Doomsday Clock #2 (2018)

In Nite Owl's hideout, Ozymandias gives Marionette and Mime their original costumes, including Marionette's favorite perfume. As the couple gets dressed, on the Owlship Ozymandias shows the "new" Rorschach a tape: Mime and Marionette were robbing a bank when they were stopped by the appearance of Doctor Manhattan. Mime threatened Manhattan with his invisible gun and when the superhuman was about to kill him, Marionette stood between them as a living shield for her beloved. Manhattan oddly stopped and went away, as the guards arrested the duo. Ozymandias explains to Rorschach that this must mean that Marionette shares some kind of bond with the godly creature, so she is coming along in the search for him to make him realize they need him back. Unknown to the two spectators, though, Manhattan did not kill Marionette because he heard inside her belly the heartbeat of her son, whom she and Mime now watch in photographs with apprehension. As the Owlship takes flight, Ozymandias explains to his fellow travellers that Doctor Manhattan's distinctive blue color is caused by electrons leaking from his body. He was able to build a machine that can track the trail left by those electrons, and thus to follow him in whichever reality he hid in via Quantum Tunneling. At the exact same time of the detonation of the atomic bomb on Manhattan, Ozymandias teleports the team to a new, unknown world. In the universe where the Owlship landed, in Gotham City, Bruce Wayne takes a Rorchach test to establish his mental stability as requested by the Wayne Enterprises board of directors. As he does not seem too bothered by his business problems and more about the Mad Hatter being loose, Lucius Fox reminds him that if they do not stay sharp, the board could sell the company to LexCorp, thus putting in jeopardy their "side project", his life as the vigilante Batman. In the streets, protesters demonstrate against super-heroes after the burst of the "Supermen Theory" conspiracy. Bruce does not care about that and goes dressing up. The Owlship passes through the Batsignal in Gotham, crash-landing in an abandoned amusement park. Ozymandias wakes up Rorschach and together they decide to investigate the place while handcuffing Mime and Marionette to the ship until they are needed, to Marionette's disdain. Rorschach asks Ozymandias if it is really necessary to bring along his lynx, but he answers that she is more than a mere pet, she is "the compass". As they roam the streets of Gotham, Ozymandias has an idea: they will learn faster and better about this world at the public library. There, the two misfits find out about the humongous number of super-humans living in this reality and they notice that some of them are fictional characters in their own world. They argue that this may mean that Manhattan created them or acts like one of them, in disguise. Ultimately, they resolve to go talk to the two smartest people on this world: Bruce Wayne and Lex Luthor. Veidt chooses to meet with Luthor, as he believes him to be the smarter of the two. Rorschach breaks into Wayne Manor and eats Bruce's pancakes prepared by Alfred. He then takes little time to find out about the secret passage to the Batcave behind the grandfather clock. Meanwhile, Batman is busy knocking out the Mad Hatter and his accomplices, when he is notified of a stranger entering his secret base. Lex Luthor gets out of one of his labs after a failed experiment, and fires every scientist around. When he enters his study, he finds Ozymandias admiring one of his paintings. The stranger introduces himself as the smartest man on his world come to talk with the smartest man of this one, so before calling security Luthor intends to listen to what he has to say. Back on the Owlship, Marionette complains about the situation, so Mime remembers he took along his (invisible) lockpick, smiling. At the same time, Rorschach explores the cave, concluding that only a monster would keep as many trophies of the past as this Bruce Wayne; Ozymandias, instead, explains the plan that ruined him to Luthor, who is amazed that the self-proclaimed smartest man of that world would consider it as a good idea. Ozymandias cuts the story short, telling Luthor he knows they are alike and that they could help each other obtain what they desire. Suddenly, Ozymandias is shot at by Edward Blake, a.k.a. the Comedian, apparently back from the dead. Meanwhile, Batman reaches his mysterious stranger, who admits to eating his breakfast. Mime and Marionette have opened their handcuffs, meaning they are roaming free.