Chapter Summaries

Batman explained that The Batman Who Laughs had escaped Arkham and sought Joker’s contagious blood, then briefed the Justice League on Gotham’s underground systems. He revealed that the villain’s real target might be a key water-supply facility, leaving the team to face the threat to Gotham’s drinking water.

• Batman told the Justice League that The Batman Who Laughs had gone to Arkham after Joker escaped, and explained that Joker’s blood could spread madness through Dionysium.
• Arthur offered to hunt the villain with Poseidon’s Trident, but Batman warned that killing The Batman Who Laughs would transfer Joker’s madness to the killer.
• Su Ming revealed that The Batman Who Laughs could regenerate after dismemberment and might have abilities like Harley’s to perceive what lies Outside the Wall.
• Batman showed the team a detailed map of Gotham’s underground and described the Court of Owls’ old tunnels and the city’s three sewer systems.
• Batman explained that the sewers were only routes and displayed a water-supply facility connected to nearly every drinking-water pipeline as the villain’s possible target.

Batwoman explained Gotham’s Final Laugh System and sent Su Ming and the others to secure its hub in Wayne Tower. Left alone in the Batcave, she disabled its waterway security so Joker could enter and offered him breakfast.

• Batwoman described the Final Laugh System, its purpose, and her efforts to rebuild it after fighting the Court of Owls.
• Su Ming and Oliver realized The Batman Who Laughs might target the system, and Batwoman revealed its hub was in Wayne Tower.
• Su Ming, Green Arrow, Diana, and Arthur entered a portal to reach the system while Batwoman stayed behind to wait for a guest.
• Batwoman had Alfred disable the Batcave’s waterway security, allowing Joker to climb inside.
• Batwoman welcomed Joker, offered him breakfast, and watched him collapse into laughter.

Joker manipulated Batwoman into letting him complete his suicide, and a green wisp entered her as she held his body. Later, an impostor posing as Bruce Wayne gained access to Wayne Tower, leaving Bill unaware of the danger.

• Joker revealed that he had used a hidden Prank Gun to shoot himself, after tricking Batwoman into protecting Alfred instead of stopping him.
• Joker died after telling Batwoman that he had made her and that she would need to defeat The Batman Who Laughs.
• A green wisp drifted from Joker into Batwoman, who began smiling uncontrollably as Alfred questioned her reaction.
• A visitor claiming to be Bruce Wayne spoke with blind guard Bill and passed the elevator's DNA scanner.
• The visitor entered the elevator, and Bill heard what sounded like someone sharpening a knife inside.

Su Ming and his allies confronted The Batman Who Laughs at Wayne Tower, but the hidden enemy used their attack to trigger the tower’s self-destruct system. Su Ming escaped with the blind old man as Wayne Tower was destroyed, leaving The Batman Who Laughs at large and the Final Laugh System’s fate unresolved.

• The Batman Who Laughs ambushed the guards and evaded Su Ming and his allies’ coordinated attack in the darkened Wayne Tower.
• The Batman Who Laughs revealed that he had used a computer backdoor and knowledge of Su Ming to prepare for their arrival.
• Su Ming cut through the top floor of Wayne Tower, causing irreversible damage that activated the Final Laugh System and the tower’s self-destruct countdown.
• Su Ming opened a Teleportation Portal, then rescued the blind old man from the elevator shaft and escaped the building before it exploded.
• Su Ming and his allies watched Wayne Tower collapse, while Green Arrow argued that The Batman Who Laughs had planned to destroy it regardless of Su Ming’s strike.

After The Batman Who Laughs escaped, Su Ming questioned the sole survivor of Wayne Tower and learned that the villain's timeline had diverged from the Main World. He realized that differences in Gotham's post-Rebirth events could reveal a weakness to exploit.

• Diana, Green Arrow, and Arthur admitted they had not seen how The Batman Who Laughs disappeared, while Su Ming comforted the injured Bill amid the ruins.
• Bill mistook Su Ming for Cyborg and said that Batwoman was really Mr. Wayne, believing he had uncovered Bruce Wayne's secret identity.
• Su Ming sent Bill through a Teleportation Portal to the Rock of Eternity, where he would be safe with Bobo.
• Bill mentioned that his grandsons had died during the Son of Gotham incident, prompting Su Ming to recognize a difference between the Main World and The Batman Who Laughs's Earth.
• Su Ming concluded that post-Rebirth changes in Gotham could expose the villain's weakness and give the Justice League a way to defeat him.

Su Ming prepared a plan to counter The Batman Who Laughs by gathering the Medusa Mask, the Speed Force, a quantum generator, and a speech about family. Barry arrived seeking Justice League support and money, but Su Ming insisted they deal with The Batman Who Laughs first, leaving Barry’s offer of payment unresolved.

• Su Ming explained that The Batman Who Laughs knew nothing of twelve years of events and said Gotham’s flooding would constrain his plans.
• Green Arrow agreed to find Barry, while Arthur volunteered to retrieve Psycho-Pirate’s Medusa Mask from a lighthouse at Mercy Harbor.
• Su Ming told Diana he needed the Medusa Mask, the Speed Force, a high-energy quantum generator, and a speech to persuade a father to return to his son, and Diana offered to write it.
• Barry arrived from the Speed Force and asked Su Ming to send Diana and Arthur to help the Justice League in Metropolis.
• Su Ming refused to change his priorities, insisting that The Batman Who Laughs had to be dealt with before the Legion of Doom and Perpetua.
• Barry asked about the Justice League’s payment, saying J’onn would offer anything the League had, and Su Ming wondered what J’onn had noticed.

Thomas Wayne had spent years fighting alone to survive the Flashpoint World and was preparing to destroy the Batcave when Barry and a Justice League from another reality arrived. Su Ming said Thomas’s son needed help, while Thomas struggled to understand why his world still existed.

• Thomas Wayne watched the Flashpoint war continue for years, lost his allies and Alfred, and faced a joint Amazon and Atlantean assault on the Batcave.
• Thomas prepared to trigger the Batcave’s nuclear reactor overload as enemy forces breached Wayne Manor.
• Barry arrived with Su Ming, Diana, Arthur, and Oliver in a vehicle carried by golden lightning, and Su Ming told Thomas they came from another reality.
• Barry explained that seven years after he fixed the Timeline, someone had kept the Flashpoint World and the old Multiverse in existence.
• Su Ming asked Diana and Arthur to protect Thomas from the Amazons and Atlanteans, while he described the world as a parallel historical projection.

Su Ming and his allies rescued Thomas Wayne from the collapsing Flashpoint world so he could help Bruce, while Diana and Arthur drove the invading Amazons and Atlanteans out of the Batcave. Thomas agreed to go, and the group prepared to return to the Batcave beneath Wayne Manor.

• Diana ordered the Amazons to withdraw, and Arthur used Poseidon's Trident to strip the Atlanteans of the water they needed to fight on land.
• Su Ming persuaded Thomas that this was his only chance to see Bruce, and Thomas agreed to leave with the group.
• Barry carried the group out of the collapsing Flashpoint world on the Cosmic Treadmill and brought them to Central City.
• Thomas insisted that the group return to Gotham so he could see Bruce, while Oliver demanded an explanation about the concealed trip to the past.
• Su Ming said he suspected Batwoman's next plan and opened a Teleportation Portal to the Batcave beneath Wayne Manor.

Batwoman struggled to resist Joker’s toxin while insisting Alfred try to revive Joker, until Deathstroke and his companions arrived with Thomas Wayne. Bruce reunited with his father, who immediately punched him across the Batcave.

• Batwoman ordered Alfred to keep trying to save Joker, even as Alfred confirmed Joker was dead and the antidotes could only delay Batwoman’s madness.
• Alfred warned Bruce that the antidotes were failing, and Bruce admitted he did not know how long he could control himself.
• A portal opened, bringing Deathstroke, Arthur, Diana, and Thomas Wayne to the Batcave.
• Thomas recognized that Joker was dead, then met Bruce as Alfred explained that Bruce had been insisting on resuscitating him.
• Bruce stepped out of the darkness, and Thomas declared himself Bruce’s father before punching him into the equipment.

Su Ming brought Thomas Wayne back to reunite with Bruce, whose Joker Toxin had been worsening his mental state. After Thomas mistook the Joker for Bruce’s fiancée and beat Bruce, father and son verified each other’s identities and reunited, while the Joker’s body was prepared for disposal.

• Thomas returned to the Batcave, mistook the Joker’s corpse for Bruce’s dead fiancée, and punched Bruce for tormenting Alfred.
• Su Ming and Oliver explained that Thomas’s return could ease Bruce’s emotional burden, and Bruce gradually became clearer as he endured the beating.
• Thomas and Bruce embraced, then confirmed their identities by recalling a private memory from Bruce’s childhood in the Batcave.
• Bruce explained that Selina, not the Joker, had been his fiancée, and Thomas agreed to go with him to see her.
• Bruce ordered Alfred to prepare a rocket to send the Joker’s corpse into the sun, while Su Ming remarked that someone would always become the Joker.

Su Ming reflected on why he kept helping Batwoman and the Justice League, then discussed The Batman Who Laughs's possible plans with Diana. After Thomas and Bruce joined them for breakfast, the group finally began discussing their situation.

• Su Ming told Oliver and Barry that he had helped Batwoman despite the personal cost, while Barry and Diana questioned him about his choices.
• Su Ming and Diana considered whether The Batman Who Laughs might use the Court of Owls' Final Laugh system, but worried that investigating it could be a trap.
• Diana asked whether The Batman Who Laughs's team might include another Batwoman, but Su Ming said they had no evidence for the theory.
• The two Batwomen returned, Alfred took over cooking Oliver's pancakes, and everyone ate breakfast with Thomas and Bruce seated together.
• After Alfred left, Su Ming and Oliver began discussing the situation with the two Batwomen.

After a third Bruce Wayne corpse appeared in Gotham, Su Ming and the heroes realized The Batman Who Laughs might be manipulating their investigation. Thomas Wayne took the team to the police station while Bruce stayed behind for treatment, and the chapter ended with Gordon doubting whether Su Ming was really Deathstroke.

• Alfred kept Gordon under house arrest again until Su Ming arranged to release him for the investigation.
• Bruce showed the team surveillance footage of a dead alternate Bruce Wayne, and Brother Eye enhanced the image.
• Su Ming, Bruce, and the others considered how the three Bruce Wayne corpses, including Brutal Knight, might connect to The Batman Who Laughs's plan.
• Thomas insisted Bruce stay behind and take Martha's Joker Toxin antidote, then led the others to retrieve Gordon.
• Thomas convinced Gordon that he was the real Thomas Wayne, and Su Ming opened a portal to take the group to the police station.

Su Ming and the Justice League investigated three dead Bruce Wayne counterparts in Gotham, finding that two had unknown causes of death and that all three may have lost their souls through demonic bargains. Su Ming prepared to consult Little Lucky Ape about the suspected demon involvement as Earth faced destruction.

• Su Ming, Gordon, Thomas, and the Justice League examined the bodies, and Barry used the Speed Force to produce a forensic report.
• Barry found that the Mayor of Gotham City and Happy Daddy had unknown causes of death, while Brutal Knight had already lost his life force before Oliver killed him.
• Doctor Fette reported that Happy Daddy had died from no familiar cause, and Barry said the deaths might have involved souls being taken or a timed curse.
• Diana, Barry, Oliver, and Su Ming suspected the Bruces had made demonic deals to fulfill their wishes, with their souls taken as payment.
• Su Ming concluded that the Batman Who Laughs may have exploited differences in timelines and prepared to open a portal to consult Little Lucky Ape.

Su Ming entered the collapsing Dreaming to investigate the Nightmare and rescued its inhabitants from battling angels and It-Things. Meanwhile, Batwoman ignored Thomas’s orders to stay home and headed to Metropolis to assist the Justice League and return Starman to the Justice Society.

• Su Ming questioned a frightened, talking apple about its master and learned that the Dreaming’s battlefield was approaching.
• Su Ming destroyed the angels and It-Things with a powerful beam, healing injured animals and drawing a crowd of grateful survivors.
• Su Ming asked one animal to stay and provide information in exchange for his help, prompting the animals to compete for the chance.
• Batwoman told Alfred she did not trust Thomas’s judgment and prepared to leave the Batcave despite his orders.
• Batwoman flew to Metropolis to advise the Justice League and planned to return Starman to the Justice Society.

Lex Luthor and Brainiac waited for Perpetua to awaken while discussing their plans and the Justice League’s movements. Luthor showed Brainiac how Vandal Savage gained immortality from a meteorite fragment, which he believed had come from their future and was connected to his plan to reshape the Source Wall.

• Brainiac warned Luthor against watching Perpetua directly, and Luthor said they would wait for her to awaken before continuing their plan.
• Luthor explained that the Justice League’s attention was occupied by their enemies while his own plans proceeded, and that he had drawn Deathstroke away from Batwoman to create an opening.
• Luthor showed Brainiac a vision of Vandal Savage finding a golden meteorite fragment in a crater and gaining strength, intelligence, and immortality from it.
• Brainiac identified the fragment as possibly processed Nth Metal from the Source Wall, and Luthor suggested it had come from the future.
• Luthor said the Justice League would take the step he expected, with key players already positioned and their major opponent tied down in Gotham.

Lex Luthor revealed to Brainiac how his father and Vandal Savage uncovered the Powers of Creation, and how Luthor’s plans served his father’s New Humans Project. After Superman left his family to answer J'onn’s call, Batwoman took over the channel and gave him one minute.

• Vandal Savage recruited Lionel Luthor to study the meteor fragment, and Lionel learned about five of the seven Powers of Creation.
• Lex Luthor explained to Brainiac that magic and X Metal were not among the seven powers, and that the Justice League was unknowingly helping them reach Dimensional Force.
• Lex revealed that Vandal Savage had erased the Luthors’ memories and hidden the Door Handle of Destruction after their disagreement over the Totality.
• Lex said he killed Vandal Savage and formed the Legion of Doom to finish his father’s New Humans Project and remake humanity.
• Clark left Lois, Jonathan, and Martha in Kansas to respond to J'onn’s message, but Batwoman cut in and told him he had one minute.

Su Ming entered the crumbling Dream King's castle with a talking white rabbit and learned that a gas mask could reveal a path through the Dreaming. He followed the trail to seek clues about Daniel and the Dream King's disappearance, and saw Nightmare ahead.

• Su Ming explored the castle and discussed the Dream King's disappearance and the collapse of the planes with the rabbit.
• The rabbit identified a gas mask in a portrait frame as the Dream King's crown and explained that Su Ming could borrow it without inheriting the role.
• Su Ming put on the mask, breathed in its sweet scent, and saw a path and Nightmare.
• Su Ming followed the white footprints revealed by the mask to investigate what Daniel had done before he left.

Su Ming followed the footprints through Dream’s upside-down Great Library, found a clue in a secret compartment, and left the rabbit safely behind before teleporting away. Meanwhile, Clark arrived at the Justice League’s emergency base in Metropolis and squeezed through its tiny entrance.

• Su Ming followed the footprints into the inverted Great Library, where he learned the rabbit did not understand the castle’s strange rules.
• Su Ming opened a tiny compartment in a pillar, examined a cloth bundle, and gave the rabbit cola and Spicy Strips while telling it to wait safely.
• Su Ming summoned the Upside-Down Man and teleported away, leaving the rabbit behind with its tongue burning from the spicy snack.
• Clark reached the Justice League’s backup base after spending a minute helping people around flood-struck Metropolis.
• Clark forced himself through the small opening beneath the Wayne Enterprises logo into the newly built emergency base.

Su Ming returned from the Dreaming with Dream’s crown and explained that the It-Things had invaded through dreams, altering people’s memories and making them seem like demons from a Hell Plane. The group realized that even their own past knowledge could no longer be trusted.

• Su Ming returned to Gotham with Dream’s crown and regrouped with Barry, Thomas, Diana, and Oliver in Crime Alley.
• Su Ming described how mad angels and the It-Things had invaded the Dreaming through rifts in the sky.
• Oliver explained that the Endless had separate high-level domains, and Su Ming reasoned that the It-Things might have entered from a dimension above the Dreaming.
• Su Ming identified Lucifer’s Hell as the likely route and proposed that a Batman from the Dark Multiverse had created a Hell Plane to invade their multiverse.
• Su Ming concluded that the It-Things had altered memories through dreams, leaving the group uncertain which of their memories were real.

Su Ming and the others discovered that The Batman Who Laughs had disguised his toxin-laced rain as ordinary Gotham rain and planned to sabotage the weather-based Final Laugh. Su Ming revealed his Yellow Lantern Ring and proposed using Thomas's Fear Toxin to power a giant fan that would disperse the storm.

• Su Ming and the others realized Gotham's rain smelled of chemicals because The Batman Who Laughs had altered its scent to conceal his toxin plan.
• Oliver explained that the rain clouds had traveled from the Atlantic, where no operating Chemical Plants could have polluted them, exposing the artificial smell as a disguise.
• Su Ming rejected investigating the remaining Dark Knights and decided to dismantle The Batman Who Laughs' plan by blowing the clouds away.
• Su Ming stopped Barry from seeking Superman's help, then revealed a Yellow Lantern Ring that could create a massive fan.
• Su Ming asked Thomas for Fear Toxin to provide the fear needed to power the ring, and Thomas confirmed that he carried some.