base beyond the Main World's outer layer.
• Bobo refused to leave the bar Jim had entrusted to him, but Su Ming pressured him into gathering Shadowpact.
• Su Ming told Tracy to pack and offered Bobo a mock choice of gruesome death before sending him to use the telephone.
• Su Ming offered Damian a drink, and Damian reached for the glass.

Su Ming discovered an opening to use Damian’s uncertain paternity to influence him, but signs of The Batman Who Laughs forced him to focus on a new threat. After returning to Harley and Ivy’s apartment to warn them, he faced an It-Thing assault while Harley leisurely prepared to join the fight.

• Su Ming persuaded Damian to drink and left him with the Teen Titans, while Damian wondered whether this Deathstroke might be his biological father.
• Su Ming returned to Harley and Ivy’s apartment and warned them that The Batman Who Laughs had returned.
• An It-Thing smashed into the apartment, and Su Ming killed it before holding the doorway against the creatures swarming outside.
• Ivy sealed the windows and fought monsters crawling along the building’s exterior while Su Ming defended the room.
• Harley found her shorts, chose boots, and went to do her makeup while Su Ming continued holding off the attacking It-Things.

Su Ming, Harley Quinn, and Poison Ivy escaped the It-Things attacking Harley’s building and flew into orbit to rendezvous with the Waverider. They left the city while the source of the monsters remained unknown.

• Poison Ivy used vines and poison to hold back the It-Things while Harley prepared to join Su Ming.
• Su Ming used the Red Lantern Ring to clear the stairwell, then protected Harley and Ivy with the Green and Blue Lantern Rings as they reached the rooftop.
• Su Ming brought the three of them aboard the cloaked Justice League aircraft and escaped the monsters pursuing them.
• Su Ming explained that New York had no active Justice League protector and that the Justice Society had withdrawn from action.
• Su Ming flew into space and used light signals to rendezvous with the Waverider, while Ivy led Harley aboard.

Su Ming brought Harley and Ivy aboard the Waverider, ordered Sara to return to Earth-11 and retrieve Cindy after receiving her signal, then took the women to the Oblivion Bar. There, he told Bobo he planned to go to the Rock of Eternity, the crossroads of the multiverse’s Magic Worlds.

• Su Ming met Cindy and Sara on the Waverider’s bridge, and Sara realized Harley and Ivy were the notorious Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy.
• Su Ming told Sara to return to Earth-11 and pick up Cindy when she sent a signal, threatening Sara’s father to ensure she followed his orders.
• Su Ming took Harley and Ivy through a portal to the Oblivion Bar, where Harley nearly started a fight with Damian before Banshee, Nightshade, and Tracy intervened.
• Su Ming discussed his plan with Bobo, confirming that he intended to go to the Rock of Eternity.