Chapter Summaries

The Guardians of the Galaxy and their allies fought Gladiator and the Shi'ar Empire's Royal Guard beneath the ruined Baxter Building. As the battle spread across the laboratory, Rocket pointed Star-Lord toward the Hulkbuster Armor.

• Gladiator demanded that Star-Lord surrender the Ultimate Nullifier, and Star-Lord declared himself the Guardians of the Galaxy before firing at him.
• Shazam stopped Gladiator's attack on Star-Lord, and the two began fighting while Pietro carried Star-Lord to safety.
• Wolverine fought Fang, Raven fought Astra, Batwoman Kate fought Warbird, and Barbara Gordon confronted Manta.
• Constantine evaded Titan and Pulsar until Etrigan emerged from the shadows to challenge Titan, while Pietro struck Pulsar with lightning and took over the chase.
• Rocket Raccoon questioned Star-Lord's outdated Element Gun and showed him the Hulkbuster Armor standing nearby.

Star-Lord activated the Hulkbuster Armor and joined the battle as the heroes fought their opponents around the unstable Multiverse Time Barrier Oscillator. Barbara used the Baxter Building network to activate safety protocols, but warned that further fighting could still make the device explode.

• Star-Lord learned that the Hulkbuster Armor responded to his thoughts, but its weapon systems were offline because Reed Richards had removed most of them.
• Shazam and Gladiator crashed into an alloy wall, shaking the facility and disrupting Raven's magic; Astra struck Raven with a Molecular Ray, and Wolverine killed Fang as he rushed to protect her.
• Star-Lord used the Hulkbuster Armor to blast Manta and attack Warbird, who was then run through by Kate after Star-Lord drove her off the armor with his Element Gun.
• Herbie warned that damage to the Multiverse Time Barrier Oscillator had made it unstable, and Barbara found that it could destroy everything within a one-mile radius.
• Barbara accessed the Baxter Building network and activated the Fantastic Four's safety protocols, which only barely stabilized the oscillator while the fighting continued.

Raven and Constantine teleported Gladiator and Pulsar to the surface, where Shazam and Pietro confronted them, while the heroes defeated the remaining Royal Guard. As Kate prepared to join the fight outside, Barbara Gordon warned that the time oscillator was losing control and releasing Time Invisibility Radiation.

• Raven offered to teleport the heroes, and Constantine agreed to help her send Gladiator, Shazam, Pulsar, and Pietro away from the battlefield.
• Constantine and Raven teleported Gladiator and Pulsar to the surface, where Shazam and Pietro faced them; Pietro had run there instead of being teleported.
• Kate, Barbara Gordon, and Etrigan helped defeat the remaining Royal Guard, while Wolverine and the Hulkbuster Armor took down Warstar and the mech.
• Kate prepared to join Logan in supporting Shazam and Pietro, but Barbara Gordon announced that the Multiverse Time Barrier Oscillator was losing control.
• The room's space tore open, colorful particles spilled out, and Herbie warned everyone to beware Time Invisibility Radiation.

A growing time rift offered Star-Lord and Logan a chance to travel forty-five years into the past and retrieve the Ultimate Nullifier, but the journey risked changing history. Logan volunteered to enter the rift, claiming his experience with timelines made him the best choice.

• Herbie explained that the damaged Multiverse Time Barrier Oscillator had opened a rift that could connect to points across time, with only one round trip possible.
• Star-Lord learned that the Ultimate Nullifier had disappeared into the flow of time after a battle forty-five years earlier and proposed retrieving it to stop Planet Eater.
• Barbara explained that actions in events destined to end in apocalypse would not create branching timelines, and Star-Lord urged the group to act.
• Etrigan warned that Time Invisibility Radiation could have severe effects, while Star-Lord prepared to use the Hulkbuster Armor.
• Logan stopped Star-Lord and volunteered to enter the rift, and Herbie recalled that Logan had made the same claim forty-five years earlier.

Logan traveled through the time rift after Constantine, Raven, and others layered protective magic and equipment on him. When Star-Lord and Kate returned to the surface to help Shazam, they found Doombots attacking Gladiator and Madame Masque firing at him.

• Constantine and Raven placed protective spells on Logan, who entered the time rift in the Hulkbuster Armor after Herbie identified his landing point.
• After a tremor, Kate reminded the others that Shazam was fighting Gladiator, and Star-Lord led her toward the surface while Barbara and Raven stayed behind.
• Etrigan refused to join the fight, and Kate explained that he had lost the will to live after his best friend died.
• Star-Lord and Kate emerged to find Doombots surrounding and attacking Gladiator.
• Madame Masque confronted Star-Lord, aimed her sniper rifle at Gladiator, and fired.

As Red Skull’s assault left the heroes near defeat, Loki tried to break into the Baxter Building to use Mister Fantastic’s time-travel device. A temporal gateway brought a future Logan into the building, where he immediately began contacting X-Men headquarters.

• Loki hammered Susan’s force field and demanded access to Mister Fantastic’s time-travel device so he could change the past.
• Mister Fantastic prepared to send the Baxter Building’s dangerous weapons into the time stream while Susan struggled to maintain the barrier.
• A rainbow-colored temporal gateway opened, and a damaged Hulkbuster Armor crashed through it.
• Logan tore free of the armor, recognized that he had returned to the past, and greeted Reed Richards and Susan.
• Logan went to Mister Fantastic’s communications device and began contacting X-Men headquarters.

Logan arrived too late to save the X-Men and discovered that heroes from another world had saved the future. Kang the Conqueror attacked the Baxter Building, but Logan's magical protections disabled Kang's armor before Kang opened a time rift and dragged Logan away with him.

• Logan learned that the date had already passed the X-Men's deaths and collapsed in despair.
• The two Herbies shared future data, revealing that Logan had come seeking the Ultimate Nullifier and that heroes from another world had saved the future.
• Kang the Conqueror emerged from a purple portal, knocked Susan unconscious, and paralyzed Mister Fantastic with a neurotoxin.
• Logan attacked Kang, but Kang restrained him with an electromagnetic amplifier and taunted him about the X-Men.
• Logan's magical protections activated and destroyed the technological motherboard in Kang's armor, allowing Logan to pin Kang against a wall.
• Kang activated his time-stream device and pulled Logan into a time rift with him.

Constantine rescued Logan from Kang the Conqueror’s temporal portal and helped him recover Mister Fantastic and Invisible Woman. They left 1999 aboard the Time Sled to retrieve the Fantastic Four’s children, while the Baxter Building launched and crushed Loki.

• Constantine appeared behind Logan and pulled him out of the portal’s range as Kang the Conqueror vanished into the temporal current.
• Constantine explained that Zhang Ye had sent him to ensure Logan could carry out their plan, then healed Mister Fantastic and Invisible Woman and secured the Ultimate Nullifier and other Divine Relics.
• Mister Fantastic realized that he and Susan had to disappear into the temporal current as their history required, and the group prepared to leave as Juggernaut and Rhino attacked.
• Mister Fantastic ordered Herbie to remain behind and activate the Baxter Building’s self-destruct sequence, then boarded the Time Sled with Logan, Constantine, and Susan.
• The Time Sled set off to retrieve the children from the pocket dimension in 1999, while the Baxter Building launched into the sky, crushed Loki, and killed Rhino.

Darkseid left Apokolips to attack Oa, giving Lois and the surviving heroes a chance to launch their plan against the Apokolips Engines. Zhang Ye prepared to use the House of Mystery to strike all three engines at once, and the chapter ended as he surveyed them from beyond Earth.

• Batman reported to Darkseid that his plan had destroyed most of the Green Lantern Corps, and Darkseid left for Oa, entrusting Apokolips to Batman.
• Lois received word from the Sleeper that Darkseid had left, and Dick Grayson described the plan to gather civilians at Gotham Harbor.
• Kara questioned the safety of the evacuation point, and Damian Wayne said Conner, Steel, and the League of Assassins' Assassins would protect the civilians.
• Zhang Ye explained that Constantine had lent him the House of Mystery so he could cast powerful magic against the Apokolips Engines.
• Zhang Ye sent his perspective beyond Earth, located all three engines, and announced that the show was about to begin.

Lex Luthor and Batman responded to the resistance’s devastating attack on the three Apokolips Engines by unleashing an army of Doomsday Para-demons. In China, Doctor Strange and the heroes faced the arriving monsters, and Black Bolt prepared to defend them as Strange struggled to hold the line.

• Lex Luthor and Batman discovered that the resistance had disabled the defenses of all three Apokolips Engines in only five minutes.
• Batman ordered Luthor to deploy the Doomsday Para-demons, and Luthor opened a Boom Tube beside the attacked engines.
• Doctor Strange, Mister Fantastic, Namor, Black Panther, and Professor X Charles fought Para-demons at China's border while Strange moved to destroy an engine.
• Doctor Strange sensed danger approaching, and Boom Tubes released a vast army of Doomsday Para-demons.
• Doctor Strange attacked the Doomsday Para-demons with magic as Charles seized control of seven of them and called on the man in black for help.
• The man in black stepped forward and roared, “For Attilan—lanlanlanlan!!!!”

The Avengers attacked the Apokolips Engine in the Congo Plains, but the arrival of powerful Doomsday Para-demons turned the battle against them. Captain America left the larger enemies to Iron Man and Thor, confident that Hulk could protect the ground team.

• Swamp Thing watched the fighting and realized the Apokolips Engine was causing greater harm to nature than the human casualties he had initially welcomed.
• Captain America led the ground assault with Black Widow, Hawkeye, and Hulk while Iron Man and Thor attacked from the air.
• Iron Man approached the Apokolips Engine, but a powerful strike knocked him back as Boom Tubes opened and brought more dangerous enemies to the battlefield.
• Iron Man’s Repulsor Ray failed to injure a Doomsday Para-demon, and he warned Captain America that the larger enemies were far stronger than the ordinary Para-demons.
• Captain America told Iron Man to draw the Doomsday Para-demons away while the ground team held back the smaller enemies, reminding them that Hulk was with them.

Cyclops destroyed the Apokolips Engine in the North Sea Islands, but Boom Tubes then opened and brought more enemies into the fight. As the battle elsewhere turned desperate, the Illuminati revealed that they each possessed a gem, shocking Black Panther and Zhang Ye.

• Cyclops used his optic beam to cut apart the Apokolips Engine while the X-Men cleared the remaining Para-demons.
• Blink sensed spatial fluctuations, and Doomsday Para-demons began emerging from Boom Tubes.
• Magneto, Phoenix Jean Grey, and Polaris Lorna turned the Engine's steel fragments into weapons and attacked the portals alongside the X-Men.
• Professor X, Doctor Strange, Black Bolt, Mister Fantastic, Namor, and Black Panther struggled against the Doomsday Para-demons while their communications failed.
• Doctor Strange, Professor X, Black Bolt, Mister Fantastic, and Namor revealed that they each possessed a gem, leaving Black Panther and Zhang Ye stunned.

Zhang Ye used the Infinity Stones to connect the scattered heroes and unleash a red sun that stripped the Doomsday Para-demons of their power. With the monsters weakened across all three battlefields, the Avengers and X-Men prepared to attack.

• Zhang Ye saw the Illuminati bring out the Infinity Stones and used his magic to make the empty Stones fly toward one another.
• The Stones gathered above Earth and created strange storms over the three Apokolips Engines, allowing Professor X to contact the X-Men and Avengers.
• Jean Grey linked the heroes' minds with Professor X, who told them the Infinity Stones were helping them.
• The clouds parted to reveal a red sun whose light weakened the Doomsday Para-demons across the battlefields.
• Captain America and Professor X led the Avengers and X-Men as they shouted, "Assemble!!"

Zhang Ye’s magic damaged all three Apokolips Engines, drawing the Doomsday Para-demons away from Luthor Tower. Lois, Clark, Zhang Ye, and their allies began their assault on the tower, where the first defenders fell and the larger battle still awaited them.

• Zhang Ye created Kryptonite prisms that struck all three Apokolips Engines and forced Batman to send the Doomsday Para-demons to reinforce them.
• Lois learned from the Sleeper that the engine attack had succeeded and ordered Harley Quinn and Ashley to begin their assault on Luthor Tower.
• Lois and Clark led Zhang Ye, Jason, Dick Grayson, and Damian Wayne into the tower, where Jason urged Dick to stop sparing the brainwashed guards.
• Dick and Damian fought lethally alongside the other attackers, while Captain Boomerang and Black Manta blasted through the defenses from another direction.
• Captain Boomerang used explosive boomerangs to break through the tower’s lobby defenses as the assault continued.

Lois, Clark, Zhang Ye, and their allies fought their way through Luthor Tower while Harley Quinn and Kara were delayed by fierce resistance. As the team split to keep advancing, Lex Luthor watched their approach and prepared for their arrival on the top floor.

• Lois noticed Harley Quinn and Ashley had not reached the group, and Clark confirmed they were still alive and fighting near the underground entrance.
• Zhang Ye sensed that Kara’s group was struggling against two Doomsday Para-demons while Harley Quinn and Ashley were surrounded by guards.
• Zhang Ye ordered Captain Boomerang to take his people and reinforce Harley Quinn’s group while the others continued toward the upper floors.
• Captain Boomerang accepted the dangerous assignment, and Dick Grayson gave him a Bat-phone with Luthor Tower’s 3D layout.
• Captain Boomerang led Black Manta and the others toward Harley Quinn as Clark, Lois, Zhang Ye, and the rest charged upward.
• Lex Luthor monitored the fighting, saw Superman’s group nearing his floor, and shut off the screens.

Lois and the heroes fought their way up Luthor Tower toward the Boom Tube, and Clark killed the human guards to speed their advance. When a group of Doomsday Para-demons blocked their path, Zhang Ye revealed that he had used telepathy to exploit their weak mental defenses and render them unaware of the heroes.

• Lois led the group toward the Boom Tube while Jason, Damian Wayne, and Dick Grayson fought through the guards and Para-demons.
• As the exhausted heroes struggled to advance, Clark stopped holding back and froze the human soldiers to death with his freezing breath.
• Lois and the others reached a floor guarded by more than a dozen Doomsday Para-demons, and Clark offered to draw them away.
• Jason charged the monsters with a kryptonite longsword, but they did not notice him or react.
• The heroes realized Zhang Ye had made the Doomsday Para-demons oblivious to them through telepathy, exploiting their weak mental resistance.

Zhang Ye and the heroes cleared the Doomsday Para-demons guarding the Boom Tube activation device, then discovered that Lex Luthor was the Sleeper who had supplied Lois with intelligence and Kryptonite. Luthor insisted they needed him to operate the device before Batman discovered their plan.

• Zhang Ye urged the group to kill the Doomsday Para-demons, and the heroes eliminated the guards at the entrance.
• Superman sensed something behind a steel door, and Lois confirmed that the Sleeper’s signal pointed to the Boom Tube activation device.
• Lex Luthor appeared as the door opened, and Jason pinned him against the wall with a Kryptonite blade at his brow.
• Luthor revealed that he was the Sleeper and had secretly shared intelligence and supplies with Lois since Earth fell.
• Damian Wayne questioned Luthor’s loyalty, but Luthor said the Boom Tube required his expertise and urged them to begin before Batman found them.

Batman recognized that the unexpected heroes on Earth might have come from another universe and ordered his forces to defend Apokolips’s harvester engines. On Earth, the team activated the Boom Tube, and Clark prepared to lead an assault while Zhang Ye stayed behind as a storm announced someone’s arrival.

• Batman redirected the Doomsday Para-demons to defend the Congo Plains and Chinese border, then tried to contact Darkseid.
• Damian Wayne, Jason, Dick Grayson, and Lex Luthor worked together to unlock Apokolips’s network and activate the Boom Tube.
• Zhang Ye encouraged Clark and told him to lead the rescue mission to Apokolips without showing mercy to those who could not be saved.
• The Boom Tube activated, and Clark and the three Robins took their places for the assault while the others stayed on Earth.
• Luthor asked why Zhang Ye was staying behind, and Zhang Ye said another person was needed as a flash of light and thunder heralded her arrival.

Darkseid learned that the Avengers and X-Men had appeared on Earth and set out to confront them, while the Universal Truth Church’s fleet carried Galactus toward Wasteland Earth. The defenders prepared to resist the Church as they waited for Logan to return with the Ultimate Nullifier.

• Darkseid ordered Batman to destroy Lex Luthor’s forces, then learned that a rebel force on Earth had destroyed two Harvesters and threatened a third.
• Batman told Darkseid that the Avengers and X-Men might have come from another universe, and Darkseid decided to travel to Earth personally.
• Thanos saw the Universal Truth Church’s fleet pass Titan and realized that its destination was Earth.
• Kate Bishop showed the Wasteland leaders satellite footage of the approaching Church fleet and said its cosmic power had disabled Hydra’s surveillance.
• Punisher asked whether Zhang Ye had returned, and Blood Baron John said he had not; the leaders discussed relying on Star-Lord and Logan to retrieve the Ultimate Nullifier.
• Kate Bishop called on the Wasteland leaders to hold off the Church until Logan returned, and Old Barton warned that Logan might never come back.

Doctor Doom confronted the Universal Truth Church’s fleet as it advanced on Earth, then activated a planet-spanning magical defense using Doctor Strange’s network of Sanctums. The chapter ended with Doom standing against the fleet as Earth’s magic circle blazed to life.

• The Female Pope learned that Gladiator and the Royal Guard had disappeared, then ordered the fleet to approach Earth.
• The Church fleet dismissed Earth’s ruined satellites and spotted Doctor Doom leading an army of Doombots to intercept it.
• The Female Pope ordered the fleet to charge ahead, while Doom vowed to defend Earth and unleashed his magic.
• Doom used the Sanctum network and magical conduits to form a glowing magic circle around Earth.