Chapter Summaries

Alex set aside the planned Dragon King film because the military wanted order would take at least half a year to lift, and asked Clarence about Universal Entertainment’s profitable businesses. Clarence’s report revealed that Riot Games was seeking investment, prompting Alex to decide to acquire it.

• Alex dismissed Amanda Waller as a threat and focused on finding a way to make thirty billion dollars.
• Clarence nervously reported Universal Entertainment’s film plans, recent local revenue, and investments in the gaming sector.
• Alex recognized that Riot Games was developing League of Legends and needed funding, while deciding Activision Blizzard was out of reach.
• Alex ordered Universal Entertainment to acquire Riot Games.

Alex decided Universal Entertainment would pursue Riot Games for League of Legends, offering superhero likeness rights and demanding a controlling stake; if Riot refused, Universal would develop the game itself. He also approved Jack’s new album, with Clarence told to stop investing if losses exceeded five million dollars.

• Clarence told Alex that Riot Games had rejected Universal Entertainment’s acquisition offer and was only willing to accept investment.
• Alex reviewed Riot Games’ development plans, saw that League of Legends was already in design, and ordered the original story discarded in favor of a game featuring superheroes.
• Alex instructed Clarence to offer twice Riot’s valuation for a controlling stake and to prioritize League of Legends, while Alex planned to seek superhero game rights himself.
• Jack arrived to report that he had handled the two arms and asked Alex to release his new album; Alex suspected him of embezzling company funds, but Jack said he had used his salary.
• Alex agreed to arrange Jack’s album release and told Clarence to stop investing if its losses exceeded five million dollars.

Alex sought permission from superheroes to use their likenesses in games, first persuading Battle Maiden Betty by reminding her of the enormous costs of maintaining her equipment and base. He secured Superman’s approval on the condition that all profits from Superman’s image go to people in need, gained Superwoman Kara’s authorization, and left messages for Batman while failing to reach Barry.

• Alex called Battle Maiden Betty to ask about using her name and likeness, but she refused because she suspected he had an ulterior motive.
• Alex listed the high costs of maintaining Betty’s base, equipment, and armor, and Betty reluctantly agreed as long as he did not use the Battle Maiden name to do bad things.
• Alex explained that he only planned to make game characters and then hung up on Betty.
• Alex persuaded Superman to authorize his likeness after promising to donate all profits from it to people in need, and Superwoman Kara agreed after learning her cousin had approved.
• Alex could not reach Batman or Barry, so he left a message with Alfred asking Batman to contact him.

Barry returned to his underground base and found Bruce Wayne waiting there, seeking information about his abilities. After Bruce surveyed the base, he suddenly attacked Barry with a Bat-arang.

• Barry rushed to the base, hungry and uncomfortable in his first Flash suit, and decided he needed to develop a second-generation suit.
• Barry entered the dark underground base and switched on its lights, revealing Bruce Wayne waiting on the sofa.
• Bruce introduced himself and questioned Barry about his powers, while Barry challenged him for breaking into the base and acting mysteriously.
• Bruce examined the base's weapons and decor, then abruptly threw a Bat-arang at Barry.

Barry discovered Bruce was Batman and agreed to join his team to defend Earth against a coming planet-threatening enemy. Bruce declined to recruit Alex for now, and when Barry asked about Batman’s special ability, Bruce said he was very rich.

• Barry used his speed to catch Bruce’s Bat-arang and realized Bruce was Batman.
• Bruce told Barry he was assembling a team to face an enemy like the Kryptonians, and Barry immediately agreed to join.
• Barry recommended Alex, describing his abilities and revealing that Alex had built the underground base, but Bruce declined to recruit him for now.
• Barry asked Bruce what special ability he had, and Bruce replied that he was very rich.

Green Arrow and his assistants fought a strange flying creature in Star City, hoping to capture it alive and learn why it kept appearing. The creature died and melted away, leaving Green Arrow with no answers as he suspected something was wrong.

• Green Arrow trapped the dark humanoid creature with a rope arrow and called for Speedy.
• Speedy fired five explosive arrows that tore apart the creature, while Arsenal pinned it to a wall with wire nets.
• Green Arrow reprimanded Speedy for killing the creature because he had wanted to capture it alive.
• Green Arrow explained that the creature had appeared in Star City four times and that he wanted to investigate the repeated attacks.
• The creature died and melted into a puddle, leaving Green Arrow troubled and without a chance to question it.

Green Arrow, Arsenal, and Speedy investigated the strange dark humanoids appearing across Star City, but found no new ones that night. When they returned to Arrow Base, they discovered an intruder inside, who introduced himself as Alex.

• Green Arrow examined a dark humanoid that dissolved into foul water and reflected on his failed attempts to contact Constantine for help.
• Arsenal said the creatures appeared every three to five days, and Speedy suggested using tranquilizer arrows against the next one.
• Green Arrow sent Arsenal and Speedy to inspect other districts, where they found no new creatures and dealt with several crimes.
• Green Arrow noticed that fallen leaves by Arrow Base's doorway had shifted, signaling someone had entered the secret base.
• Speedy fired a flash arrow into the dark base, where Green Arrow saw a tall man holding the arrow and introducing himself as Alex.

Alex infiltrated Arrow Base and identified himself as Dragon King after Green Arrow and his team confronted him. The team’s hostility eased at the revelation, but they still doubted whether he was really Dragon King.

• Oliver Queen and Speedy aimed their bows at Alex after he appeared inside Arrow Base.
• Alex caught Speedy's arrow in the darkness and remained unharmed when its flash arrow exploded.
• Alex turned the base lights back on and calmly asked Oliver Queen, Speedy, and Arsenal to sit down and talk.
• Oliver Queen demanded Alex state his identity and purpose while keeping his bow trained on him.
• Alex introduced himself as Dragon King, stunning the team and reducing their hostility.
• Speedy asked Alex whether he really was Dragon King.

Alex tried to convince Oliver Queen, Speedy, and Arsenal that he was Dragon King without transforming inside their cramped base. He called Superman to vouch for him, but Oliver remained suspicious even after seeing Superman on the video call.

• Speedy admired Alex's appearance but questioned whether he was really Dragon King, while Oliver kept his bow aimed at him.
• Alex refused to transform in the four-meter-tall base, explaining that Dragon King's smallest form would still be too large and that transforming would leave him naked.
• Alex called Clark and asked him to verify his identity as Dragon King.
• Superman appeared on the video call, stunning Oliver, Speedy, and Arsenal.
• Oliver asked Superman whether he was really Superman, still uncertain despite the call.

Alex visited Green Arrow to ask permission to use his image in a game, and Superman’s appearance on a video call convinced Oliver that Alex was truly Dragon King. Oliver refused the request, so Alex used Magnetic Psionics to immobilize him, Speedy, and Arsenal as he confronted them.

• Oliver questioned whether the Superman on Alex’s video call was real, and Speedy asked Superman to prove himself.
• Superman drew a heart in the stars by flying at supersonic speed, convincing Oliver that he was real.
• Alex told Oliver he wanted to make a game using Green Arrow’s image, but Oliver decisively refused.
• Alex’s smile faded as he described his journey to Star City and used Magnetic Psionics to pin Oliver, Speedy, and Arsenal in place.
• Alex explained that he had intended to respect Oliver’s rights and discuss the image use, then glanced at Oliver under the crushing pressure.

Alex forced Oliver to agree to let him use Green Arrow’s likeness, then treated him as a friend and explained that he was gathering superheroes’ likeness rights for a new version of League of Legends. Oliver asked Alex for help investigating a dark humanoid, and Alex was shocked when Arsenal showed him evidence of it.

• Oliver agreed to let Alex use Green Arrow’s likeness after Alex’s pressure nearly caused him to collapse.
• Alex used Magnetic Psionics to restore Oliver, then celebrated their new friendship with champagne.
• Alex explained that he was securing superheroes’ likeness rights for a League of Legends game being developed by Central City Universal Company.
• Oliver asked Alex to help investigate a dark humanoid and had Arsenal bring out videos and photographs of their encounter.
• Arsenal projected the video, and Alex sprang up in shock at what he saw.

Alex calmed the Mother Box Central System after it panicked at the appearance of a Parademon scout, warning that Darkseid might be targeting Earth. He told Oliver and Arsenal that the scout had appeared eighteen days earlier and belonged to an alien civilization intent on invading Earth.

• The Mother Box Central System recognized the Parademon as an Apokolips scout and desperately urged Alex to flee from Darkseid.
• Alex used his Magnetic Psionics to suppress the Mother Box Central System's panic and blocked it off so it could calm down.
• Alex questioned when the Parademon scout had appeared and considered the possibility that Darkseid's avatar was probing Earth.
• Oliver said the Parademon had appeared eighteen days earlier, and Alex identified it as an Apokolips vanguard scout from an alien civilization bent on invading Earth.
• Arsenal compared the threat to the Kryptonian invasion, while Alex dismissed that invasion as child's play and left Oliver and Arsenal more tense.

Alex explained Apokolips’s invasion strategy to Oliver and Arsenal while deciding to continue enjoying his life until Darkseid arrived. He warned that Parademon Nests could be spreading across Earth and turning native life into an ever-growing invasion force.

• Alex decided not to stop making games, films, or Super Gundams, and said he would face Darkseid when the time came.
• Alex told Oliver that the Star City Parademon scout came from a nest that used human corpses to create Parademons, and advised him to investigate mass disappearances.
• Oliver realized the nest was likely only a forward base, and Alex confirmed that similar nests could exist in cities and densely populated towns across Earth.
• Alex explained that Apokolips used Parademon Nests to convert native life into disposable troops, overwhelm resistance, and draw the attention of its regular army.
• Oliver was horrified as he understood the scale and danger of Apokolips’s invasion strategy.

Alex stopped Green Arrow, Speedy, and Arsenal from pursuing a Parademon Scout after destroying it, telling them he had already located the Parademon hive using reconnaissance satellites and a supercomputer. Green Arrow’s team faced the threat of thousands of missing Star City residents being transformed into Parademons.

• Green Arrow, Speedy, and Arsenal followed a Parademon Scout while discussing the hundreds of reported disappearances and Green Arrow’s estimate that more than four thousand people had vanished.
• Green Arrow urged the team to find the Parademon nest before the Scouts could keep capturing and transforming people.
• Alex burst into the sky and destroyed the Parademon Scout with a powerful kick.
• Green Arrow prepared to defend himself and his team as Alex landed nearby, then recognized him.
• Alex told Green Arrow that he had used Future Energy Era Group’s reconnaissance satellites and a supercomputer to locate the Parademon hive, so they no longer needed to track the Scouts.

Alex discovered an intelligent Parademon nest beneath Star City and prepared to destroy it with Green Arrow. Afterward, he planned to warn the other heroes and leave the wider fight against Apokolips to them.

• Alex told Green Arrow that he had destroyed seventeen Parademon Scouts, and Green Arrow ordered Speedy and Arsenal to prepare the city for a possible disaster.
• Green Arrow joined Alex, who flew to the border of Star City's commercial district and slums to search for the nest.
• Alex used ultrasound to locate the Parademon nest in the sewers and discovered that it contained many cocoons holding transformed human corpses.
• Alex concluded that an intelligent Parademon was organizing the nest and planning a surprise attack on Star City's center.
• Alex decided to deal with the nest, then alert Superman, Batman, and other heroes instead of taking responsibility for the global threat himself.
• Green Arrow arrived on his motorcycle and told Alex they were ready to move.

Alex and Oliver entered the Star City sewers to destroy a Parademon nest and found evidence that thousands of people had been killed and transformed. They reached a vast hall where countless Parademons turned their eyes toward them.

• Alex blasted open the sewer entrance and told Oliver that the nearby residents were already dead.
• Alex and Oliver entered the sewers, where Oliver killed the few Parademons they encountered as they went deeper.
• Alex explained that the intelligent Broodmother was luring them in and that the insect-type Parademons shared vision and could detect heat and energy.
• Oliver cut open a cocoon and found a dead homeless man partly transformed into a Parademon, then saw rows of cocoons and empty shells.
• Alex and Oliver reached a vast hall, where countless enormous compound eyes stared at them.

Alex and Oliver entered the sewers to clear a Parademon nest, where Alex used Magnetic Psionics to crush thousands of Parademons and their Broodmother. With the nest destroyed, they continued forward, leaving Oliver horrified by Alex’s brutal methods.

• Oliver found the sewers packed with Parademons and prepared to attack them with explosives.
• Alex stopped Oliver and used Magnetic Psionics to crush successive waves of Parademons as they charged.
• Alex killed thousands of Parademons, and he and Oliver advanced through the sewer to the unguarded Broodmother.
• The Broodmother shouted its devotion to Darkseid, and Alex squeezed it into a ball of flesh with Magnetic Psionics.
• Oliver objected to Alex’s gruesome approach, and Alex flung the Broodmother’s remains against a wall.

Alex gathered Hal, Superman, Batman, Oliver, and The Flash for a video conference about the Parademon invasion, but the meeting turned tense when Alex confronted Batman for infiltrating his underground base in Central City. Batman offered one hundred million dollars, and Alex demanded more.

• Alex contacted Hal, Superman, and Batman to organize a response to Parademon nests across Earth.
• Hal showed off his muscles and Green Lantern transformation while Oliver and Superman joined the call.
• Batman connected from Gotham, where The Flash revealed that Batman had recruited him to help defend Earth.
• Alex realized Batman had infiltrated his underground base in Central City and angrily confronted him.
• Batman offered Alex one hundred million dollars, but Alex rejected the offer as insufficient.

Alex gathered the superheroes to reveal that Parademons were invading Earth and to organize a global response. He urged Hal to summon the Green Lantern Corps against Darkseid, then announced he was going to Boston to find Wonder Woman.

• Batman paid Alex 250 million dollars to settle the dispute over Alex's territory.
• Alex showed the heroes footage of thousands of Parademons and their human victims in Star City's sewers.
• Batman revealed that he had captured two Parademons in Gotham, but they had dissolved before he could interrogate them.
• Superman agreed to alert superheroes around the world and search for Parademon nests, while Batman planned a superhero communications network.
• Alex told Hal to notify the Guardians of the Universe that Darkseid planned to invade Earth and that the Green Lantern and Sinestro Corps were needed.
• Alex said he was going to Boston to find Wonder Woman, leaving the other heroes staring at him in silence.

Alex traveled to Boston to meet Wonder Woman and negotiate for the rights to use her image in his planned superhero game. As he arrived at her apartment, a giant woman attacked Wonder Woman and sent her hurtling toward him.

• Alex decided to build a private assistant team and traveled from Star City to Boston with his butler, Daniel.
• Alex went to Emerald Apartments near Boston University, where Wonder Woman lived.
• Alex bought two ice creams, hoping to make a favorable impression on Wonder Woman.
• A giant woman appeared and attacked Wonder Woman, sending her flying toward Alex.