Chapter Summaries

Selene Kyle questioned whether marrying Bruce Wayne would make Batman disappear, but Thor appeared in her apartment disguised as Thomas Wayne and challenged her fears. After demonstrating his power over life and death, he gave her a tiny flying Bruce Wayne-like creature as a gift, leaving her stunned.

• Selene Kyle worried that giving Bruce Wayne happiness would end Batman and put Gotham at risk.
• Thor appeared in Selene's apartment disguised as Thomas Wayne and claimed to be Bruce's father.
• Thor demonstrated that he could make a plant and its pot decay into dust, then restore them.
• Selene lowered her whip but asked Thor why he had come to see her.
• Thor gave Selene a tiny creature in a purple Batsuit, which flew from his palm and stared at her.

Thor gave Selene a rare alien creature called Tuotuo and challenged her belief that her happiness would undermine Bruce’s life as Batman. After warning her about Holly Robinson, Thor disappeared, leaving Selene to face Bruce and present Tuotuo as his father’s engagement gift to them.

• Tuotuo mimicked a miniature Batman and settled on Selene’s head after Thor explained its abilities and gave it to her.
• Thor told Selene that Bruce’s compassion, not only his childhood tragedy, kept him fighting crime, and that he deserved both love and a life as Batman.
• Thor warned Selene that Holly Robinson had been subjected to psychological suggestion by Bane’s people, then vanished.
• Superman Clark and Batman arrived, and Bruce urgently checked Selene for injuries and asked what Thomas had told her.
• Selene showed Bruce Tuotuo and called it his father’s engagement gift to them.

Bruce tried to detain Tuotuo for testing, but Selene protected it as her engagement gift from Thomas Wayne. Clark suggested asking Alfred to verify whether the man really was Bruce’s father, and Bruce left to investigate Thomas and the possibility that Martha had been brought back to life.

• Bruce and Tuotuo imitated each other until Clark was caught photographing them for the Justice League.
• Bruce paid Clark one hundred thousand dollars and promised Lois a refrigerator in exchange for the camera, but Tuotuo mimicked Bruce’s bargaining and demanded payment too.
• Bruce planned to take Tuotuo to the Batcave for quarantine testing, but Selene refused to let him and defended the creature’s behavior.
• Bruce questioned whether the strange, powerful Thomas Wayne could really be his father, and Clark suggested asking Alfred to recognize him.
• Bruce accepted Clark’s suggestion and left for Gotham, wondering whether Thomas had truly brought Martha back to life.

Damian overheard Gotham’s leading criminals discuss Bruce Wayne’s identity and warn that Thomas Wayne had returned, revealing that he was far more dangerous than Batman. Damian left to deliver the recording to Bruce, uncertain what his grandfather intended for Gotham.

• Damian investigated an abandoned factory after hearing the sounds of a gathering and secretly recorded a meeting of Gotham’s criminals.
• Bane announced that Bruce Wayne was Batman, alarming the gathered villains.
• Bane warned that Thomas Wayne had returned and described how he had killed powerful threats during the Dark Nights crisis.
• Bane urged the criminals to stay away from the Wayne family and Wayne Enterprises or risk being killed by Thomas.
• Damian stopped recording and slipped away to get the evidence to Bruce.

Thor confronted Gotham’s villains, effortlessly dismantled Mr. Freeze’s armor, and forced the group to their knees. He spared Damian and gave him a Bat Tuotuo plush just as Batman arrived, then said he had come to give his grandson a gift and clean up the criminals.

• Penguin proposed seeking Lex Luthor’s protection, and the other villains began to agree.
• Thor tore open the alloy door and entered the conference room, where Mr. Freeze’s attack vanished before reaching him.
• Thor dismantled Mr. Freeze’s armor with a snap and used overwhelming pressure to force the villains, including Bane, to their knees.
• Damian made a noise in the ventilation duct, and Thor noticed him as Bruce urgently ordered him to retreat.
• Thor immobilized Damian but flicked a Bat Tuotuo plush onto his face instead of hurting him.
• Batman burst into the factory, and Thor told him he had brought his grandson a gift and cleaned up the criminals.

Bruce saved Mr. Freeze by rebuilding his life-support suit, then agreed to take Thor to Wayne Manor after announcing his engagement ceremony with Selene. Damian accepted a strange gift from Thor as the three left the factory together, while Thor remarked that Damian resembled Bruce as a child.

• Bruce reassembled Mr. Freeze Victor’s life-support suit and stabilized his body temperature.
• Bruce warned Thor not to make decisions in Gotham, and Thor’s threat caused Penguin, Riddler, Two-Face, and Bane to flee.
• Bruce told Thor that he and Selene would hold their engagement ceremony in five days, then agreed to take him to Wayne Manor.
• Damian discovered a small black bat-like creature and kept it after Thor said it was a rare gift for those beloved by bats.
• Bruce, Damian, and Thor drove away from the factory in the Batmobile, and Thor compared Damian to Bruce as a child.

Bruce questioned Thor about Martha’s possible resurrection and learned more about the creature Damian carried and Thor’s organization. They arrived at the Batcave, where Thor greeted Alfred as an old acquaintance.

• Bruce asked Thor whether Martha could be brought back, and Thor said the process was still underway.
• Bruce refused Thor’s offer of a pager, while Damian took out the small creature and asked what it could do.
• Thor explained that Tuotuo could copy powers, techniques, and equipment in weakened forms, and that Tony had suppressed its ability to reproduce.
• Bruce learned that Tony worked for Thor and might be maintaining peace in another universe, then analyzed what the details revealed about Thor.
• The Batmobile reached the Batcave, where Thor picked up Alfred’s tea and greeted him as someone he had not seen in a long time.

Thor told Bruce that Selene feared marrying him would make him give up being Batman, leaving Bruce shaken and prompting Alfred to urge him to speak with her. Thor returned to Wayne Manor with Alfred while Bruce remained in the Batcave, newly determined to confront what Selene believed.

• Thor told Alfred that danger might disrupt Bruce and Selene's wedding, then said Selene might not have agreed to marry Bruce if Thor had not visited her.
• Thor explained that Selene believed her happiness could cause Bruce to abandon Batman, and Bruce reacted with shock and doubt.
• Alfred reminded Bruce that pain was not the only thing that kept him going and suggested he speak with Selene at Wayne Manor the next evening.
• Thor asked Alfred to take him to Wayne Manor, and Alfred tested him with a question about roses he had planted for Martha.
• Bruce watched Damian play with Tuotuo and, after reflecting on Selene and his life as Batman, became resolute.

After Bruce left to see Selene, Damian sparred with the living, flying Bat Tuotuo in the Batcave, drawing the attention of Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, and Barbara Gordon. Damian bragged that Father gave it to him because he was the person most loved by bats, and the chapter ended with Dick doubting Bruce had given Damian such a cuddly pet.

• Bruce put on his cowl, told Damian to keep watch, and left the Batcave to see Selene.
• Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, and Barbara Gordon arrived and found Damian fighting the flying, miniature-Batman-clad creature.
• Barbara scanned the creature and found that it was alive but unlike any known Earth life-form or species in the Justice League database.
• Jason challenged Damian, and Tuotuo helped him by attacking Jason with trick Batarangs that released pink smoke, frost, electricity, and slime.
• Damian held Tuotuo and bragged that Father gave it to him because he was the person most loved by bats, prompting Jason to resume fighting him.
• Dick separated Jason and Damian while Barbara cuddled Tuotuo, and Dick insisted Bruce would never give Damian a miniature, fluffy bat pet.

Barbara’s scan of Tuotuo triggered the Batcave’s Omega-level self-destruct protocol, and Tuotuo made Jason’s guns disappear. At Wayne Manor, Thor unnerved Alfred by recalling a private memory of Thomas Wayne and asking whether Bruce had smiled since leaving the alley.

• Barbara scanned Tuotuo and found that its body was made of evolving, higher-dimensional energy the Batcomputer could not analyze.
• Tuotuo sneezed, shutting off the Batcave lights and activating the Omega-level self-destruct countdown.
• Jason aimed his pistols at Tuotuo, but Tuotuo sent out a heart-shaped bubble that carried the guns away and made them vanish.
• Thor adjusted Thomas Wayne and Martha Wayne’s painting and recalled a private incident involving Bruce, Alfred, and a broken vase.
• Alfred recognized the story as a secret he had shared with Thomas, and Thor told him Bruce had never truly smiled since leaving the alley.

Thor told Alfred that he had returned as Death’s agent, could bring Martha back, and would leave after Bruce’s engagement, but abandoning his role would kill him. He secretly stopped the Batcave’s self-destruct program, leaving the Bat Family baffled, then went with Alfred to await his favorite meal.

• Thor told Alfred that his emotions would fade and that he had returned partly to see Bruce and bring Martha back to life.
• Thor explained that Death could erase even Barbatos and that giving up his position as her agent would kill him and end any chance of Martha’s return.
• Alfred accepted Thor’s limited time and suggested planting roses for Martha, and Thor agreed.
• Thor secretly reversed the Batcave’s recent events and stopped the self-destruct program without anyone noticing.
• The Bat Family found the Omega Protocol’s logs blank, while Damian regarded the sleeping Tuotuo as a miracle.
• Thor told Alfred that he missed his cooking, and Alfred went to prepare beef Wellington and cream of mushroom soup.

Selene worried that marrying Bruce would put his family and Gotham at risk, but Bruce reassured her that Thomas’s power had changed the balance against Gotham’s villains. She accepted Bruce’s proposal and kissed him, then wondered whether she should call Thomas “father.”

• Bruce told Selene he planned to gradually step back from being Batman while still answering future crises.
• Selene explained that she feared their happiness might distract them and bring misfortune to the Bat Family.
• Bruce said Thomas had killed Black Adam and Vandal Savage, making Gotham’s criminals unlikely to act for a while.
• Selene accepted Bruce’s proposal, called him her future husband, and kissed him.
• Selene asked Bruce whether she should call Thomas “father” when she saw him.

Bruce invited Selene to dinner at Wayne Manor, then took her to the Batcave. At the manor, Thor learned that Valeria had found more than thirty dangerous locations across the multiverse and sent three teams to investigate, just as Bruce and Selene arrived.

• Bruce invited Selene to dinner the next evening, but she insisted they go to Wayne Manor immediately.
• Bruce took Selene to the Batcave in the Batmobile while Thor ate dinner at Wayne Manor with Alfred.
• Valeria told Thor she had identified more than thirty locations that rejected Tenth Metal and were filled with fear and negative energy.
• Thor ordered Valeria to send Dark Supreme Doctor Strange, Classic Loki, and Kara with elite squads to investigate, warning them not to act without reporting to him.
• The Batmobile arrived at Wayne Manor, and Thor anticipated Bruce and Selene's arrival.

After Alfred confirmed that Bruce's engagement ceremony with Selene would take place the day after tomorrow, Bruce began informing his Justice League friends. Clark and Diana reacted with surprise and happiness, while Selene encouraged Bruce to get used to sharing his life with others.

• Alfred told Bruce that Thomas had left on important business and that the engagement ceremony had been moved to the day after tomorrow; Bruce agreed but remained doubtful about Thomas's identity.
• Bruce called Clark and announced his engagement to Selene, leaving Clark stunned before he eagerly agreed to attend.
• Clark called Diana with the news, and Diana celebrated and decided to tell Arthur, Barry, and the others herself.
• At Wayne Manor, Selene brought Bruce tea and massaged his shoulders as he admitted he was unused to sharing his affairs or being the center of attention.
• Selene told Bruce that his world would include more than darkness and secrets, urging him to get used to it.

Diana told the Justice League that Bruce and Selene were getting engaged at Wayne Manor the day after tomorrow, shocking the heroes. The League began preparing to celebrate and secure the event.

• Barry and Hal discussed how quiet the world had become before Diana arrived with important news.
• Diana announced that Bruce and Selene were getting engaged, and Hal and Barry reacted with disbelief.
• Diana told Arthur in Atlantis, and he promised to attend with a suitable gift.
• Diana informed Victor at the Watchtower, and he decided to raise its security level to maximum for the occasion.
• The news spread through the League, whose members discussed gifts and started a betting pool about whether Bruce would smile.

Bruce Wayne and Selene held their engagement ceremony at Wayne Manor, surrounded by family, friends, and members of the Justice League. After exchanging rings and thanking Thor for helping him open his heart, Bruce left the celebration with Selene, while Thor’s joking threat to beat up Bruce’s son left Damian bewildered.

• Alfred welcomed the guests and toasted the Waynes, acknowledging Thor’s return.
• Bruce and Selene exchanged rings, and Bruce said he had never expected to reach this day until Selene came into his life.
• Selene joked that she had married Bruce to hear what nonsense he would say at the wedding.
• Bruce thanked Thor for helping him stop pushing away the people who mattered to him, and Thor raised his glass in response.
• Selene toasted Thor for encouraging Bruce to speak to her, and Thor told her to beat Bruce up if he refused to cooperate.
• Thor joked that he would beat up Bruce’s son if needed, leaving Damian confused as he listened nearby.

Thor left Wayne Manor after telling Bruce he had no interest in ruling a world, and Bruce questioned Alfred about whether Thor was truly Thomas. Bruce and Alfred then encountered Martha Wayne at the manor gates, where Bruce welcomed his mother home.

• Thor told Bruce he was leaving and said he might return to meet Bruce’s future child before vanishing into specks of light.
• Alfred joined Bruce, who asked whether Thor was really Thomas, and Alfred said Thor’s concern for Bruce was genuine whether or not he was Thomas.
• Alfred told Bruce that Gotham acquaintances, Lex Luthor, and Amanda Waller had sent gifts, but Bruce refused to respond.
• Bruce and Alfred saw a woman at the manor gates who looked exactly as Martha Wayne had on the night she died.
• Alfred welcomed the woman home, and Bruce confirmed he was her son and welcomed her home as his mother.

Peter Parker, Morgan Stark, and Robert Reynolds spent time together on a New York rooftop until Robert detected that their surroundings had changed. Robert concluded they were no longer in their original world, leaving Peter confused and alert.

• Peter asked Morgan what she wanted for lunch, and she insisted on fried chicken and ice cream while clutching Spider Tuotuo.
• Robert told Peter he had been placed under special surveillance and that Wanda had sealed away his Void personality.
• Peter recalled visiting other universes and described encountering a world overrun by zombies, while Morgan mocked his attempt to scare her.
• A faint ripple passed through the world without anyone noticing.
• Robert noticed that Philip's Deli had been replaced, the Sun was in the wrong position, and the air smelled unfamiliar.
• Robert told Peter they might not be in their original New York, and Peter asked what he meant.

Peter discovered that he, Robert, and Morgan had been trapped in the branch universe 199999-B, where an unknown force had locked the passage to their home universe. When Peter saw this universe’s Spider-Man about to be killed by a mind-controlled Hulk, he swung in to help.

• Peter asked Karen to contact the Avengers and learned that the local Avengers were facing two legal disputes, then confirmed they were in Universe 199999-B.
• Karen reported that an outside force had locked the dimensional passage with advanced technology and unknown magic, while Peter noted his Spider-Sense had not detected any hostile intent.
• Robert transformed into Sentry combat mode as Morgan said her Allen could not contact Daddy and that the local network was strange.
• Peter, Robert, and Morgan saw Hulk fighting another Spider-Man, and Robert sensed Hulk was under mental control and growing stronger.
• After Hulk slammed the other Spider-Man into an academic building and moved in to finish him, Peter leaped toward the fight and ordered Karen to analyze the suit and activate the Symbiote Suit.

Peter-A arrived during Peter-B’s fight with Hulk and saved his injured counterpart, then battled Hulk in the Symbiote Suit. Hulk grew into a nearly six-meter colossus, leaving Peter-A facing an overwhelming threat.

• Morgan complained that Peter had left her behind, but Robert explained that Peter wanted to keep her safe and carried her away.
• Hulk charged at the badly injured Peter-B, but Peter-A blocked the punch and helped him up.
• Peter-B introduced himself and splinted his broken ribs with organic webbing while Peter-A went after Hulk.
• Peter-A dodged Hulk’s attacks and wounded him with Symbiote blades, but Hulk caught him and smashed him into the ground and a building.
• Hulk grew to nearly six meters tall, and Peter-A cautiously asked if they could make up.