Chapter Summaries

Schiller explained how a program error let Magneto survive, causing the Mutants to destroy Apokolips and undermining Main Universe Batman’s standing. Superhuman then offered to protect Batman’s new base, but he trapped her before she could force him to accept.

• Schiller reasoned that Main Universe Batman had planned to use Magneto’s apparent death to manipulate the Mutants, but Magneto’s survival and Apokolips’s destruction disrupted his strategy.
• Stark and Steve discovered that reports about the Mutants’ conflicts with Thanos had been deleted, and Jarvis traced the cleanup to Ultron.
• Schiller suggested the culprit might be someone who could surpass Ultron’s master, while Stark and Steve turned their attention to him.
• In the Dark Dimension, Adventure Superman reassured Main Universe Batman after Apokolips fell and left him alone at the base.
• Superhuman appeared before Main Universe Batman, offered to give his new base a magical defense network, and admitted she had misled him to prove her existence.
• Main Universe Batman refused to accept Superhuman’s help and froze the space around her, pinning her in place as the dimension separated.

Main Universe Batman used the Life Equation to transform Superhuman into a new god, while Manhattan Batman hid the Dark Dimension in an independent dimension. The chapter ended with Main Universe Batman introducing Superhuman and Manhattan Batman to the gathered heroes.

• Main Universe Batman and Manhattan Batman inscribed the Life Equation into Superhuman’s soul, releasing a powerful force felt across the Multiverse.
• Strange and Stark sensed Superhuman’s transformation, and Strange led the Doctor Stranges to search for the Dark Dimension.
• Strange discovered that the Dark Dimension had vanished, while Manhattan Batman explained that he had separated it into an independent dimension.
• Main Universe Batman confronted Owlman in the conference hall and argued that destroying Apokolips had been a major success.
• Superhuman entered the hall, and Main Universe Batman introduced her as the Multiverse’s new god and revealed Manhattan Batman’s identity.

Manhattan Batman warned Main Universe Batman that a deathly silence was awakening in the Multiverse, and learned Batman had prepared the Life Equation to empower the Superhuman against it. After explaining how the Superhuman had been lured into absorbing the equation, Main Universe Batman turned his attention to insulting Owlman.

• Manhattan Batman arrived in the Main Universe and told Main Universe Batman that a powerful existence was awakening to bring deathly silence to the Multiverse.
• Main Universe Batman revealed that he had obtained the Anti-Life Equation and derived the Life Equation, intending to use it to create a god capable of opposing the threat.
• Main Universe Batman explained that he had anticipated the Superhuman would intervene in the war, so he had waited for her to appear and given her the Life Equation in another world.
• The Superhuman absorbed the Life Equation, became a Multiverse-level powerhouse, and gained the vitality and virtues needed to oppose the Dark Existence.
• Main Universe Batman confronted Owlman and mocked him for ruining his relationship with Superman and for his evil and stupidity.

Owlman tried to undermine Main Universe Batman by accusing him of failing the fallen heroes, but Batman answered with remorse and resolve, leaving Owlman humiliated. When Injustice Superman arrived, Owlman considered joining his side, but Injustice Superman attacked him with Heat Vision.

• Adventure Batman and Adventure Superman questioned what Owlman had gained by abandoning his moral limits, while Owlman's teammates stayed silent as he was criticized.
• Owlman tried to shame Main Universe Batman over the deaths of most of the Flashes and Superman, but Batman admitted his regret and vowed to honor the dead by helping the living.
• Main Universe Batman mocked Owlman as a sociopath who could not understand ordinary grief, leaving Owlman furious and embarrassed.
• Owlman considered joining the Injustice League after seeing Injustice Superman arrive, but Injustice Superman mistook Owlman's stare for a threat and fired Heat Vision at him.

Injustice Batman and Injustice Superman discussed how to handle the other Batmen’s suspicion and arranged to provide them with Brainwave Control blueprints. Meanwhile, Manhattan Batman detected an invasion by mages and proposed trading them for captured Supermen to deter further attacks.

• Owlman challenged the Batmen for leaving Injustice Batman under Superman’s control, but Main Universe Batman and Adventure Batman said Injustice Batman had agreed to it.
• Injustice Superman complained that Injustice Batman had used their relationship to torment him, then learned he had been summoned to help because many Supermen had died.
• Injustice Batman persuaded Injustice Superman to provide Brainwave Control blueprints, which he then leaked while studying Magneto’s supposedly psychic-shielding Helmet with the other Batmen.
• Main Universe Batman and Manhattan Batman discussed strengthening their base’s defenses against dimensional attacks.
• Manhattan Batman detected invading mages, captured them with an apparent higher-dimensional trick, and proposed exchanging them for trapped Supermen as a warning against further attacks.

Arkham Batman and his allies planned to exploit divisions among the Mutants to destroy the planet-sized Cerebro, with Emma Frost identified as a possible way in. Schiller then met Emma under the guise of a S.H.I.E.L.D. psychologist, but their conversation shifted to her unexplained arrhythmia and ended with his joke about Professor X’s baldness.

• Martian Hunter reported that Cerebro was a Moon-sized planet protected by a magical defense network, forcing Arkham Batman to abandon a straightforward bombing plan.
• Constantine, Schiller, Bruce, and Arkham Batman discussed provoking Mutant conflicts and identified Emma Frost and Phoenix as possible points of leverage.
• Schiller proposed using Emma Frost’s connection with Phoenix to make Emma lose control, while the team considered how to infiltrate the Mutants’ base.
• Emma Frost visited Schiller to request propranolol, but Schiller refused without a diagnosis and warned her against using psychic interference on him.
• Emma told Schiller that her physical examination found nothing despite her arrhythmia, and Schiller suggested it might be psychogenic before joking about Professor X’s hair loss.

Emma visited Schiller to seek medication for recurring arrhythmia, but her evaluation suggested severe Anxiety Disorder and unresolved psychological distress. After Schiller gave her a prescription and she left to consult Xavier, Jean arrived with similar symptoms and began an evaluation.

• Emma asked Schiller for medication to control her racing heartbeat, but he refused until she completed a new psychological evaluation.
• Schiller concluded Emma likely had relapsed severe Anxiety Disorder, and Emma recounted painful experiences involving her family, relationships, and past treatment.
• Schiller prescribed Emma anti-anxiety and energy-regulating medications, and she left to ask Xavier about them.
• Charles told Schiller that Emma's condition could no longer be delayed and explained why arrhythmia was the safest symptom to address.
• Jean arrived after being told her own arrhythmia might have psychological causes, and Schiller asked her to complete an evaluation form.

Schiller reviewed psychological assessments for Mutants whose arrhythmia he had secretly induced at Charles’s request, while he and Charles discussed the war and trapped Supermen. At the base bar, the Avengers mourned Doctor Strange’s presumed sacrifice until Nick received alarming news that Cerebro had been destroyed.

• Polaris brought Schiller her examination report, and he continued reviewing assessments for Mutants with induced arrhythmia.
• Schiller recalled that Charles had asked him to induce safe physical symptoms so Central Universe Mutants would seek psychological evaluations, including Emma Frost.
• Charles told Schiller that Erik was being helped by alternate-universe Magnetos and that Dream Power Doctor Strange was keeping the Supermen trapped in the Dreamscape.
• Tony Stark told Schiller that Doctor Strange had supposedly sacrificed himself, then brought him to the base bar to join Steve, Bucky, Natasha, Nick, and Coulson.
• Nick received a call and announced that Cerebro had been destroyed.

After collecting medication for her anxiety and other psychological problems, the White Queen clashed with Selene Gallio, who tried to use her prescription to pressure her into a deal. The White Queen returned to her room and took her medicine, but Magneto soon arrived and told her he had removed her from patrol and front-line duties and offered to send her back to Earth.

• The White Queen collected her prescribed medication at the field hospital while hiding it to protect her political prospects.
• Selene Gallio intercepted the White Queen, snatched her prescription, and threatened to expose her visit unless she helped with a deal.
• The White Queen reclaimed the prescription, insulted Selene, and left the hospital.
• The White Queen received Schiller's instructions, took her medication, and fell asleep.
• Magneto told the White Queen he had excused her from patrol and combat duties and offered her a chance to return to Earth, startling her.

Magneto sent the White Queen back to Earth after rumors about her mental health unsettled the base, while she spotted the Main Universe Hellfire Club near the Andromeda black hole. The Black Queen plotted to frame Phoenix for Professor X’s death, but an unknown force attacked her mind as she left Phoenix.

• Magneto told the White Queen she had to leave the base because rumors about her mental health were alarming the Mutants, and she blamed the Black Queen for spreading them.
• The White Queen boarded a spaceship bound for Earth and recognized the Main Universe Hellfire Club near the Andromeda galaxy’s central black hole.
• The Black Queen and Sebastian discussed sabotaging the war effort and making Phoenix kill Professor X so they could avoid blame.
• The Black Queen secretly planted a dormant mental manipulation spell in Phoenix while urging her to persuade Professor X and Magneto to join the Hellfire Club.
• As the Black Queen turned to leave, an immense force began destroying her brainwaves.

Arkham Batman’s ambush caused Phoenix to lose control, destroying Central Universe Cerebro and leaving Charles near death. As Charles vowed to retaliate over the captured Superman, the Avengers received news that the Soul Stone had been found.

• The White Queen’s telepathic attack made Phoenix lose control, and the Phoenix Force destroyed Cerebro while Charles escaped into the black hole as brainwaves.
• Arkham Batman and Schiller watched the blast from the Andromeda galaxy’s outskirts and left after their trap succeeded.
• Magneto recovered Charles and placed him in a miniature Cerebro, and Charles blamed himself for the disaster.
• Charles told Schiller he would make the captors of Superman pay, while Schiller warned that Charles’s injury could endanger the prisoner exchange.
• The Avengers received an emergency message from the Sanctum Sanctorum announcing that they had found the Soul Stone’s location.

Stark and the Avengers learned that the Soul Stone might lie beyond a rift near Cygnus, and they organized a cautious scouting mission to reach it before the Batmen. Magneto led a team of Mutants toward the rift, while an employee inside the Sanctum Sanctorum watched them with suspicious interest.

• Stark learned that the Soul Stone was believed to be inside the Void, accessible through a rift near Cygnus, and that the Batmen might know about it.
• The Avengers convened and chose Mutants to scout the dangerous rift, since they had energy senses, combat strength, and experienced veterans.
• Main Universe Magneto selected the Scarlet Witch, Cyclops, Mastermind, and Sebastian to join him on the mission.
• The Central Universe Scarlet Witch stayed behind to care for the children, and the team prepared to depart for the rift.
• Main Universe Magneto led the Mutants toward the location supplied by the Sanctum Sanctorum, while an employee adjusted his glasses and watched them.

Schiller and Arkham Batman investigated an empty Earth orbiting site and captured a Sanctum Sanctorum employee hiding on the space station, who admitted that Mephisto had helped him evade detection. After delivering him to Main Universe Batman, Schiller discovered that a glowing woman resembling Natasha—likely Superman inhabiting an Arkham-universe magical body—was present in the Dark Dimension.

• Main Universe Batman redirected Arkham Batman and Schiller to investigate the abandoned Earth space station and recalled Constantine.
• Arkham Batman and Schiller boarded a mining vessel, reached the space station, and followed a magical signal to room 902.
• They captured the Suit Man, who confessed that he had accepted money from Blackheart and followed Mephisto's instructions to hide on the station.
• Schiller and Arkham Batman delivered the Suit Man to Main Universe Batman, who took him underground as a Green Lantern ship departed.
• Schiller met a glowing woman resembling Natasha in the dining hall and suspected that Superman inhabited her magical body.

Superman revealed that she had awakened life in the magical defense network, giving Batman an opening to infiltrate Earth. Meanwhile, Magneto’s team cautiously investigated a turbulent region in search of an Infinity Stone, where a mysterious book unleashed madness and devastated the Mutants.

• Superman told Schiller that she had altered the space station and awakened the vitality in Earth’s magical defense network, enabling Batman to send someone through.
• The Main Universe Scarlet Witch and Magneto led the Mutants to a turbulent region near the Collector’s Museum, where the Command Center believed an Infinity Stone was hidden.
• Magneto ordered the Mutants to map the region cautiously, and the team slowly advanced around its perimeter.
• The Main Universe Scarlet Witch sensed danger, but madness overwhelmed her and Magneto; his transformed magnetic field spread forbidden knowledge through the team.
• The Illusion Master, Sebastian, Cyclops, and others were killed by the spreading madness and uncontrolled Scarlet Power, while the surviving Scarlet Witches and Magnetos lost consciousness.
• At the center of the devastated region, a book revealed its gilded title: “The Crawling Chaos—John Constantine.”

Asgard faced another assault from the Kree and Skrull Empires, and Odin considered sacrificing himself to kill Supreme Intelligence before Thor and Loki persuaded him to wait. Just as the royal family prepared for the next attack, Odin sensed that the Nine Realms’ dimensional barrier had been breached by an unknown threat.

• Odin, Frigga, and Loki recovered in the palace after Asgard repelled an enemy wave, and Loki suggested asking humans for help.
• Odin proposed leading a surprise attack on Supreme Intelligence and using Gungnir to kill him, even if it cost Odin his life.
• Loki feared losing Odin, but Thor and Loki convinced him that Supreme Intelligence was not worth sacrificing the All-Father over.
• Odin abandoned his plan, and the royal family shared a meal before preparing for another attack.
• Odin sensed that the Nine Realms’ dimensional barrier had been breached and reacted in disbelief to the unknown presence.

Odin and Loki discovered that Shuma-Gorath’s corruption had reached Asgard and was being used to attack the Nine Realms’ dimensional barrier. When Scarlet Witch’s Scarlet Power opened the barrier and let the Kree Empire’s main force enter, they realized humanity’s main forces would have to come to Asgard’s aid.

• Odin sent ravens to investigate the blast in the Nine Realms’ dimensional barrier, but one returned corrupted by tentacles.
• Odin used the World Tree’s spring water and a dagger to remove a tentacled growth from his eye, then destroyed it and the corrupted raven with lightning.
• Odin explained that the creature was connected to Shuma-Gorath and the Outer Gods, and he and Loki suspected Batman’s allies had used the attack to draw Asgard into seeking help from Earth.
• Odin ordered Loki to contact Earth, but then learned the Outer Gods were still damaging the barrier and the Kree Empire’s main force had entered the Nine Realms.
• Loki and Thor recognized that Scarlet Power was breaking the barrier and deduced that Scarlet Witch had been mentally contaminated and driven to attack it.

Asgard faced the full armies of two empires after Scarlet Witch and Magneto tore open the Nine Realms barrier, prompting humanity to send a massive relief force. Helen swallowed the rampaging pair, but the breach remained open for days, and Thor was ambushed by an infiltrator planted by Batman.

• Odin ordered Loki to request Earth's help after learning the two empires' main armies were pouring through the barrier, and Loki suspected Batman had engineered the crisis to strain humanity's forward base.
• Humanity sent a large force of Mutants, heroes, gods, and even prisoners to support Asgard, while Hela returned with the Undead Army to protect the palace and Loki.
• Loki found Helen and asked her to stop the violent energy; she swallowed Scarlet Witch and Magneto, ending their attack but leaving a huge breach through which mechanical troops continued to pour.
• Hela rushed back to the front after learning Thor had been wounded in an ambush, and Thor warned Loki that someone planted by Batman had infiltrated the reinforcements before communications failed.

Thor and the heroes fought the Three Great Empires’ seemingly endless mechanical army across the Nine Realms, countering specialized mech suits and experimental high-speed robots. The battle continued as more troops poured through the rifts, with the enemy’s numbers still overwhelming.

• Wanda used Chaos Force to erase hundreds of millions of mechanical soldiers, but the Brood Mother kept replenishing the army.
• Thor called Valkyrie, Black Panther, Jörmungandr, and Moon Knight to attack mech suits protected by Order Force, and the heroes and animal gods tore them apart.
• Thor spotted high-speed robots that seemed to imitate time-stream movement and sent Quicksilver and Speedball to destroy them.
• Quicksilver smashed through the high-speed robots while Speedball built up momentum and shattered one with a collision.
• The Three Great Empires deployed more specialized robots, but the heroes destroyed them before they could coordinate, while fresh mechanical troops continued entering through the rifts.

Thor and Franklin used Reed’s machine to flood the battlefield with Annihilation Zerg, relieving pressure on humanity and Asgard as the newcomers clashed with the mechanical armies. Thor joined the assault on the Brood Mothers, destroying one while Iron God Stark captured another for research.

• Franklin told Thor that he and Reed had built a machine to bring the Annihilation Zerg from the antimatter universe into the battle.
• The machine opened a siphoning bridge, pulling Annihilation Zerg—including several of Annihilus’s generals—onto the battlefield in an endless stream.
• The Annihilation Zerg and the two great empires’ mechanical forces collided, letting humanity and Asgard target enemy starships and artillery instead of focusing on cannon fodder.
• Thor led the Gods of Thunder in a Bifrost assault on a Brood Mother and destroyed it with a powerful bolt of lightning.
• Iron God Stark demolished one Brood Mother and captured another in a giant phantom for research.

Stark brought a Brood Mother back to headquarters for study while Thor and the Gods of Thunder fought the growing Brood Mother forces. After Thor was killed by the Martian Hunter, the World Tree intercepted his Battleworld resurrection and carried him to its spring, while Loki searched for the assassin who had stolen his mind scepter.

• Stark returned to headquarters with a Brood Mother, where Schiller revealed he had brought another one back for study, and Stark handed his specimen to Reed.
• Thor and the Gods of Thunder split into teams to destroy the Brood Mothers, which had begun producing more of themselves.
• The Martian Hunter ambushed Thor, mortally wounded him, and disrupted the other Gods of Thunder; one called Hela for help, but Thor died before she arrived.
• The World Tree seized Thor during his resurrection and carried him to its spring, preventing Battleworld from reviving him there.
• Loki transformed into the Goddess of Radiance and searched Asgard for the assassin while the assassin secretly entered Asgard Palace and stole Loki's mind scepter.