Chapter Summaries

Jean Grey, Barry Allen, Graviton Hall, Magneto, and Professor X worked together to restrain Thanos in the ruined British Isles. After Thanos was weakened by his own energy backlash, the heroes launched a coordinated attack, leaving the battle unresolved.

• Jean Grey unleashed the Phoenix Force against Thanos, but he struck her through buildings and leveled much of London with energy blasts.
• Barry Allen summoned a lightning hurricane that disrupted Thanos's charged attack, causing it to explode and blast him into a vast crater.
• Barry carried the others to mainland Europe, then returned them to the crater, where Graviton Hall pinned Thanos with a five-hundredfold gravity field.
• Magneto manipulated iron elements inside Thanos's body, disrupting his movements, while Professor X invaded his mind to help hold him down.
• Jean transformed into Dark Phoenix, and Barry gathered speed energy as the heroes prepared to attack Thanos.
• Jean sent a black phoenix at Thanos while Barry hurled a lightning dart, and both attacks struck his chest at once.

General Zod decided that he and Fiora had to defend Earth to preserve New Krypton, while Thanos used the Infinity Gauntlet to overwhelm the heroes and destroy the British Isles. The chapter ended with the shattered islands sinking into the ocean.

• General Zod reminded Fiora that Jude Herbert expected them to protect Earth, and she accepted that they had no choice but to fight for their home.
• Phoenix and the others surveyed the vast crater left in Great Britain and asked whether their combined assault had defeated Thanos.
• Jean Grey sensed that Thanos’s life force had grown stronger, while Professor X was taken away to recover.
• Thanos equipped the Infinity Gauntlet with the Mind Stone and unleashed a massive whirlpool and earthquakes across the British Isles.
• Magneto, Graviton, Jean Grey, and Barry Allen attacked Thanos, but his shield blocked their powers.
• Thanos released a burst of energy that tore the British Isles into fragments and sent them sinking into the ocean.

Thanos pursued Barry and the injured survivors to the Arctic, where a wave of superheroes and Kryptonians arrived to confront him. General Zod offered to release the captured Black Order if Thanos left Earth, but Thanos refused and chose to fight them all.

• Barry carried the injured Professor X and the others across the ice, but Thanos caught up and prepared to kill them.
• General Zod and Fiora struck Thanos with Heat Vision as Batman, Captain America, and many other superheroes arrived.
• Tony taunted Thanos, while General Zod recognized him and offered to release the captured Black Order if he left Earth.
• Bruce urged Thanos to take his subordinates and leave, but Thanos declared that he would kill everyone instead.

Thanos unleashed the Infinity Gauntlet’s power, shattering the Arctic Continent and devastating Earth while the Black Order and many superheroes vanished. The surviving heroes gathered in the capital, but with Batman missing and Jude unreachable, they faced Thanos’s arrival at their conference room.

• Tony and the other fighters attacked Thanos, but their strongest moves failed to stop him.
• Thanos destroyed the Arctic Continent, triggering catastrophic tsunamis and throwing Earth’s magnetic field into chaos.
• A day later, the surviving superheroes gathered in the capital and mourned the many missing heroes, including Professor X, Batman, and Wolverine.
• Lex Luthor demanded to know why Superman had not come to help, and Barry explained that Superman and Wonder Woman were away in the Greek Gods' Realm.
• Tony admitted that they could not solve the crisis without Jude, but Batman’s disappearance had left them unable to contact him.
• Thanos entered the conference room and loomed over the assembled survivors.

Thanos invaded the United Government’s meeting room and demanded that Earth produce Jude Herbert before sunset, threatening to destroy the planet. Barry retrieved Bruce Wayne’s communicator from Alfred, and Jude arrived through a portal with Ivy and Little Spider to face Thanos.

• Thanos stormed into the meeting room and demanded that Earth hand over Jude Herbert, threatening to destroy the planet if he did not appear by sunset.
• Lex Luthor explained that only Bruce Wayne could contact Jude and that Bruce was missing, but Thanos blasted him aside and refused to wait.
• The gathered heroes split up to search for Bruce, while Barry raced to Wayne Manor for clues.
• Alfred gave Barry the communicator Bruce had left with him and urged him to bring Jude back.
• Barry activated the communicator, and Jude arrived with Ivy and Little Spider before greeting Thanos.

Jude faced Thanos, who demanded Gamora and the Infinity Stones in exchange for sparing Earth, and pretended to surrender to protect his friends. Thanos collected five Stones from Jude, leaving him poised to receive the final Reality Stone.

• Jude greeted Thanos, who demanded Gamora, the Space Stone, and the Power Stone and threatened Earth unless Jude handed them over.
• After hearing about Thanos's damage and Bruce's disappearance, Jude secretly decided to outscheme Thanos and enlisted Little Spider to act as though he opposed surrendering the Stones.
• Jude feigned reluctance and asked Thanos to promise never to invade Earth again, then claimed he would give up the Stones to protect his friends.
• Jude handed Thanos the Space Stone, Power Stone, Time Stone, and Soul Stone, and Thanos celebrated acquiring four Stones.
• Jude stopped Thanos from celebrating and revealed that he had one more Stone, then brought out the Reality Stone.

Thanos took the sixth Infinity Stone from Jude and returned to Attilan to study the Stones and prepare to challenge Apokolips. Jude confronted Star-Lord over his betrayal and brought Gamora back, where she rejected Star-Lord and broke down after learning Thanos had abandoned her.

• Jude handed Thanos the Reality Stone after asking who had revealed his whereabouts, and Thanos left with Star-Lord aboard his ship.
• Thanos returned to Attilan, began studying the Infinity Stones, and sent Sein to tell Mongul that he planned to overthrow Apokolips.
• Jude explained that he had given Thanos the Stones to set him up, then confronted Star-Lord for betraying him and causing deaths.
• Jude brought Gamora back to Star One, and Star-Lord rushed to comfort her when he saw her.
• Gamora learned Thanos had left without her, broke free of Star-Lord, and furiously rejected his protection and affection.

After Earth’s defeat by Thanos, Jude urged the government to launch the Universal Evolution Project, and the council approved it. Jude then set out to find Bruce, believing the Old Bat might need his help.

• Jude handed Star-Lord and Gamora over to the United Government after defeating them.
• Little Spider tried to encourage the defeated council, but Jude bluntly explained that Earth had to work hard to survive and that its main weakness was technology.
• Jude recommended launching the Universal Evolution Project, and Lex Luthor called for an immediate vote.
• The council voted to approve the project, with plans to prepare its implementation within three days and launch it within a week.
• Magneto left to prepare for the project, while Jude went to look for Bruce.

Jude arrived at Wayne Manor to search for Bruce, whom the Bat Family had been unable to find, and discovered that Bruce had been delivered home unconscious. Bruce woke after the anesthetic wore off but could not remember what happened after an explosion at the North Pole.

• Jude learned from Alfred that Bruce had not returned and used Bruce's pen to scan for his location, finding him in Gotham City.
• Jude told Alfred to contact the Bat Family, but a transport company soon delivered an unconscious Bruce to Wayne Manor.
• Jude confirmed Bruce was stable and had only been given an anesthetic, while the delivery workers said they did not know who had hired them.
• Bruce woke with the Bat Family gathered around him, and Jude asked him what had happened.
• Bruce remembered an explosion at the North Pole and being swept into the sea, but said he could recall nothing after that.

At Wayne Manor, Bruce recovered and asked the Bat Family to investigate the company that had returned him. Jude restored Firefly’s original appearance and healed Oracle’s paralysis, before Bruce called the group back to the investigation.

• Bruce asked Dick Grayson how he had been returned to Wayne Manor, and Alfred said Barbara was investigating Harley Transportation while Jason followed its RV.
• Bruce asked Bridget whether she wanted a fresh start after the Court of Owls fell, and Jude gave her a healing injection.
• Bridget used the injection and regained her original appearance, delighting the Bat Family with her transformation.
• Barbara brought Oracle to Bruce’s room, and Jude gave Oracle an injection that restored her ability to walk.
• Bruce stopped the conversation and asked Barbara to report the investigation results.

Bruce described recurring nightmares in which a dark invasion destroyed Earth, and Jude recognized the threat as resembling the Dark Knights from Metal. Bruce and Jude left for the Himalayas to consult the Ancient One about the dreams.

• Bruce said Harley Transportation Company appeared normal online, but he wanted to wait for Jason before deciding what had happened while he was unconscious.
• Bruce told his family that he dreamed every night of a dark power invading Earth and defeating its heroes, while Damian and Dick urged him to trust them and rest.
• Jude asked Bruce to describe the nightmare, then recognized its enemies as resembling the Dark Knights and wondered how the invasion could happen without the Court of Owls or the required metals.
• Bruce said Jude had not appeared in the nightmare, and Jude suggested they seek a sorcerer’s help in the Himalayas.
• Bruce and Jude opened a portal to the Sanctum Sanctorum to consult the Ancient One.

Jude and Bruce visited Ancient One, who warned that Hell’s lords were gathering to plan a major move, possibly because of Jude’s Portal Gun. Bruce also sought help with his recurring nightmare, and Ancient One used the Time Stone to investigate it.

• Jude and Bruce entered the Sanctum Sanctorum and learned from Ancient One that Mephisto and several other Hell Lords had disappeared, suggesting the Hell Council was preparing a major move.
• Ancient One and Jude suspected the Hell Lords were trying to overcome dimensional boundaries because of Jude’s Portal Gun.
• Bruce asked Ancient One about his months-long recurring nightmare, and she said it might foretell a future that could still be changed.
• Jude urged Ancient One to use the Time Stone to examine Bruce’s nightmare, and she activated the Eye of Agamotto and entered the Time Tunnel.

Jude and Bruce consulted Ancient One about Bruce’s apocalyptic nightmares, but she could not determine whether the threat was unreal, distant, or beyond the Infinity Stones. After Jason linked a suspicious client to The Hand, the Bat Family launched an investigation while Jude went to prepare defenses.

• Jude and Bruce visited Ancient One, who said chaos obscured her vision and judged that a powerful force was most likely hiding the future from her.
• Bruce insisted the danger was imminent and urged preparations, and Ancient One advised reporting the matter to the United Government while she continued observing Hell.
• Jason Todd reported that Rutger D'Jantins, a Canadian down-jacket seller tied to illegal dealings, had connections to The Hand.
• The Bat Family mobilized to investigate Jason’s lead, while Jude stayed behind to focus on defensive preparations.
• Jude left Alfred at Wayne Manor and returned to the Sanctum Sanctorum.

Jude visited the Ancient One and asked her to open a portal to Trigon’s dimension so he could bargain with the demon and end Bruce’s nightmare. He entered Trigon’s desolate realm and called him out, and Trigon appeared before Jude asked if he knew who he was.

• Jude reasoned that Trigon was stronger than Barbatos and decided to seek his help.
• Jude asked the Ancient One to open a portal to Trigon’s dimension, saying he wanted to make a deal and solve Bruce’s nightmare.
• The Ancient One warned Jude about dealing with Trigon, but opened the portal when Jude insisted.
• Jude entered Trigon’s barren dimension and found that his armor would not work there.
• Trigon sensed Jude calling him from inside his realm, left his gathering with other Hell Lords, and appeared before him.
• Jude asked Trigon whether he knew who he was.

Jude confronted Trigon in Three Palaces Hell, where Trigon demanded the Portal Gun technology and sealed the dimension to keep him from escaping. After Trigon’s magic seemingly killed Jude, a prepared clone revived in a hidden laboratory and built a black hole bomb to retaliate.

• Jude met Trigon in Three Palaces Hell, where Trigon praised his portal technology and demanded he hand it over.
• Jude refused to give Trigon the technology for free and offered to negotiate, but Trigon sealed the dimension and threatened to torture him.
• Trigon attacked Jude with magic, and Jude appeared to die from the strike.
• An emergency Phoenix operation activated Jude’s underground laboratory, where a clone emerged from a life-storage container.
• Jude built a black hole bomb and prepared to make Trigon pay for refusing his suggestion.

Jude returned to Trigon’s Hell and used Black Hole Bombs to devastate the dimension until Trigon agreed to negotiate. Jude then asked Trigon whether he knew Barbatos.

• Trigon examined Jude’s corpse, mistook him for dead, and burned his body to ashes.
• Jude returned to Trigon’s Hell and unleashed a Black Hole Bomb, forcing Trigon to rush back and destroy it with magical beams.
• Trigon caught Jude and crushed him, but Jude sent another bomb through a portal and began bombarding the dimension from the Prime Universe.
• Jude’s repeated attacks damaged Trigon’s dimension and weakened him until Trigon called for Jude and asked to negotiate.
• Jude entered the dimension and asked Trigon if he knew Barbatos.

Jude persuaded Trigon to help stop Barbatos by offering free travel between worlds, then brought him before the Hell Council to propose a broader deal. The gathered Hell Lords considered Jude’s offer to help them conquer other worlds in exchange for eliminating Barbatos and Jude’s Clones.

• Jude told Trigon that Barbatos had killed World Forger and asked him to stop Barbatos from invading Prime Universe.
• Trigon agreed to cooperate after Jude offered free world-travel services, with the condition that Trigon leave Prime Universe unharmed.
• Jude secretly drew a sample of Trigon’s blood, then asked him to bring him to the other Hell Lords.
• Trigon took Jude to the Hell Council, where Mephisto recognized Jude and tried to attack him, but Trigon stopped him.
• Jude offered the Hell Lords access to other worlds in exchange for defeating Barbatos and eliminating his Clones in those worlds.

Jude persuaded several Hell Lords to join his plans for portal technology and left Mephisto furious, while Lucifer chose to stay out of the conquest. Back on Earth, Jude interrupted the Bat Family’s fight with the Hand by crashing through the roof and accidentally crushing their leader, Tamao Serizawa.

• Jude threatened Dormammu and persuaded Beelzebub, Etrigan, and Dormammu to join him, while Lucifer declined and Mephisto vowed to develop portal technology himself.
• Jude returned to Earth and told Bruce that he had dealt with the Bat Family’s nightmare and that they could come back.
• Bruce, Damian, and Jason questioned Jude because they were in the middle of attacking a Hand stronghold and had not yet captured its leader.
• Jude flew to the stronghold, where the Bat Family had surrounded Tamao Serizawa.
• Jude burst through the roof, and the falling ceiling crushed Tamao Serizawa.

Jude killed Tamao Serizawa, cutting off the Bat Family’s lead, then had Bruce convene a government assembly. Jude warned the assembled leaders that Barbatos and the Dark Knights were coming, and revealed he had found helpers from Hell.

• Jude crushed Tamao Serizawa, prompting Damian and Jason Todd to blame him for ruining their plan.
• Jude told Bruce to convene a government meeting and hinted that he had prepared for something major.
• Lex Luthor, Doctor Doom, and Tony agreed to oppose Bruce if he tried to stop universal evolution.
• Bruce told the assembly that his nightmares foretold demons invading Earth and that The Hand might be involved.
• Jude arrived and explained that Barbatos and the Dark Knights, including corrupted versions of Bruce Wayne, threatened Earth with a catastrophe worse than Thanos’s.
• Jude said he had found powerful helpers from Hell to stop Barbatos from leaving Earth alive.

Murakami Shinichi gathered the five metals and began The Hand’s ritual to summon Beast, but the ritual instead opened a gate for Barbatos and his Dark Knights to enter the Fusion World. Barbatos arrived in the Prime Universe and began corrupting the surrounding land, water, and sky.

• Murakami Shinichi prepared The Hand’s underground headquarters in Canada for the summoning ritual after obtaining the Dionesium Factor from Bruce Wayne.
• The Hand’s secretary told Murakami Shinichi that the Bat Family had wiped out their Chicago branch and that the United Government might be planning to deal with them.
• Murakami Shinichi ordered The Hand to proceed with the ritual despite the warning, and the five metals unleashed an explosion that killed the assembled leaders.
• A dark gate opened, and hundreds of Barbatos’s Dark Knights entered the Fusion World before Barbatos himself emerged.
• Barbatos celebrated reaching the Prime Universe and spread dark energy that turned the soil, rivers, and clouds black.