Chapter Summaries

As Gotham sank into the Dark Multiverse, Su Ming helped clear Barbatos’s flying monsters while searching for a way to reach him. With Barry still too ill to use the Speed Force, Su Ming prepared to launch a surprise attack on Barbatos himself.

• Barbatos summoned Joker-headed monsters to overwhelm the Heroes and blasted the Ultima Thule, sending it crashing toward the ground.
• Su Ming asked the assembled Wonder Women for help, and the Diana from Earth 23 agreed to carry him into the sky.
• Su Ming and Black Wonder Woman cut through the flying monsters, reducing their numbers and clearing a stretch of airspace.
• Su Ming parted from Black Wonder Woman and prepared to attack Barbatos, while Barry remained incapacitated by vomiting.

Su Ming tried to arrange a surprise attack on Barbatos, the source of the spreading darkness, and found allies among the arriving heroes. As Earth-8’s Avengers distracted Barbatos, Su Ming asked Red Son Superman to launch him toward the Tuning Fork’s summit.

• Su Ming judged that Barbatos was the key to stopping the world from falling and called Superman over to help him attack.
• Su Ming discovered that the Superman who landed beside him was Red Son from Earth-30 and explained his surprise-attack plan in Russian.
• American Crusader led Earth-8’s Avengers toward the Tuning Fork, drawing Barbatos’s attention with their unfamiliar team.
• Su Ming seized the opening and asked Red Son Superman to fly him up and throw him at Barbatos.
• Red Son Superman warned that the attack could be deadly, but Su Ming claimed his Healing Factor made him the sharpest weapon.

Su Ming and Red Son waited above Gotham for Barbatos to attack the Avengers so they could ambush him with a Tenth Metal-coated greatsword. After the American Crusader survived Barbatos's first blast and Blue Behemoth drew the next attack, Otherworld Clark hurled Su Ming toward the Tuning Fork.

• Su Ming abandoned his plans to rely on the missing Diana and the incapacitated Barry, and decided to confront Barbatos himself.
• Red Son carried Su Ming above Gotham, where they waited for Barbatos to attack the Avengers and create an opening.
• Barbatos fired a beam of dark energy at the Avengers, and the American Crusader blocked it with his shield before charging again.
• Superman spotted Blue Behemoth drawing Barbatos's attention, and Su Ming prepared to strike during the next attack.
• Otherworld Clark spun Su Ming and threw him toward the Tuning Fork.

Su Ming’s attack on Barbatos failed, forcing him underground while other heroes distracted the dark god. Batwoman led Su Ming to Cyborg, Aquaman, and Martian Manhunter, whom he freed from their restraints.

• Red Son launched Su Ming toward Barbatos, but Barbatos dodged the greatsword strike and Su Ming crashed into Challenger Mountain.
• Su Ming used Godslayer to drill underground, survived Barbatos’s energy beam, and fled through a side tunnel.
• Giant Baby attacked Barbatos, followed by Wangjina, but Barbatos blasted both away.
• The Silver Witch used Order Magic to bind Barbatos and clash with his dark energy beam.
• Batwoman led Su Ming to Cyborg, who was strapped to an operating table, and Su Ming cut him free.
• Su Ming rescued Aquaman and Martian Manhunter from nearby restraints.

Su Ming chose to rescue Martian Manhunter rather than Aquaman, then brought him back to Batwoman and Cyborg in the hole beneath the Cosmic Tuning Fork. After J'onn woke and learned they were in the final battle, Su Ming asked him to help fight Barbatos.

• Su Ming decided Martian Manhunter would be more useful than Aquaman and carried him back through the opening Batwoman had widened.
• Batwoman noticed Barbatos glancing toward the base of the Tuning Fork and withdrew before his attacks could reach them.
• Martian Manhunter woke, failed to read Su Ming's mind, and used Bruce's active memories to learn the situation.
• Martian Manhunter thanked Su Ming for rescuing him, and Su Ming asked him to help in the battle against Barbatos.

Su Ming restored J'onn and Cyborg with Tenth Metal, then sent J'onn to sabotage Barbatos while Batwoman revived Cyborg. J'onn's grenades helped the Silver Witch break Barbatos free from the Tuning Fork, and Barry arrived just as Barbatos fell toward the battlefield.

• Su Ming used a drop of Tenth Metal to restore J'onn and asked him to hang grenades on Barbatos's robe.
• J'onn turned invisible and flew toward Barbatos with the grenades while Su Ming gave Batwoman Tenth Metal to revive Cyborg.
• Cyborg woke and began checking his systems after the Mother Box had nearly separated from him.
• J'onn's grenades exploded against Barbatos, filling him with Tenth Metal fragments and distracting him during his struggle with the Silver Witch.
• The Silver Witch used Order Magic to seize Barbatos and pull him free of the Tuning Fork.
• Su Ming ran toward the falling Barbatos, and Barry appeared behind him and carried him forward.

Su Ming used the Speed Force to let Barbatos fall onto him, then carved through the monster’s organs and escaped from his body. With Barbatos defeated but not dead and the other heroes handling the remaining enemies, Su Ming searched for Barry after suspecting The Batman Who Laughs had taken control of Diana.

• Silver Witch dragged Barbatos from the tower, and Barry lent Su Ming the Speed Force so he could meet Barbatos at the landing point.
• Su Ming let Barbatos crash onto him and hacked blindly through the dark energy and organs inside the monster’s body.
• Several Supermen restrained Barbatos while Su Ming used his screams to identify the organs he was striking, then cut an opening in Barbatos’s side and escaped.
• The heroes defeated the Joker Dragons and scattered villains while Cyborg and Martian Manhunter examined the Cosmic Tuning Fork.
• Su Ming suspected The Batman Who Laughs had exploited Diana’s weakness and searched the crowd for Barry.

Su Ming and Barry headed to Batwoman’s Batcave after realizing it was the likely place to find The Batman Who Laughs. There, the villain held the powerless Monitor captive and waited for Bruce, intending to destroy every universe and claim that he would free everyone from their fates.

• Su Ming found Barry hiding in a tunnel and eating cookies, then asked him to lead the way to The Batman Who Laughs and Diana.
• Su Ming and Barry concluded that The Batman Who Laughs was likely in Batwoman’s Batcave beneath Wayne Manor.
• The Batman Who Laughs restrained the powerless Monitor beside a machine that could make the Monitor and Anti-Monitor’s brains collide and destroy all universes.
• The Batman Who Laughs revealed his plan to kill every Batwoman, including himself, and believed this would free everyone from their predetermined stories.
• The Batman Who Laughs watched Barbatos’s defeat on the Batcave cameras and anticipated Bruce’s arrival, while Wonder Woman remained unconscious and tied to a pillar.

The Batman Who Laughs revealed that he had knowingly followed his scripted fate while secretly planning to exploit a break in the editors’ control and force repeated reboots. As Su Ming and Barry headed for the Batcave, Su Ming prepared to stop the Batman Who Laughs and recruit allies, though he did not know how the Butterfly Effect had changed his enemy.

• The Batman Who Laughs explained that he had used the Omnipotent Wishing Machine to see beyond the Fourth Wall and devised a plan to make the editors reboot the worlds by killing the Batmen.
• The Batman Who Laughs said he had concealed his sanity and waited for an anomaly, then seized his chance when Red Death lost contact and the editors’ control seemed to vanish.
• The chapter described how Harley Quinn could communicate with the editors and cross the Fourth Wall, but Su Ming’s arrival had disrupted those connections and altered the story.
• Barry carried Su Ming through ruined Gotham, where Su Ming learned that Wayne Enterprises had profited from rebuilding the city.
• Su Ming planned to secure the Batcave, find Diana, assemble a combat team, and make Joker either help them or leave.
• Su Ming explained his plan to Barry and prepared to confront the Batman Who Laughs, while remaining uncertain how the Butterfly Effect had changed him.

Su Ming and Barry entered the Batcave to secure the Anti-Monitor's planetary brain before confronting The Batman Who Laughs. Barry searched for the brain while Su Ming faced The Batman Who Laughs and stalled him, wary of his preparations and Wonder Woman's captivity.

• Barry took Su Ming through the Speed Force to the Batcave, where they planned to remove the Anti-Monitor's planetary brain and send it away with Clark.
• Barry left to search for the brain while Su Ming examined the Batcave and found The Batman Who Laughs waiting before a display screen.
• Su Ming realized The Batman Who Laughs seemed more composed and prepared than he had expected, and suspected he might have a dangerous way to detonate the brains.
• Su Ming spotted Wonder Woman tied to a stone pillar and decided to talk with The Batman Who Laughs while waiting for Barry.

Su Ming stalled The Batman Who Laughs with an awkward dance-off while waiting for Barry and the others to advance their plan. The chapter ended with the multiverse’s Cyborgs reversing the Cosmic Tuning Fork and preparing to restore the Main Universe.

• Su Ming sang and danced badly to confuse The Batman Who Laughs and buy time.
• The Batman Who Laughs accepted Su Ming’s challenge and performed a shuffle dance while his Robins applauded.
• Diana watched from where she was tied to a pillar, astonished by the dance-off.
• Su Ming continued with a terrible freestyle rap, hoping to keep The Batman Who Laughs distracted until Barry returned.
• The Cyborgs from across the multiverse reversed the Cosmic Tuning Fork on Challenger Mountain and prepared to supply energy to restore the Main Universe.

Batwoman and Cyborg began restoring Earth-0 and organizing relief efforts after Barbatos was imprisoned and the invasion stopped. Bruce trusted Otherworld Deathstroke to help with the plan while Barry and Diana pursued The Batman Who Laughs.

• Cyborg told Batwoman that the program was ready as they surveyed Gotham’s devastation and the vast rescue and repair work ahead.
• Bruce ordered Cyborg to use Tenth Metal resonance to return Earth-0 to its original position and repair the rift in the Blood Domain.
• Bruce supplied the Tenth Metal vial he had kept from Su Ming, and Cyborg questioned whether Otherworld Deathstroke could be trusted.
• Bruce explained that Deathstroke was dependable until his bill was paid and distinguished him from the Deathstroke who had tormented the Teen Titans.
• Bruce noted that Barry and Diana were pursuing The Batman Who Laughs while he and Cyborg continued their work.

Bruce organized the heroes to use Tenth Metal and the Cosmic Tuning Fork to restore Earth to its proper place. As the Blood Domain healed, the energy also struck and shattered the Source Wall, exposing the unknown beyond it.

• Bruce greeted the rescued heroes and told Supergirl he had not been responsible for their rescue.
• Bruce announced Barbatos’s defeat and explained that the heroes would use Tenth Metal to restore their world.
• Bruce, Cyborg, Clark, and the other heroes joined hands and connected the Tuning Fork to the Mother Box.
• The silver light linked people across Earth, letting them share happy memories and help the Main World return to its proper place.
• The Blood Domain repaired itself, but the energy traveled beyond it and shattered the Source Wall.

The Source Wall cracked, disrupting events across the Main World and drawing attention from a time-traveling crew aboard a spaceship. Sara Lance learned that Earth-0 had become a temporal singularity with a threat level beyond the scale.

• The Source Wall cracked, and people across the Main World sensed that something was wrong.
• Half the Council of Eternity vanished during a discussion about Barbatos's failure and the damaged Source Wall.
• Sara Lance woke to an alarm and went to the bridge, where Gideon reported a spacetime distortion around Earth-0.
• Gideon revealed that Earth-0 had produced a temporal singularity that completely altered the Timeline and rated the threat Level 12.
• Sara collapsed onto a sofa after realizing the crisis exceeded the crew's threat scale.

Sara avoided intervening in Earth-0’s crisis by declaring a minor dinosaur-related timeline error the Legends’ next mission and sent the Waverider into the past. Meanwhile, the Heroes’ silver energy reached the Batcave, where Su Ming and the Batman Who Laughs stopped pretending to focus on their contest.

• Sara’s crew mistook her confusion for a breakdown, but she escaped their attempts to take her to the medical bay and asked whether Earth-0 was safe.
• After learning that Earth-0’s crisis appeared resolved, Sara dismissed the spacetime error and chose a low-threat timeline problem involving a dinosaur egg preserved in resin.
• The crew agreed to Sara’s choice, secured themselves aboard the Waverider, and followed her order to travel through time.
• The Heroes’ silver energy illuminated the Batcave, and Su Ming sensed their heroic thoughts through Tenth Metal.
• The Batman Who Laughs stopped rapping, and he and Su Ming watched one another as their pretense ended.

Su Ming realized The Batman Who Laughs had been feigning madness and had prepared for the confrontation, including capturing Barry and Joker. With the villain threatening to drop the Anti-Monitor's brain onto the Monitor using a remote, Su Ming overcame his fear and charged at the Robins.

• The Batman Who Laughs revealed that Barry had been incapacitated by a hypnosis needle and had the Robins bring out Barry and Joker.
• The Batman Who Laughs tied Barry and Joker beside Wonder Woman and said he was waiting for Batwoman to arrive.
• Su Ming inferred that The Batman Who Laughs knew the original story and had crossed the Fourth Wall.
• Su Ming drew Nightfall Greatsword and Godslayer after deciding to confront The Batman Who Laughs rather than wait.
• The Batman Who Laughs threatened to press the remote, and Su Ming leaped at the Robins with both weapons.

Su Ming stopped The Batman Who Laughs from triggering the destruction of the universe, rescued the Monitor’s brain, and destroyed the Anti-Monitor’s brain. He then fought The Batman Who Laughs and unsettled him with claims about comic-book reality and the Heavenly Dao.

• Su Ming hurled Nightfall through the Robin Hounds and into the Brother Eye mainframe, plunging the chamber into darkness.
• Su Ming used Godslayer to catch the Monitor’s falling brain before it could collide with the Monitor’s head.
• The Batman Who Laughs pressed the button, but nothing happened, and Su Ming crushed the Anti-Monitor’s brain underfoot.
• The Batman Who Laughs pulled Nightfall from the mainframe and fought Su Ming, but their clash left them evenly matched.
• Su Ming claimed that everyone knew they were comic-book characters and that the Heavenly Dao controlled the writers, causing The Batman Who Laughs to falter while dodging his attacks.

Su Ming fought The Batman Who Laughs while protecting Barry, and Joker revealed he had been awake and pretending to be unconscious. The Batman Who Laughs found himself caught between Su Ming and Joker as the fight continued.

• The Batman Who Laughs tried to hit Barry with Batarangs, but Su Ming redirected them and was cut by the Dark Knight's sword.
• The Batman Who Laughs threw explosive Batarangs at Barry and the others, but Su Ming charged him instead of retreating.
• Joker emerged from the smoke after cutting his ropes and shooting the explosives, then confronted The Batman Who Laughs.
• Joker explained that he had drugged himself and pretended to be unconscious so he could keep playing with Batwoman in the Batcave.

Su Ming and the Joker joined forces to pressure The Batman Who Laughs, with Su Ming using his Tenth Metal skeleton to withstand attacks. The Joker armed himself with a Promethium dagger and began stabbing at their enemy, leaving The Batman Who Laughs struggling to escape.

• The Joker imagined Batman and the Heroes abandoning him for The Batman Who Laughs, then became determined to kill the impostor.
• Su Ming resumed attacking The Batman Who Laughs with the greatsword while the Joker searched his suit for a weapon.
• Su Ming recognized what the Joker wanted and tossed him a Promethium dagger taken from Talon Zero of Earth -11.
• The Joker admired the dagger's owl decoration, then approached The Batman Who Laughs and threatened him with it.
• Su Ming transformed Godslayer into two curved blades and launched a relentless assault, relying on his Tenth Metal skeleton to endure counterattacks.
• The Joker slipped in to stab The Batman Who Laughs whenever he dodged Su Ming, distracting him with nonstop chatter.

Su Ming and Joker defeated The Batman Who Laughs in the Batcave, and Joker claimed the severed head as a keepsake. Su Ming negotiated with Joker for a trade and waited to see what treasure he would offer.

• Joker distracted The Batman Who Laughs with acid and a dagger while Su Ming hooked him with a transforming staff and endured a greatsword strike.
• Su Ming revealed Tenth Metal spikes in his fist, pierced The Batman Who Laughs's heart, and then cut off his head.
• Joker returned Su Ming's Promethium dagger and took The Batman Who Laughs's head, asking to keep it as a companion.
• Su Ming asked Joker what he would offer for the head, and Joker reached into his suit and presented a clenched hand as a mysterious treasure.