Chapter Summaries

Azu maneuvered Black Adam and the Justice Society while Ismael returned to the International Gang’s base, where Ragon Douglas prepared to seize control. Azu appeared in Ismael’s office and directed him to gather the gang’s leaders, but Ragon used the meeting to announce his coup.

• An old man watched Adrianna’s house and planned to steer Black Adam and the Justice Society into attacking the mines so Ismael would die.
• Adrianna challenged Hawkman and Doctor Fate over the Justice Society’s failure to help Khandaq while the International Gang occupied it.
• Ismael returned to the mine base, where Ragon Douglas concealed his ambition and built a force of Eternium Metal super-soldiers.
• Azu arrived unnoticed at Ismael’s office, changed his appearance, and told Ismael to gather his men and repeat whatever he said.
• Ragon ordered his allies to cut communications and surround Ismael’s office, then entered the meeting with the other mine leaders.
• Ragon declared that Ismael’s rule was over and demanded that he kneel or risk being killed.

Azu’s clone killed Ragon and helped Ismael regain control of the International Gang, after which Ismael prepared to seize the Crown of Sabbac. As Ismael’s forces infiltrated Khandaq City, Black Adam, Doctor Fate, and Hawkman confronted Azu’s clone in the sky.

• Ragon revealed his Eternium-enhanced followers and demanded that Ismael surrender, but Azu’s clone appeared behind him and tore off his head.
• Ragon’s followers knelt, and Ismael spared them on the condition that they serve him loyally as his personal guard.
• Ismael ordered his new super soldiers to prepare for a midnight operation to find the Crown of Sabbac or kidnap Adrianna.
• Doctor Fate recognized the approaching Azu clone, and Hawkman left Cyclone and Atom Smasher to protect Adrianna and her son.
• Black Adam flew toward the city and attacked Azu’s clone alongside Doctor Fate and Hawkman, while Ismael led his soldiers and International Gang members into Khandaq City.

Azu protected Ismael while the International Gang attacked Adrianna’s apartment and drew Khandaq’s superpowered residents into pursuit. Azu escaped with Ismael, while his brother observed from a tiny body and realized Azu was using Ismael to test his abilities and authority.

• Azu kept watch over Ismael as the International Gang launched a coordinated raid on Adrianna’s apartment, where Cyclone and Atom Smasher tried to protect Adrianna and Amon.
• Lena knocked Cyclone away, International Gang soldiers cornered Atom Smasher, and a soldier with a long tongue dragged Adrianna through a window.
• Azu had Ismael publicly threaten Khandaq, drawing attention to their location while the International Gang’s super soldiers fought the Justice Society heroes.
• An elderly man attacked Azu and Ismael’s hovering vehicle, and swarms of Khandaq residents with Homelander-like powers pursued them.
• Azu created decoy hovering vehicles with Twist Reality, scattering the pursuers, while his brother watched from the form of a tiny man who had emerged from a cat’s ear.

Kos Adam and the Justice Society learned that Adrianna had been kidnapped by Ismael, who demanded the Crown of Sabbac in exchange for her. As the heroes debated whether to risk the crown, Azu waited at the mine, and Kos Adam challenged Hawkman over whether Adrianna’s life should be sacrificed for the world.

• Kos Adam, Hawkman, and Doctor Fate fought the clone until it vanished, then learned from Cyclone that the International Gang had taken Adrianna.
• Hawkman identified the kidnapping as an attempt to exchange Adrianna for the Crown of Sabbac, while Doctor Fate urged Kos Adam to wait for the kidnappers’ demands.
• Ismael told Adrianna that Kos Adam was a vengeful killer, then asked Azu whether they should demand the crown; Azu told him to wait and rely on the shield.
• Ismael’s broadcast demanded the Crown of Sabbac for Adrianna’s safe return, and Doctor Fate questioned why he demanded a crown he might already possess.
• Kos Adam acknowledged that the crown could turn its wearer into Demon Sabbac, then asked Hawkman whether saving the world was worth sacrificing Adrianna.

Azu used the Darkhold to summon undead across Khandaq and turned them into a citywide surveillance network while searching for the Crown of Sabbac. At King of Adunk’s palace ruins, the Justice Society agreed to rescue Adrianna, but Amon could not remember where the crown was, and Doctor Fate discovered that his memories had been altered.

• Azu disguised himself as a Khandaqi, summoned undead throughout the city, and commanded them to watch for the Crown of Sabbac.
• Azu reasoned that Homelander might be keeping the hard-to-destroy crown nearby and learned through an undead that Black Adam and the others were at the palace ruins.
• Teth-Adam and Hawkman argued over whether to exchange the crown for Adrianna, until Teth-Adam explained why he wanted to protect her and her son.
• Doctor Fate and Atom Smasher supported rescuing Adrianna, and Hawkman agreed to the exchange on the condition that they later recover or destroy the crown.
• Amon could not remember whether the crown had been in his backpack, so he consented to Doctor Fate examining his memories.
• Doctor Fate found that Amon’s memories had been altered and concluded that someone else had killed Karim at the apartment.

Doctor Fate uncovered the truth about Karim’s death and learned that a mysterious entity had possessed Amon and altered his memories. The Justice Society found that the Crown of Sabbac had been taken from the palace ruins by a local woman, and Doctor Fate began tracing her movements.

• Doctor Fate projected Amon’s memories, revealing that a blond man had killed Karim in the false memory, while Amon’s true memory showed Amon killing Karim after the blond man left.
• Amon’s true memories revealed that a tiny man in an azure uniform had possessed him, altered his memories, and planned to mislead Kos Adam and the Justice Society.
• Doctor Fate and the others agreed to alter Amon’s memories after finding the Crown of Sabbac, then discovered that Amon had hidden it beneath the throne in the palace ruins.
• Kos Adam and Hawkman found the hiding place empty, so Doctor Fate retraced events in the palace and saw a middle-aged local woman take the crown.
• Doctor Fate began tracing the woman’s movements beyond the palace as Hawkman and the others followed.

Khos Adam, Doctor Fate, and Hawkman secretly returned to Khandaq and tracked the Crown of Sabbac through a chain of human and animal couriers. They found Augustus Hodge, who called himself Homelander, holding the Crown and warned them not to make him their enemy.

• Cyclone proposed that the team leave Khandaq openly, then return in disguise to evade the entity watching the city.
• Khos Adam, Doctor Fate, and Hawkman left the plane, disguised themselves, and followed the Crown's trail through Khandaq using Doctor Fate's magic.
• The Crown passed through many couriers before a Husky carried it to an apartment, where a british shorthair blue cat took it inside.
• Khos Adam killed the apparently parasitized cat, and Augustus Hodge appeared and admitted that he had taken the Crown of Sabbac.
• Khos Adam demanded that Hodge hand over the Crown, but Hodge warned the group that they should not become enemies.

Augustus Hodge used replication spores to pit Khos Adam, Doctor Fate, and Hawkman against their own duplicates while protecting the Crown of Sabbac. As Augustus rushed to check the crown’s hiding place at the Defender statue, an attacker exposed it and spore-controlled Khandaq residents converged on the statue.

• Augustus Hodge refused to surrender the Crown of Sabbac and revealed duplicates of Khos Adam, Doctor Fate, and Hawkman made with his replication spores.
• Khos Adam, Doctor Fate, and Hawkman fought their duplicates, with each battle turning into a clash between matching powers and tactics.
• Augustus Hodge spotted his other-universe counterpart carrying what looked like the crown and flew to the Defender statue to check his hiding place.
• Pale streams of fire pursued Augustus Hodge as another attacker cut open the statue’s head and exposed the Crown of Sabbac.
• Parasitized residents of Khandaq, empowered with Homelander’s basic abilities, flew toward the Defender statue.

Azu used the Crown of Sabbac as bait, overwhelmed Augustus’s parasite forces, and trapped him inside Khandaq City’s bone walls while a messenger delivered the real crown to Ismael. Ismael shot himself to gain Sabbac’s power, as Doctor Fate foresaw a future in which hell’s dead returned and Hawkman died.

• Azu revealed that he had lured Augustus into exposing the Crown of Sabbac’s hiding place, then sent undead to disrupt Augustus’s parasites while Azu Clone took the crown.
• Augustus shed his dying body through a derivative of his Breeding Authority, but Azu raised the Wall of Sighs around Khandaq City to keep him from escaping.
• A messenger brought the Crown of Sabbac to Ismael, who put it on and shot himself, believing death would let him gain Sabbac’s power.
• Doctor Fate saw Khandaq consumed by fire and Hawkman killed by a demon, then urged Hawkman to survive even as Hawkman asked him not to force his fate.

Ismael became Demon Sabbac and returned to Khandaq, where he defeated Cyclone and Atom Smasher. He then challenged Azu, who overpowered him and sent him flying toward the palace ruins.

• In Hell, the Hell Monarch empowered Ismael as Sabbac and charged him with taking Khandaq's throne and turning Earth into purgatory.
• Ismael emerged from the sea as Demon Sabbac and attacked the Justice Society aircraft; Atom Smasher saved Cyclone from the crash, but Ismael soon knocked both rookies unconscious.
• Azu lowered the Wall of Sighs, and Ismael flew toward Khandaq and demanded that Azu become his subject.
• Azu confronted Ismael, struck him with the power of Death, broke off one of his horns, and stabbed him in the chest with it.
• Ismael apologized and fled toward the palace ruins after Azu ordered him to get lost.

Azu and Augustus agreed to stop fighting each other directly and let the people of the universe decide the outcome, while they assisted from the sidelines under an oath. As Ismael moved to bring Hell into reality, Azu used his replica to disrupt Augustus’s forces and then intervened as Koss Adam and the Justice Society confronted Ismael.

• Azu proposed that he and Augustus stop fighting personally and let the universe’s people determine their victory, and Augustus agreed after requiring them to swear on the Oath Stone.
• Augustus sent his Spore People to warn Koss Adam, Hawkman, and Doctor Fate that Ismael had gained the Crown of Sabbac and was heading to the palace ruins.
• Azu equipped a replica with divine artifacts and sent it toward the palace while the rising sun dispelled his undead and freed Augustus’s parasitized residents.
• The replica used Modified Vision to transform many of Augustus’s parasites into mechanical life, causing them to fight their own kind.
• Azu controlled the replica as Ismael restored the broken horn and approached the throne, then the replica fired Thermonuclear Beams at Koss Adam and the others.
• Azu threw the Fangs of Destruction toward Ismael, and Mr. John told Ismael to catch the battle axe.

Cyclone and Atom Smasher reached the palace with help from Khandaq residents and joined the Justice Society’s fight to stop Ismael from taking the throne. Ismael gained the Fangs of Destruction and overpowered several opponents, while Azu used Corrupting Black Mist against Kos Adam as the battle continued.

• Cyclone and Atom Smasher found Khandaq residents fighting around the palace and accepted one resident’s offer to lead them through a gap in the battle.
• Cyclone entered the palace area and saw a replica throw the Fangs of Destruction to Ismael, while Azu explained the divine artifact’s powers.
• Kos Adam and the Spore Person charged Azu’s replica as Azu released Corrupting Black Mist to accelerate the Seed of Desire inside Kos Adam.
• Ismael used hellfire against Doctor Fate and his replica, then fought off Atom Smasher, Cyclone, and the two Hawkmen as they tried to keep him from the throne.
• Ismael used the Fangs of Destruction’s Crimson Gold Lightning to destroy Doctor Fate duplicates, wounded one Hawkman, and pinned the other beneath his foot before engulfing him in flames.

Augustus and Azu discussed their past invasions while the battle in the palace ruins escalated. Ismael began pulling Khandaq into hell, and both Augustus and Azu raced to stop him as the confrontation reached its decisive moment.

• Augustus recalled how his plans to protect his advantage had failed, and he questioned Azu about his experience invading universes.
• Azu said he kept control of his home universe from behind the scenes but avoided ruling it directly, while keeping his true reason for invading private.
• Ismael unleashed Destructive Thunder, killing two Spore People and forcing the Justice Society back before taking the throne and starting hell’s overlap with Khandaq.
• Azu’s copy used Godly Strength and the Bracers of Hercules to strike Koss Adam, but Augustus’s Spore Person took the fatal blow and Koss Adam escaped the follow-up beams.
• Koss Adam rushed toward Ismael to stop hell from descending, while Augustus also abandoned their agreement and Azu teleported beside Ismael.

Azu defeated Augustus by exploiting Koss Adam’s longing for his family, causing Koss Adam to relinquish Shazam’s power and die. Back in The Boys Universe, Azu collected his event rewards and gained Gene Replication Spore, which he tested on himself.

• Koss Adam succumbed to a vision of his family, said “Shazam,” and died when Azu’s pale flames struck him.
• Azu explained that he had exploited Koss Adam’s feelings, and Augustus admitted defeat and withdrew from the universe.
• Azu left Ismael to determine his own future while Doctor Fate and Hawkman stayed behind to fight him as the city was ravaged by demons.
• Atom Smasher and Cyclone left to seek help, while Doctor Fate and Hawkman confronted Ismael.
• Azu returned to The Boys Universe and received Token of Glory and a Gene Replication Spore capsule as event rewards.
• Azu used the capsule, generated an Original Spore, and set it to collect his own genetic information.

Azu arranged for Ryan and Cindy to attend Godia University’s affiliated programs, then coached Ryan on handling bullying without letting anger rule him. The chapter ended with Azu, Ryan, and Cindy arriving at the school, where Cindy was assigned to Lamplighter Crime Fighting Academy.

• After Cindy said Ryan needed school, Azu asked Ashley to arrange his enrollment at Godia University’s Superpower Children Academy.
• Azu coaxed Ryan into accepting school and advised him to retaliate proportionally if bullied, report afterward, and kill only in self-defense against a genuine threat.
• Azu told Ryan that controlling his emotions would help him avoid isolation and make friends.
• Azu decided Cindy would attend school too, and she reluctantly agreed to go.
• The next day, Azu registered under the identity David Jane with the hero name Black Nightmare and the power Fear Ray, then arrived at Godia University with Ryan and Cindy.
• Ashley handed Cindy her enrollment document and told her she would enter Lamplighter Crime Fighting Academy.

Azu enrolled Ryan at the Superpower Children Academy, where Ryan eagerly began his new school life. Meanwhile, Cindy settled into Godolkin University and started a fight with Jordan before Professor Brink stopped her at gunpoint.

• Azu convinced the principal to enroll Ryan as a two-star shareholder, and Ryan left with the secretary to meet his class.
• Cindy moved into her dorm, threatened her roommate, and later went to the Lamplighter Criminal Justice Academy to meet Professor Brink.
• Cindy confronted Jordan after Jordan ignored her, and Jordan blasted her across the office hallway.
• Cindy used telekinesis to attack Jordan with a computer and desk, while Jordan retaliated with blasts that Cindy dodged.
• Professor Brink held a pistol to Cindy's head as she prepared to attack Jordan, and Cindy identified herself.

Ryan’s first day at school turned into a string of fights, and Azu was summoned after Ryan broke Luke’s leg. Azu defended Ryan’s retaliation just as an angry voice entered the principal’s office demanding to know who had hurt Luke.

• Brink asked Cindy to bring her guardian to Godolkin Criminal Justice Academy, and Jordan called Azu to arrange a meeting.
• Ryan introduced himself at Superpower Children Academy, shattered Luke’s chair after Luke pulled it away, and was sent outside with him as punishment.
• Ryan met Ginti on the playground and accepted her invitation to her birthday party, angering Luke.
• Luke shocked Ryan with his electricity, but Ryan was unharmed; when Luke charged again, Ryan kicked him and broke his leg.
• Azu arrived at the school, told Ryan to face what he had done, and said Ryan should have broken both of Luke’s legs; an enraged voice then demanded to know who broke Luke’s leg.

Azu taught Ryan lessons about power and responsibility by defeating Alexander and forcing the school to let Ryan stay. Later, Cindy witnessed guards subdue a powerful student trying to escape the academy.

• Alexander demanded Ryan’s expulsion and presented a petition signed by several influential parents, but Azu tore it up and argued Luke had brought his injury on himself.
• Azu contacted Ashley, and Alexander learned that Vought and Donnie Company were terminating his contracts; when Alexander attacked, Azu broke his arm and crushed his legs while teaching Ryan about handling conflict and accepting responsibility.
• The principal agreed that Ryan could remain at school, and Azu left with him after encouraging him to attend a girl classmate’s birthday party and ask Angelina about a gift.
• Cindy encountered students who recognized her, then followed an alarm to see a young man break through guards and declare that he did not want to return to the forest.
• Cindy struck the young man with a car she controlled, and guards knocked him unconscious with an anesthetic mask; Mary Moreau told Cindy that the student had been on drugs.

Cindy settled into life at Godolkin University, met Luke and other students, and joined Andre's group for a night out. The evening ended with Andre accidentally cutting a woman's artery at a bar, and Jordan urged everyone to flee.

• Cindy met Mary, who explained that she had wanted to study at the Criminal Justice Academy, and later accepted Andre's invitation to go out.
• Azu learned that Godolkin's top-ranked student, Luke, was being recruited for The Seven, and asked Ashley which shareholders supported him.
• Cindy apologized to Mary, met Andre and Luke, and agreed to join the students for an evening out.
• Cindy picked Ryan up after school, and Ryan worried that Azu might be preparing to leave for good.
• Cindy, Mary, Andre, Luke, Jordan, and Kate went to Seven Tower and then a bar, where Kate used her powers to get them inside.
• Andre accidentally cut a woman's neck at the bar, and Jordan urged the group to leave before they got into trouble.

Mary saved a woman at the Skyscraper nightclub, but Godia University expelled her and made her take the blame for the incident. After Luke killed Brink and attacked Mary, Jordan tried to stop him, and Cindy restrained him with her telekinesis.

• Mary used her blood-control power to stop a woman's bleeding and save her life at the nightclub.
• Videos of Mary's rescue spread online, and Godia University expelled her to contain the scandal while Cindy was allowed to stay because of Ashley's recommendation.
• Mary left Brink's office in tears, and Cindy learned that the university had made Mary take responsibility for the others.
• Luke killed Brink by burning him, then tried to silence Mary when she discovered the body.
• Jordan fought Luke, switching between her male and female forms, but Luke overpowered her and went after Mary.
• Cindy used telekinesis to restrain Luke as students gathered to watch and record the fight.