Chapter Summaries

Thor arrived at Cybertron with over a hundred thousand Asgardian civilians after fleeing the destruction of Asgard, seeking shelter and strength from Donnie. Donnie offered to make Thor stronger using Celestial tissue, warning that the process could kill him or turn him into a monster.

• Thor, Loki, and Heimdall arrived in the Cybertronian Galaxy and witnessed Thanos being defeated and captured by The Fallen and twelve other Primes.
• Thor brought the surviving Asgardians to Cybertron and told Donnie that Tian Jin Weng Xing had attacked Asgard while Odin stayed behind to fight.
• Heimdall said Asgard had collapsed and he had not seen Odin after the battle, leaving Thor and Loki overwhelmed with grief.
• Thor asked Donnie for the power to avenge Asgard, and Donnie proposed using leftover Celestial body tissue to transform him, warning of death or deformity.

Thor chose to undergo Donnie’s risky procedure to merge him with recreated Celestial life tissue, hoping to gain enough power to face Tian Jin Weng Xing. The transformation reached its peak, but Donnie was still waiting to learn whether the new organism was truly Thor.

• Donnie explained that transforming Thor with Celestial life tissue could make him a Level Seven God King, and Thor agreed to take the risk.
• Heimdall and Loki tried to stop Thor, but Thor entered Donnie’s laboratory while Loki’s attempt to sneak inside was blocked by a powerful spell.
• Donnie revealed that he had recreated the Celestial tissue from samples obtained after destroying Void Land, though his analysis remained incomplete.
• Thor asked Donnie to kill him if the transformation made him a monster and to spare his people and Loki.
• Donnie broke the Celestial tissue into atoms and guided them into Thor, whose body began to necrotize and change as Donnie struggled to control the aggressive cells.
• Thor’s aura weakened as a far more powerful life force rose, and Donnie waited to see whether the transformation had succeeded.

Tian Jin Weng Xing pursued Thor to Cybertron after devouring Odin and Asgard, intending to kill Thor and later attack the Heavenly Court. Thor transformed into an artificial Dark Celestial and attacked Tian Jin Weng Xing, who was shocked by the ancient power and saw a way to produce divine energy for himself.

• Tian Jin Weng Xing traveled toward the Cybertronian Galaxy after devouring Odin and Asgard, while his conflicting divine powers caused chaos around him.
• Tian Jin Weng Xing spotted Parallax hiding in an asteroid belt, but Parallax fled and Tian Jin Weng Xing continued toward Cybertron.
• Thor erupted from Cybertron in a monstrous form as immense divine power surrounded him, and Tian Jin Weng Xing recognized the aura of the extinct Dark Celestial Group.
• Tian Jin Weng Xing realized Thor’s transformation might let him manufacture divine power and greedily demanded to know what Thor had done.
• Thor regained control of himself, declared that he would avenge the Asgardians, and hurled Mjolnir at Tian Jin Weng Xing.

Donnie prepared to leave Cybertron to study Doomsday Cells in a universe nearing its end, hoping to understand his genetic template before advancing. He entrusted the old mage with Cybertron’s defense and the Infinity Stones, then used the Mobius Chair to begin searching for a suitable universe.

• Thor and Tian Jin Weng Xing clashed in a battle that shook Spacetime, while Donnie realized Tian Jin Weng Xing had recognized secrets in the Celestial tissue he had cultivated.
• Donnie told the old mage that his research had only partially replicated the Celestials’ life code and warned that further experiments risked provoking Eternity.
• Donnie asked the old mage to obtain Asgardian and Frost Giant blood from Loki for Shockwave and Su Rui’s research.
• Donnie announced he would leave to conduct large-scale human experiments in another universe and told the old mage to defend Cybertron if Thor lost.
• Donnie entrusted the Soul Stone and the Infinity Gauntlet to the old mage, said goodbye to Wanda and the others, and entered the secret chamber.
• Donnie sat in the Mobius Chair with a suitcase of Doomsday Cell samples and ordered it to find a universe entering its twilight years.

Donnie used the Mobius Chair to search for a nearby, weakened universe, but quickly found dangerous powerhouses in the first two worlds he visited. He left both universes unharmed and continued his search.

• Donnie used the Mobius Chair to find four universes that matched his criteria and traveled to the first one.
• Donnie arrived at an Earth devastated by Supreme Little Superman, who was slaughtering heroes including Superman and Iron Man.
• Donnie recognized Supreme Little Superman as too dangerous to confront and fled, abandoning the first universe.
• Donnie entered the second universe and encountered Doctor Manhattan, then immediately turned the Mobius Chair around and left.
• Doctor Manhattan watched Donnie depart before dispersing into blue particles across the universe.

Donnie marked Doctor Manhattan’s universe off-limits and chose a devastated universe ruled by a rage-fueled Red Lantern Hulk as a testing ground. He arranged to spread his Doomsday Virus through mercenaries, and Yondu’s Ravagers accepted the lucrative mission.

• Donnie ordered the Mobius Chair to exclude the Manhattan Universe from future searches and traveled to another universe.
• Donnie found Earth nearly lifeless under the rule of a Green Scar Hulk wearing a Red Lantern Ring, and learned that Hulk had also killed Black Bolt and Galactus.
• Donnie named the devastated universe the Nirvana Universe and selected it as a large-universe testing ground.
• Donnie brought his Doomsday Virus to Void Land and posted a repeatable mission to deploy it across star systems, disguising it as a vegetation-modifying drug.
• Yondu accepted the mission for the Ravagers, prioritizing the generous payment over what the drug actually did.

The Ravagers spread the Doomsday Virus across forty locations, and Void Land erupted into a horrifying outbreak of violent mutations. Yondu watched in horror as the infected slaughtered one another, then Star-Lord and the Guardians turned back after approaching the planet.

• The Ravagers deployed thirty-nine test tubes on infamous planets, while Yondu smashed the last one on Void Land before leaving with his crew.
• Within three hours, Void Land's residents began mutating into stronger, black-skinned monsters with blood-red eyes.
• The first fully transformed Doomsday attacked and ate a teammate, as brutal killings spread throughout Void Land.
• Yondu and his crew watched the planet descend into a slaughterhouse and realized they had helped destroy a world.
• Star-Lord Quill ignored Yondu's warning and headed for Void Land, but the Guardians' spacecraft soon turned back after seeing the monsters.

Donnie’s Destruction Spore-derived cells spread across forty planets, beginning the creation of many Doomsday species and factions. He watched the outbreak unfold and planned to use the resulting Doomsdays as an arsenal against the Unique Gods.

• After speaking with the Guardians of the Galaxy, Yondu and the Ravagers fled, and Yondu regretted deploying the test tubes.
• Donnie waited on an asteroid as the broken test tubes began spreading highly infectious Destruction Spore-derived cells.
• Donnie described the four cell types: Inferior Cells rapidly infected and adapted, Regenerative Cells revived, Primal Cells evolved against fighting styles, and Proliferation Cells multiplied rapidly.
• Donnie anticipated that infected beings would retain their memories and consciousness while becoming members of the Doomsday species.
• Donnie planned to make the Nirvana Universe a contingency arsenal, unleashing its Doomsdays against any Unique Gods who came after him.

As the Doomsday infection created new powers across the universe, Donnie established a secret base in the Nirvana Universe to create Maximals and Primal Beasts from genetic samples. He returned to the Cybertronian Galaxy, where a powerful energy fluctuation appeared on Earth.

• Cyborg Superman killed Tyrant Mongu and claimed Warworld as ruler.
• Sinestro killed the last Guardian, took his Green Lantern Ring, and declared himself master of OA.
• Grandmaster gained the power to infect and replicate, then vowed to reclaim Sakaar.
• Donnie monitored the major Doomsday factions and built a secret base to create Maximals and Primal Beasts from genetic samples.
• Donnie chose not to risk searching for the Time Stone near Green Scar Hulk, then used the Mobius Chair to return to the main universe.
• Donnie returned to Cybertron and sensed a powerful energy fluctuation on Earth.

Steppenwolf arrived on Earth with a Parademon army to avenge Apocalypse’s recent humiliations and reclaim the missing Mother Boxes. As the Parademons ravaged the planet, Earth’s leaders struggled to find allies and called for Donnie to return.

• Steppenwolf entered Earth, searched for the Mother Boxes, and discovered they had been taken.
• Steppenwolf flew toward Themyscira while sending Parademons across Earth to search for the boxes.
• The Parademons attacked Earth, and S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Helicarrier fell after fighting them.
• Earth’s leaders recalled that ancient forces and cosmic allies had once helped repel Apocalypse, but most were unavailable or unreliable.
• One leader urged the others to contact the Sky Eye Society and ask Donnie to return.

Batman defeated and bound Superman with his Exoskeleton Armor and Kryptonite, while arguing that humanity could stand on its own. Superman recovered unexpectedly, took Batman’s weapon, and renewed their debate over how Gotham should be protected.

• Batman battered a weakened Superman and declared that humanity, not Superman, was exceptional.
• Batman bound Superman with an Adamantium chain while criticizing his interference and recording the armor’s data.
• Tony and Pepper watched the fight, and Tony said the clash of ideals would be settled by its winner.
• Superman recovered from the Kryptonite’s effects, disarmed Batman, and argued that Batman’s cruel methods only encouraged more hostility.
• Batman answered that acting ruthlessly prevented further crime.

Batman’s increasingly brutal methods brought him into conflict with Superman, who invited him to join a new Justice League. Before Batman could decide, Green Arrow warned them that Apocalypse had invaded Earth, leaving the two heroes to unite against the threat.

• Batman rejected Superman’s claim that Donnie’s ideas had influenced him and defended his increasingly ruthless efforts to control Gotham.
• Superman argued that Batman was breaking the law, offered him a place in the Justice League, and returned the Kryptonite gun Batman had used against him.
• Batman put away the gun and said he would consider Superman’s offer.
• Green Arrow warned Batman and Superman that Apocalypse’s forces had invaded Earth.
• Batman ordered Alfred to contact the Avengers and agreed to join forces with Superman as a Parademon army approached.

Steppenwolf’s Parademons overwhelmed Earth’s ordinary forces while he searched for the missing Mother Boxes. On Themyscira, Queen Hippolyta rallied the Amazons and ordered them to gather allies, including Donnie.

• Parademons invaded Earth and massacred human soldiers, destroying resistance bases with their superior strength and weapons.
• Steppenwolf demanded that the Parademon captains conquer Earth within a month, then set out to find the missing Mother Boxes.
• Queen Hippolyta told the Amazons that the gods had died and insisted they must defend Earth for themselves.
• Hippolyta ordered messengers to contact Diana, the Kunlun warriors, Kamar-Taj, and the Green Lantern Corps, and said someone would contact Donnie.

Steppenwolf and a massive Parademon invasion devastated Earth, crushing its heroes and leaving the planet near collapse. With Donnie unreachable, Coulson ordered S.H.I.E.L.D. to restart the Super Soldier plan and resume research on the frozen Black Dragon.

• Steppenwolf defeated Earth's assembled heroes, killing more than twenty and gravely injuring Superman, Iron Man, Captain America, the Flash, and others.
• The Flash rescued survivors while Steppenwolf surveyed Earth and ordered the Parademons to keep advancing.
• A one-megaton Nuclear Bomb failed to harm Steppenwolf, and Coulson learned that Donnie was not on Cybertron and could not return.
• Coulson ordered S.H.I.E.L.D. to restart the plan Nick Fury had terminated and resume research on the giant dragon.
• Melinda and Coulson opened the vault containing the frozen Black Dragon, the Symbiote God.

Coulson restarted S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Symbiote Legion project, using the Black Dragon's symbiotes to create soldiers despite the risk of madness. After Earth's heroes suffered a devastating defeat against Steppenwolf, the battered survivors gathered to face the question of how they could possibly stop him.

• Coulson ordered S.H.I.E.L.D. to extract symbiotes from the Black Dragon and create more soldiers to fight Apocalypse.
• Specialists harvested the black liquid, and soldiers screamed in agony as the symbiotes parasitized them.
• Steppenwolf and his Parademon army overwhelmed Earth's heroes, leaving many dead and others wounded until the Flash's sudden burst of speed helped them survive.
• Steppenwolf stood on the Australian continent as Earth's satellites recorded him and fear spread across the planet.
• Robin asked how the heroes could defeat Steppenwolf, while Captain America tried to encourage them and Hank Pym rejected his comparison to past battles.
• Tony mourned Rhodey's death and blamed himself for not giving him another suit of armor.

After Steppenwolf devastated Earth’s defenders, Dr. Harrison tried to rally the surviving heroes and explain the scale of their enemy. The heroes still lacked a way to stop Steppenwolf, and Harrison revealed that Apocalypse and its godlike warrior came from beyond the multiverse.

• Steppenwolf killed more than half of the assembled superheroes and fighters, severely wounded Superman, and struck down the dragon Shou Lao.
• Dr. Harrison asked about Superman’s condition, and Diana said he was recovering by absorbing sunlight.
• Batman warned that the heroes needed to restrain Steppenwolf, while Tony suggested building armor and Robin demanded to know why Donnie had not arrived.
• Stephen said he could not locate Donnie or open a portal to Cybertron, and Batman reminded the group that Donnie had no obligation to save Earth.
• Harrison considered escaping through time but lacked enough Speed Force, then secretly eyed the device he had planted in the Flash’s lightning emblem.
• Harrison told the heroes that Apocalypse was a super-planet beyond the multiverse and that Steppenwolf’s history predated the formation of the multiverse.

Harrison explained that the heroes could use the Flash’s Speed Force to travel through time, and the Flash proposed going back half a year to warn Donnie about Steppenwolf. The heroes supported the plan despite the risk of their current lives being overwritten, while Harrison secretly believed time would punish their attempt.

• Harrison claimed the Speed Force had shown him that Steppenwolf was an ancient god from the God Realm, and Batman questioned how Harrison knew this.
• Harrison explained that he had studied the Speed Force with the Flash, while Ham doubted it and compared it to his quantum technology.
• The Flash proposed using the Cosmic Treadmill to travel back half a year and warn Donnie about Steppenwolf’s invasion.
• Harrison objected that the Flash could be killed by Steppenwolf in the past, but the Flash insisted he would seek Donnie’s help rather than fight.
• Robin asked what would happen to the people at the meeting if history changed, and Harrison said they might be overwritten by new versions of themselves.
• Tony urged the Flash to go back in time so Rhodey would not die, and the heroes’ support drowned out Harrison’s objections.

Donnie returned to Cybertron as Earth faced a devastating invasion by Steppenwolf and the Parademons, and he weighed whether to send help. He ordered Cybertron’s legions to support Optimus Prime rather than protect Earth, and assigned Dormammu to fight as well.

• Donnie watched Klein’s recording and footage of the Parademons invading Earth and the superheroes’ defeat, while Magneto argued against helping Earth.
• Shockwave reported that more than three hundred thousand Parademons were on Earth and that Steppenwolf could summon further reinforcements.
• After hearing the divided officials’ views, Donnie ordered every legion to send soldiers to protect Optimus Prime, warning them not to let him die.
• Donnie refused to go himself and ordered Dormammu to join the fight as repayment for his past invasions of Earth.
• Donnie left the war conference room, reflected that he was no longer Earth’s guardian, and noticed a peculiar fluctuation.

Barry Allen used the Cosmic Treadmill to travel back half a year, hoping to find Donnie and prevent Steppenwolf from destroying Australia. He arrived in the past near New York, unaware that an undead creature had followed him through the time tunnel.

• Dr. Harrison warned Barry Allen about the risks of time travel, and Barry accelerated on the Cosmic Treadmill until he opened a passage through time.
• Barry navigated the spacetime tunnel to half a year earlier, while an undead creature forced its way through the closing portal after him.
• Barry emerged in an uninhabited region of Earth, checked a newspaper to confirm the date, and realized he had reached the right era.
• Barry rushed toward downtown New York to find Donnie and change the future, while the undead creature pursued him with hatred.

Donnie confronted Barry about traveling through time to prevent Earth’s future defeat and warned him that time would retaliate. He revealed that reinforcements were already heading to Earth, then pointed out that Time Wraiths had come for Barry.

• The Flash arrived at Donnie’s home, and Wanda objected to his unannounced entrance before Donnie sent the dogs away to speak with him.
• Barry removed his cowl and said he had come from the future to ask Donnie to help Earth against a powerful enemy.
• Donnie rebuked Barry for changing the timeline and told him that Earth’s problems had to be handled by its own heroes.
• Donnie revealed that he had already sent reinforcements and that the Green Lantern Corps would join the fight against Apocalypse.
• Donnie warned Barry to keep their conversation secret and pointed out the Time Wraiths rushing toward him.