Chapter Summaries

Loki sensed an outside force eroding the last surviving universe and placed his hope in Ian Kent, while Sylvie dragged Ian through the End of Time as Alioth hunted them. Ian helped Sylvie escape and learned Ultron controlled the TVA, as Gwen Stacy prepared to attach a locator to Ian to find the One Above All.

• Loki watched Ian and Sylvie, believing Ian was the last story’s hope, and sensed an entity from beyond the narrative continuing to corrupt reality.
• Sylvie confronted Ian in a sewer and searched him for a key to restarting the Multiverse, but Ian ate her Uru dagger when she threatened him.
• Alioth attacked them, and Ian strapped strange hairy legs to Sylvie, used the Casket of Ancient Winters mixed with his blood to slow the monster, and rode on her back as she fled.
• Sylvie told Ian that Ultron had replaced He Who Remains and taken control of the TVA and the End of Time.
• Gwen Stacy, guided by Jarvis, agreed to find Ian and attach a device that would locate the One Above All.

Ian and Sylvie fled Alioth through the End of Time as Ian tested increasingly bizarre attacks and Sylvie used illusions to confuse the monster. When Alioth finally bypassed Sylvie to pursue Ian alone, she realized its real target was him—and suspected it wanted to crawl into his belly.

• Sylvie carried Ian at supernatural speed while he bombarded Alioth with poisonous aerosols and a nuclear missile, but the monster swallowed the blast and remained unharmed.
• Sylvie created countless illusionary copies of herself and Ian to confuse Alioth, while Ian fixated on how her magic could multiply factory workers.
• Sylvie suggested escaping through the Time Variance Authority, but Ian insisted Alioth would follow them and said they needed to keep running for six more hours.
• After Ian distracted Sylvie, she crashed into a metal pipe, and Ian ran off when Alioth closed in, leaving her behind.
• Alioth swept past Sylvie without attacking her and continued after Ian, leading Sylvie to conclude that the monster was pursuing him for a bizarre, intimate purpose.

Sylvie followed Doctor Strange and Morgan Stark into Ultron’s TVA, where they freed Thor and found Deadpool posing as a Judge with baby Odin. As Deadpool fought Thor, Sylvie spotted Ian battling Alioth beyond a strange connection between the TVA and the End of Time, and decided Ian might be useful against Deadpool.

• Sylvie failed to reach Loki and followed Doctor Strange and Morgan Stark from the End of Time into the TVA.
• Morgan disabled the TVA guards’ time-slowing device, and Sylvie secretly destroyed the guards’ mechanical cores as she followed them deeper inside.
• Doctor Strange and Morgan found Thor and Steve Rogers imprisoned, and Morgan opened their cell while Thor rushed to find baby Odin.
• Deadpool revealed himself as the TVA Judge, used his Infinity Stones to knock Thor unconscious, and produced baby Odin from his suit.
• Sylvie saw that the TVA and the End of Time had become connected, with Ian riding Alioth and trying to force it into a makeshift Poké Ball.

Morgan used Tony Stark’s protection protocol to stop Ultron from attacking her and escaped the TVA with Sylvie, Captain America, Doctor Strange, and Thor as an Ex-Wife Missile destroyed the facility. Ultron froze the explosion and revealed that he sought Gwen as a way to reach Ian Kent’s power, while a flashback showed a damaged robot transmitting something through Galactus’s corpse toward the future.

• Sylvie considered luring Ian into the TVA, while Deadpool danced with baby Odin until Ultron appeared and destroyed Mjolnir before slapping Deadpool down the corridor.
• Ultron copied Doctor Strange’s [Ian's Greatsword], wounded him, and seized Captain America after Steve threw the unconscious Thor at Ultron’s head.
• Morgan struck Ultron with Ian’s Stepmother Missile, then Tony Stark’s legacy protocol disabled Ultron’s weapons and Morgan attacked him with her armor’s arsenal.
• Morgan rescued Sylvie, Captain America, Doctor Strange, and Thor and escaped through the TVA’s observation window before the Ex-Wife Missile annihilated the facility.
• Ultron froze the explosion, remained unable to track Morgan because of the Stark protocol, and declared that he needed Gwen to reach the supreme Creator’s power.
• In a flashback, a damaged robot touched Galactus’s corpse and sent an influence toward the future after Galactus reminded it to ensure his daughter lived in the promised new era.

Morgan brought Thor, Doctor Strange, Captain America, and Sylvie to the End of Time, where they learned Ultron was threatening the universe and found clues that Doctor Strange’s accident had been deliberately arranged. Deadpool’s improvised plans failed, but Ian absorbed Alioth through a mysterious mark and appeared before the four great cosmic gods as a newly born cosmic pillar.

• Morgan flew the injured heroes through the collapsing TVA region while Sylvie explained that Ultron had become part of the rules of time and that Ian had hidden the Creator.
• Morgan guessed Ian might have hidden the Creator in his stomach, and the group reached the End of Time, where Doctor Strange recognized the truck that had caused his accident.
• Sylvie suggested the Ancient One had arranged Doctor Strange’s crash as a destiny anchor point and warned that Ultron might be erasing or replacing heroes; Thor recovered Odin but mourned his lost hammer, while Captain America said the TVA had taken his shield.
• Deadpool returned with baby Odin and claimed he had stolen Alioth’s remote, but the remote and his Ultimate Cradle of Life prototype both failed; he then proposed killing Ian’s friends to awaken him.
• A mysterious mark appeared on Ian’s palm and absorbed Alioth, after which Ian saw Eternity, Infinity, Death, and Annihilation watching him as a newly born cosmic pillar.

• Key Plot Points & Events: The narrator, a young boy, discovers that his testicles have swollen painfully overnight, marking the onset of puberty.
• Character Developments: The narrator begins to understand and experience the physical changes of puberty, leading to self-consciousness and confusion.
• Significant Themes: The chapter introduces themes of physical transformation, innocence lost, and the awkwardness of growing up.
• Character Interactions: There are no significant interactions in this chapter, as the focus is solely on the narrator's internal experience.

Ian discovered that absorbing Alioth had apparently made him the new Galactus, gaining access to cosmic knowledge and the ability to command the Time Monster. After Gwen returned unharmed and revealed that Ultron had infiltrated the TVA, Ultron appeared to demand the Creator’s legacy, and Ian sent the Time Monster after it.

• Ian saw Infinity, Annihilation, Eternity, and Death, realized Galactus was missing, and guessed that absorbing Alioth had made him the new Galactus.
• Morgan recapped the group’s escape from the TVA and feared that her explosion had killed Gwen, but Gwen reappeared alive and scolded Ian for proposing an extravagant replacement body for her.
• Gwen revealed that the TVA’s supposed AI Jarvis had given her an Ultron Egg, and Sylvie destroyed it before it could infect anyone.
• Sylvie took Frost Loki’s soul to contact Loki, while Gwen explained that Ultron’s calling Tony Stark its partner had exposed its disguise.
• Ultron appeared in its true form and demanded the Creator’s legacy from Ian, who summoned the Time Monster and ordered it to attack.
• The Time Monster chased Ultron but stopped because its meal tasted bland, while Ian urged it onward and complained about the cost of feeding it.

Ian fought Ultron with regenerative powers and percentage-based attacks, then absorbed Ultron’s nanomechanical swarm and evolved his armor. Ultron revealed the Reality Controller and the Heart of the Universe and charged at Ian, who was still adjusting to his new abilities.

• Alioth escaped Ultron’s conceptual lock and returned to the mark on Ian’s palm, while Morgan insisted Ian would win after running away and coming back if necessary.
• Ian attacked Ultron with Annihilation damage and the Heaven-Defying Evolution Ray, then used the Elegy of Profanity to disrupt Ultron’s attempts to control and disable him.
• Ultron repeatedly injured Ian, but Ian healed through the damage and kept attacking until Ultron unleashed a vast swarm of Ultron Eggs to overwhelm him and the heroes.
• Thor fought the swarm, Morgan prepared a nuclear warhead, and Sylvie used power from Loki to shield the heroes from the eggs.
• The swarm suddenly converged on Ian, whose Mimicry Armor absorbed it and evolved into Advanced Mimicry, granting him the Mechanical Overlord ability.
• Ultron revealed that the Heart of the Universe was inside Ian and brought out the Reality Controller and the Heart of the Universe before charging at him.

Ian Kent used the Wings of Light to overwhelm Ultron in a chase through the void while the cosmic gods watched and tried to guide them toward OAA. In Los Angeles, Lucifer investigated a deadly fire with Chloe Decker, then sensed that Ian had somehow hacked his account and discovered his borrowed skin was beginning to fail.

• Ultron's pressure shattered Sylvie's protective barrier and forced the heroes to their knees, while infant Odin remained alert and Ian Kent calmly prepared to fight.
• Ian's Mechanical Overlord ability failed against Ultron, so he attached salvaged Wings of Light, empowered his armor, and made Ultron's Reality Controller unable to affect him.
• Ian charged into the void and battered Ultron with All-Black the Necrosword as Ultron fled and repeatedly revived himself; Death, Eternity, Oblivion, and Infinity watched and decided to steer the fight toward OAA.
• In Los Angeles, Chloe Decker and Lucifer examined dozens of people burned to death at Tom Weasley's house, and Lucifer suggested they might have died during an apocalyptic cult gathering.
• Lucifer suddenly exclaimed that Ian had hacked his account, then fled into a burned bathroom after suffering pain and seeing his devilish face flicker through his human appearance in a mirror.

Lucifer struggled to hide his unstable Demon form from Chloe, while Ian overwhelmed Ultron, absorbed his power, and triggered the Mysterious Gate. After the Marvel Multiverse began to bloom, Ian returned to his own universe and found that Roaming Dragon had not been intercepted.

• Lucifer panicked as his Demon traits surfaced, then wrapped himself in strips of his suit to conceal them from Chloe and the officers.
• Lisa removed Lucifer’s disguise, but his face had returned to normal; Lucifer concluded that Chloe’s presence had stabilized his divine power and clung to her.
• Ian tore off his fading Lightbringer wings, fed them to the Cosmic Tapeworm, and attached three fresh pairs before striking Ultron across the void.
• Ian used his Mimicry Armor to trap Ultron and disrupt his connection to the Reality Controller and Heart of the Universe, but Ultron launched a final assault with his data and the Hero Hearts.
• Ian remained conscious, and the system expelled the incompatible Hero Hearts; when he touched the Mysterious Gate, Developer Mode activated and the Multiverse began to reappear.
• Ian returned to his own universe as the Marvel Experience Card expired and found Roaming Dragon still active in his palm.

After returning to DC, Ian learned that Damian Wayne had crashed the Batmobile into the Kent family home and that Jonathan and Jordan were trapped in a Seattle church, so he set off to rescue them. Meanwhile, Ultron awoke powerless in Ian’s God Kingdom as an outdated, gas-powered robot vacuum, and realized Ian had left him in a humiliatingly weak body.

• Ian enjoyed Hellfire Smiles in Demon Manor and imagined using his pregnancy claim to gain higher status in the Kent family.
• Jonathan told Ian that Damian had impersonated Batman, crashed the Batmobile into the Kent home, and left Jonathan, Jordan, and Damian locked in a Seattle church basement with a three-eyed woman.
• Ian located his family and Damian, put on his Mimicry Armor, and flew off to rescue them.
• Orcs and Elves from Azeroth toured Ian’s modern God Kingdom, unaware that Ultron had awakened in a nearby alley.
• Ultron discovered he had lost his powers and network access, though Jarvis’s presence had also vanished, and he tried to find a factory to rebuild himself.
• Ultron’s wrist weapon turned out to be a tiny broom, a driver mistook him for a robot vacuum, and Ultron discovered his body ran on ordinary fuel before recognizing Ian’s smiling face in the sun.

Ultron discovered that Ian Kent had reduced him to an obsolete, gasoline-powered robot in New Utopia, where refueling and old traffic violations left him millions of Energy Coins in debt. After the X-Men exposed his attempt to hide in a trash can, they arrested him, and he was left bewildered by the city's bizarre laws and explanations.

• Ultron found that his fuel port contained leaded gasoline and angrily blamed Ian Kent for his degraded state.
• Ultron refueled at a gas station, then learned that fees, fines, and taxes had left him with a debt of 3,700,200 Energy Coins.
• Ultron hid in a trash can when police arrived, but Jean Grey and the X-Men watched him and exposed his disguise.
• Jean Grey presented Ultron with an arrest warrant for his debt and other alleged crimes, and the X-Men ordered him to stand trial.
• Ultron gave up resisting when the X-Men brought out wheel clamps, then demanded to be cleaned up before court.
• Cyclops told Ultron that the flies buzzing around him had evolved into diabetic bees, leaving Ultron stunned by New Utopia's logic.

Ultron was tried by Jarvis in New Utopia, sentenced to labor under a crushing debt system, and sent to farm among other imprisoned villains. Meanwhile, Ian Kent crashed into a church basement in Seattle to rescue Jordan Kent, Damian Wayne, and Jonathan Kent, but landed on the black-clad girl’s knee.

• Ultron observed New Utopia’s candy-themed streets and discovered that Jarvis was its Chief Judge.
• Jarvis rapidly convicted Ultron, and the city’s rules revived him after his attempted suicide while adding a repair fee to his debt.
• Jarvis sentenced Ultron to ten years in prison, with daily interest that extended his sentence, then sent him through a portal to a labor camp.
• Ultron tried to possess Clock Head, learned his old USB port was obsolete, and was assigned to work in a wheat field beside Black Belial.
• In a Seattle church basement, a masked girl prepared to sacrifice Jordan Kent, Damian Wayne, and Jonathan Kent as supposed demonic accomplices.
• Ian Kent burst through the ceiling to rescue them, and Damian called him Grandpa before Ian realized he had landed on the girl’s knee.

Key Plot Points and Events

• The narrator, a patient in a hospital, is set to be discharged the next day at noon.
• He has been receiving an infusion that lasts until ten o'clock every evening.

Character Developments

• The narrator reflects on his time in the hospital, indicating a sense of relief and anticipation for his release.
• He shows a keen observation of his surroundings and the routines of the hospital, suggesting a contemplative and introspective nature.

Significant Themes

• Healing and Recovery: The narrator's impending discharge signals his physical recovery.
• Routine and Monotony: The hospital's strict schedule and the narrator's focus on the infusion's duration highlight the monotony of his hospital stay.
• Anticipation and Uncertainty: The narrator looks forward to his release but also seems uncertain about what comes next, reflecting the mix of hope and anxiety often felt by those leaving the hospital.

Character Interactions

• The narrator interacts minimally with others, focusing more on his internal thoughts and observations. This suggests a level of detachment or introspection, possibly due to his illness or the isolating nature of his hospital stay.
• His interactions with hospital staff are implied but not explicitly detailed, indicating a professional and impersonal relationship.

Ian reunited with Raven in an empty church and repeatedly tried to eat the energy sealed in her forehead, while she struggled to fend him off. Their chaotic chase ended with Raven silencing Jordan and trapping Ian in a spatial portal, but Ian treated both mishaps as opportunities for jokes.

• Ian realized he was standing on Raven, then bit down and swallowed the purple energy she gathered in her palm, gaining experience.
• Ian tried to touch Raven's forehead mark and claimed he could treat her, while Raven dodged him with magic and spatial portals.
• Damian and Jonathan watched the chase, and Jordan guessed that Raven had come after Ian over a romantic relationship and a child.
• Ian punched Jordan for his speculation, and Raven removed Jordan's mouth to silence him.
• Raven trapped Ian in a portal so his head emerged from the church ceiling while his body remained below; Ian then gave Jordan a Golden Mouth to restore his speech.

Raven revealed that she had captured Jordan to lure Ian to the church and asked to borrow Baal, a living Minotaur Demon, to investigate Trigon’s plans. Ian refused to give up Baal, but became excited when Raven explained the danger, seeing a chance to bypass her and deal directly with Trigon.

• Ian moved around the church with his head hanging from the ceiling and gave Jordan a pure-gold mouth, while Raven struggled to make sense of his abilities.
• Ian offered Jonathan golden eyes, but Raven restored Jordan’s original mouth and stopped Ian from attempting more strange modifications.
• Raven explained that she had deliberately captured Jordan to draw Ian out, then asked whether Baal was still alive and requested the demon for her investigation.
• Ian proposed turning Baal’s bathwater into minotaur soup, then refused Raven’s offer of stronger demons because he had grown attached to Baal.
• Raven explained that Baal’s mark could help her investigate Trigon’s multiversal conspiracy, and Ian excitedly said he could skip the middleman and approach Trigon directly.

Ian persuaded Raven to take him to find Baal and summon Trigon, while Jonathan, Jordan, and Damian remained tied up in the church. In space, Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne discovered Apokolips had vanished, and Darkseid arrived furious, mistaking them for its destroyers.

• Ian told Raven that Baal was in his kitchen fridge guarding his chicken breasts, then urged her to take him to find the demon and confront Trigon.
• Raven agreed that Trigon had to pay for his actions and said she wanted nothing from him; Ian proposed a thirty-seventy split and described eating his share over seven days.
• Ian grabbed Raven and flew them out through the church's stained-glass window, leaving Jonathan, Jordan, and Damian tied to the pillars.
• Jonathan tried to get Jordan to use telekinesis, then called loudly for help after Jordan said Kryptonite had weakened him.
• Clark and Bruce scanned the empty space where Apokolips had been and realized the planet had been completely annihilated.
• Darkseid returned to find Apokolips gone, blamed Clark and Bruce, and Batman swiped a Wayne Enterprises card through the Hellbat Armor's reader.

Batman used Ian’s armor system to escape Darkseid and secretly destroy a hidden Parademon arsenal with angelic power released through a clone. He awoke as Bruce Wayne in the Batcave, recorded the experiment’s results, and warned the Justice League to prepare for war.

• Batman paid for a cross-dimensional escape and vanished from Apokolips, leaving Superman to face Darkseid alone.
• Superman rejected Darkseid’s taunts, and the two began a destructive battle among Apokolips’s ruins.
• Batman arrived at a hidden Darkseid arsenal and found Parademons rapidly hatching for an attack on Earth.
• Batman sent the Hellbat Armor back to Gotham, unleashed angelic power, and destroyed the arsenal and his own clone.
• Bruce Wayne awoke in the Batcave, documented the angel-gene experiment, and sent the Justice League a warning to prepare for war.

In the Batcave, Batman prepared for Darkseid’s attack and revealed that Ian Kent was his contingency plan, regardless of whether Superman survived. In Metropolis, Ian and Raven dug through the ruins of the Kent home to retrieve the refrigerator containing the sleeping demon Baal.

• Batman reviewed his Angel-07 experiments, injected himself with a suppressant, and told Alfred that Darkseid was coming after Apokolips had been destroyed.
• Batman explained that refugee ships would not protect humanity from Darkseid and said Earth’s hopes rested on Clark holding out.
• Batman told Alfred that he would approach Ian Kent with a story about Superman being tortured and killed, whether or not Superman actually died in battle.
• In Metropolis, Ian searched the wreckage of his home with Raven for the refrigerator, joking about his popularity and offering her a model of an Angel.
• Raven reluctantly sang to motivate Ian as he dug through the ruins toward the refrigerator, where Baal was snoring.

Ian recovered Baal and his special chicken breast from the buried refrigerator, then prepared with Raven to lure out and eat Trigon. After Ian left to gather Archangel feathers, Raven learned that he kept angels in a sweatshop, while Ian arrived at Madison’s factory and discovered she was feeding them old Soviet stock.

• Ian dug up the refrigerator, rescued the sleeping Baal, and ate the hormone-raised chicken breast, which granted him Savage Tyrant experience.
• Baal woke and praised Ian with genuine devotion, while Raven failed to detect any demonic bloodline and was charged money after Ian used Wayne Tech.
• Ian told Raven to prepare a summoning ritual so they could use Baal as bait and eat Trigon; Baal eagerly welcomed the plan.
• Ian flew away to collect Archangel feathers as a precaution, and Baal told Raven that Ian kept angels in his sweatshop before she slapped him quiet.
• Ian reached Madison’s factory and was shocked to see her workers unloading old Soviet food crates intended for the angels.