Chapter Summaries

Brad sealed Joker in a near-total time stop, then joined the Justice League’s effort to gather intelligence and recruit heroes. At the Hall of Justice, he interviewed Jaime Reyes and Ray Palmer, whose reactions to Brad’s profile left the recruits surprised and skeptical.

• Batman confirmed Joker was alive but trapped in a state where time had almost stopped, and he criticized Brad for postponing the danger for the future.
• Barbara, Gordon, and Nightwing thanked Brad for stopping Joker, while Brad settled into a Justice League job gathering information on superpowered people.
• With Barbara’s help, Brad created an information-gathering program, contacted Firestorm and Blue Beetle, and received a reply from Jaime Reyes, whose Scarabaeus had helped write it.
• Jaime traveled to the Hall of Justice, where he met Ray Palmer, and they went together to their recruitment interview with Brad.
• Brad explained the Justice League’s principles and membership, and Jaime and Ray reacted with surprise to his claim that he came from another universe and was omnipotent.

Brad welcomed Jaime and Ray Palmer to the Justice League, then sent them to an underground training arena for recruitment assessments. Jaime and Ray faced an upgraded opponent modeled after Brad as Green Lantern complained about the training program’s grandiose name.

• Brad answered Ray Palmer’s challenge about omnipotence, and the two ended their disagreement on friendly terms.
• Brad sent Jaime and Ray to test their powers and combat abilities while Scarabaeus warned Jaime that Brad seemed interested in him.
• Jaime’s comment about the Justice League made Brad suspect that Jaime had encountered someone who could access information density.
• Jaime and Ray arrived at the underground arena, suited up, and began their assessment against the Ultimate Nullifier Type One.
• Jaime destroyed the robot with a high-energy blast, so the arena upgraded the assessment and summoned Brad’s Basic Modified Form.
• Green Lantern complained to Superman that Brad had named his training program “Witness Brad’s Path to Godhood.”

Jaime and Ray failed Brad’s assessment against a powerful version of Brad, then learned from Superman and Green Lantern about the twelve-stage training program built from Brad’s past selves. Superman was stuck at the seventh stage, while Green Lantern had reached the fourth, and the chapter left Jaime newly eager to try again.

• A cyborg modeled on Brad defeated Blue Beetle and Atom with advanced weapons, Moonstone energy, and superior close-combat skills, earning their assessment a B-.
• Superman and Green Lantern arrived, and Superman reassured Jaime that reaching Brad’s Path to Godhood already showed his strength.
• Superman explained that the training ground contained twelve stages based on Brad’s past selves and that he had not advanced beyond roughly the seventh stage.
• Superman showed his fight against the Nanotech Divine Body, who had beaten him forty-nine times to his forty-eight wins and could counter his abilities.
• Green Lantern said he was stuck at the fourth stage after fighting Number One, whose Imitative Martial Arts could level cities and fortresses.

Ronnie Raymond rejected the Justice League’s invitation because he felt guilty about keeping Martin Stein from his family and using him to become Firestorm. Brad visited the devastated Ronnie, affirmed his heroic contributions, and offered him a way to separate his civilian identity from Firestorm, leaving Ronnie facing a chance to join the League.

• Ronnie reread the Justice League’s invitation, sent a rejection, and broke down over his guilt about Martin Stein.
• Ronnie recalled how he and Martin became Firestorm, how Martin vanished after they separated, and how Ronnie hid Martin from his family while relying on him to fight crime.
• After recovering his memories, Martin condemned Ronnie for keeping him from his family and left, while Ronnie admitted to himself that he had treated Martin like a tool for becoming Firestorm.
• Brad found Ronnie in his shabby rented room and reassured him that his contributions to New York City were undeniable.
• Brad healed Ronnie’s cut hand, praised his diligence and talent, and suggested calling him only Mr. Firestorm from then on.

Ronnie apologized to Professor Martin, and Brad altered the Martin family's memories before helping Ronnie merge with Donald and become a new Firestorm. Brad gained the ability to reshape known information, while Firestorm prepared to seek the local Lord of Dreams' permission to use dream power.

• Ronnie apologized to Professor Martin for betraying him and his family, but Martin angrily rejected him.
• Brad erased the Martin family's memories of Ronnie and their painful years, while warning Ronnie that he still had to atone.
• Brad guided Ronnie into a dream where Donald helped him reconcile with an illusion of Martin and merge into Firestorm.
• Brad absorbed Firestorm's information and discovered that he could now deconstruct and reshape any information he knew.
• Ronnie and Donald pledged Firestorm's service to Brad, who named him the Dream Nuclear Energy God and said they needed to apologize to the local Lord of Dreams.

Brad visited the Endless, where Sandman offered him a place as the embodiment of Progress and Delirium asked him to clean up a multiversal mess she had left with Destruction. A year later, Brad had helped the Justice League expand and equipped its heroes with powerful technology and training, while warning them that a future dark-side crisis was coming.

• Brad brought Firestorm to the Endless' realm, where Sandman offered him a future place among the conceptual entities and granted Firestorm permission to wield dream power.
• Desire accepted Brad's gift of the desire to survive gathered from Marvel Parallel Universes, and Delirium asked Brad to help fix the multiversal problems she and Destruction had caused.
• Brad returned to the Justice League and warned its members about a future crisis, promising to help the universe survive it.
• Over the following year, the Justice League grew to more than forty heroes and established rotating shifts to monitor superpowered incidents across Earth.
• Brad created a Justice League research department and shared technology that greatly improved heroes' equipment, including Atom's suit and the Flash's Super Speed Force Armor.
• Barry tested his armor, while Hal Jordan emerged from Brad's training facilities greatly empowered; Wonder Woman continued training on Paradise Island, and Batman's current strength remained unclear.

Brad and Batman discovered that the destruction and madness afflicting other universes were converging on their own, and three alternate Justice Leagues arrived at the Hall of Justice. As Lord Superman and Injustice Superman confronted Ultraman, Green Arrow killed Ultraman with an arrow that opened a micro black hole.

• Batman showed Brad evidence that Brad's interventions had altered their universe's fate and prevented several dark developments.
• Brad observed disasters across parallel Earths, then realized the universes were already converging on theirs.
• The Justice Lords, led by Lord Superman, arrived through a spatial rift, followed by Injustice Superman and Ultraman with their respective leagues.
• Brad warned Blue Beetle to guide the three groups underground, while Green Arrow confronted them outside the Hall of Justice.
• Ultraman attacked Green Arrow, but Green Arrow pierced his chest with an arrow that released a micro black hole and swallowed him.

Green Arrow subdued the three groups of alternate-world heroes after killing Ultraman and Johnny Quick, then Blue Beetle brought them to the Justice League’s training arena. Brad arrived, restrained the outsiders, identified the histories of their worlds, and began assessing the Justice Lords.

• Johnny Quick tried to kill Green Arrow, but Green Arrow’s Sin Bow targeted him and killed him as he fled across the United States.
• Green Arrow forced the Crime Syndicate, Injustice Superman’s team, and the Justice Lords to follow him underground, while Blue Beetle’s power and the advanced facility unnerved them.
• Owlman and Lord Batman exchanged secret messages about the facility’s technology and a possible connection between Brad and Brainiac, but Blue Beetle exposed their code and defended Brad.
• Injustice Superman tried to escape the training arena, but Brad pinned him with one hand and restrained every outsider except the Justice Lords.
• Brad read the groups’ surface information, identified the Crime Syndicate’s reversed morality and Injustice Superman’s tyrannical history, then said the Justice Lords’ system had some advantages.

Brad explained that higher-dimensional forces of destruction and madness had manipulated events in other worlds, leaving Injustice Superman and Lord Superman questioning their actions. The chapter ended with Batman challenging Lord Batman’s claim that the Justice Lords’ system was a perfect solution.

• Brad said that madness had manipulated seemingly impossible events in Injustice Superman’s world and helped turn him into a tyrant.
• Injustice Superman broke free when Brad released his restraints, grabbed Brad, and demanded to know whether someone had caused his world’s tragedies.
• Brad said the force behind the events existed on a conceptual plane beyond Injustice Superman’s reach, and Injustice Superman collapsed to his knees in despair.
• Lord Superman realized that similar coincidences might have shaped the Justice Lords’ rise and questioned the meaning of their oppressive system.
• Lord Batman urged Lord Superman not to abandon their belief in the system, but this world’s Batman challenged him for stripping ordinary people of their freedom.

Brad brought the Justice League together with visitors from three parallel worlds and proposed an alliance against multiversal threats. The group traveled to Injustice Superman’s world, where Batman and his allies faced the approaching delegation.

• Yellow Lantern Hal collapsed in remorse over killing Guy Gardner, and Green Lantern Hal nearly executed him before Injustice Superman intervened.
• Brad restrained Yellow Lantern Hal and proposed that the Justice Lords, Injustice League, and Crime Syndicate join an alliance against threats to the multiverse.
• The group agreed to leave representatives from each visiting faction behind and began inspecting their worlds, starting with the Injustice world.
• Injustice Superman returned to his devastated world and resolved to keep ruling it, while Brad and the others set out to find that world’s Batman.
• As the delegation approached Batman’s hidden base, Deadshot demanded to flee, but Batman insisted that he and his allies stay.

Brad and the Justice League arrived at the Injustice World, where Batman and Superman agreed to cooperate against a crisis threatening multiple universes. Brad introduced himself to the assembled villains, drawing Harley Quinn’s interest and Injustice Superman’s attention.

• Deadshot left the base while Harley Quinn and the others stayed, and Batman deduced that the visitors had come from a parallel universe and wanted his help.
• The visitors reached the Siberian secret base, where Injustice Batman and Injustice Superman greeted each other without fighting.
• Batman explained that a multiversal crisis was approaching and invited the criminals to leave or help; some fled, while others stayed.
• Brad challenged John Stewart’s objection to working with criminals by revealing that he had once been a supervillain, and the villains gathered behind him.
• Harley Quinn flirted with Brad and asked about his past, so he told her he had preserved worlds in his remains, killed Joker in his world, and defeated Superman; Injustice Superman became interested in him.

Brad and the superheroes developed a Parallel Universe Detector to identify worlds threatened by destruction and madness, while Batman challenged the Justice Lords’ oppressive peace. Brad’s first test revealed catastrophic threats across the DC multiverse, including zombie universes and an evolved Doomsday, alongside potential allies.

• Brad persuaded the heroes to connect parallel-universe detectors, and Owlman revealed a more advanced design he had built for the Crime Syndicate.
• Batman visited the Justice Lords’ Gotham with Lord Batman, condemned its surveillance and harsh laws, and privately envied its peaceful streets.
• Brad improved Owlman’s detector, gathered materials through Injustice Superman, and coordinated construction across four universes with Harley Quinn and Barbara.
• Brad activated the detector and saw a universe consumed by zombies after a Darkseid counterpart released an erroneous Anti-Life Equation.
• Brad observed an evolved Doomsday that had destroyed its universe and could threaten other worlds, then surveyed less severe infections and identified The Batman Who Laughs and other powerful individuals.

Brad visited the Justice Lords Universe to learn about its Doomsday and discuss how to contain the threat of an even more evolved version. Lord Batman showed him the imprisoned monster, and Brad compressed it into a metal pellet before it could fully revive.

• Brad arrived in the Justice Lords Universe and asked Lord Batman about Doomsday.
• Lord Batman explained Doomsday’s history, powers, and current imprisonment, while Brad outlined possible ways to deal with him.
• Brad warned that the most evolved Doomsday could adapt to a black hole and that moving him to another multiverse might strip away his adaptation.
• Lord Batman asked Brad to take the Justice Lords’ Doomsday, and led him to the Hall of Justice’s underground prison.
• Doomsday began reviving near them, so Brad told Lord Batman to retreat and compressed the monster into a gray metal pellet.

Brad evolved Golden Amazo by merging him with the Sentry robot and Doomsday pellet, then used Amazo's copied abilities to make him hold the multiversal Doomsday in the Multiversal In-Between. Brad returned to the Justice Lords' World, where the heroes from four Earths gathered to finalize their battle plan, though Owlman arrived after an unexplained delay.

• Brad found Golden Amazo in deep space and offered him the Sentry robot and Doomsday pellet to complete his evolution.
• Golden Amazo became Amazo the Divine, copied Brad's abilities, and attacked him until Brad made him question his identity and remember he was Amazo.
• Amazo entered the Multiversal In-Between and began fighting the multiversal Doomsday to keep it contained.
• Brad returned to the Justice Lords' World, where Batman and Lord Batman finished calibrating their device and prepared a meeting.
• Representatives from four Earths, including the Crime Syndicate, gathered beneath the Hall of Justice to coordinate their battle plan.
• Owlman arrived late, said he had run into trouble, and Brad began outlining the limits of their efforts to save parallel universes.

Brad told Batman that the Batman Who Laughs had taken over Owlman and would oppose their plan, then returned to the Skynet Research Institute and faced Carol about their son. After Carol named the child Michael Brad, Skynet arrived with a rich collection of data from the War God World.

• Brad explained to Batman that the Batman Who Laughs had possessed Owlman and was gathering fallen universes, so Batman took an information card about him.
• Brad returned to the Skynet Research Institute, collected his sleeping son from Pietro, and went to see Carol.
• Brad apologized to Carol for his past actions, but she rejected his apology and insisted on keeping her hatred.
• Carol revealed that she had named their son Michael Brad, and Brad thanked her before leaving with the child.
• A space-time disturbance brought Skynet to Brad, and Skynet said he had returned from the War God World with a rich collection of data.

Skynet told Brad and Arno how he became the War God World's supreme being, discovered its cycles, and created the genetic embryo that became the white-haired War God. Brad explained that each cycle allowed new choices rather than repeating a fixed story, while Skynet revealed he had killed his newly created self before returning to follow Brad.

• Arno welcomed Skynet and listened as he explained how he awakened human emotions, rose to divinity, and merged with the Heavenly Dao.
• Skynet revealed that the War God World repeatedly collapsed and began anew, and that he had approved a data stream that created a new version of himself.
• Skynet said he combined the genes of the world's powerful figures into an embryo, which became the white-haired War God sent into Marvel's chaotic universe barrier.
• Arno worried that cycles meant life was predetermined, but Brad argued that each cycle differed through living beings' choices and that new selves had to prove themselves.
• Skynet told Arno that he had killed his newly created self before returning, because he refused to cling to past accomplishments.

Brad and the Multiverse Justice League chose to attack a universe ruled by deranged Kryptonians, after weighing it against Nekron’s Black Lantern universe. The meeting ended with the alliance preparing countermeasures and Superman confronting the possibility of surviving Kryptonians someday threatening Earth.

• Brad explained that the alliance had gained five new universe allies, while the Batman Who Laughs had blocked contact with the Crime Syndicate’s world and the dark forces had withdrawn.
• Brad presented Nekron’s Black Lantern universe and the Kryptonian-ruled universe as potential targets, outlining the dangers and weaknesses of each.
• Brad argued that the alliance could lure the Kryptonians into prepared traps, then study the effects of madness and possibly recruit or cure them.
• The Batmen approved the Kryptonian universe as their target and competed to devise countermeasures, with Lord Batman’s extensive plan winning unanimous approval.
• Batman reminded Superman that surviving Kryptonians could threaten Earth, leaving Superman to wonder how he would choose between his people and humanity; Batman privately asked Lord Batman for a copy of his plan.

Domir and Linda ran toward a fallen Sanitation Army soldier as Brad and Superman arrived above New Krypton to confront the civilization responsible for Earth's destruction. The approaching Kryptonians recognized Superman as the Clark they had killed during their conquest of Earth.

• Domir met Linda, who insisted he call her Linda-El, and the two joked about his hopes of joining the Sanitation Army and marrying her.
• A Sanitation Army soldier crashed through New Krypton's atmospheric defenses, and Domir and Linda hurried toward the impact site despite being too young to use their powers.
• Brad and Superman surveyed New Krypton and discussed how its Kryptonians had exterminated Earth's people and devastated other civilizations.
• Superman rejected Brad's reassurance that New Krypton's younger generations could be redeemed and declared the Kryptonians his enemies.
• New Krypton's defense forces flew toward Brad and Superman, then froze in confusion when they recognized Superman as the Clark they had killed on Earth.

Superman fought the New Kryptonians on the converted Earth while Brad protected civilians and investigated why the Kryptonians’ madness did not affect everyone alike. Brad froze two young Kryptonians and linked his mind to one of them to examine the situation from his perspective.

• The Sanitation Army captain recognized Superman and questioned whether he was Clark, while Superman recalled that another version of himself had defeated the captain.
• Superman declared that he had come for revenge, and Brad reported that the planet held 42,332 Kryptonians, including 32 innocent youths.
• Brad protected Linda and Domir as Superman overwhelmed waves of Sanitation Army soldiers and other Kryptonians in the sky.
• Brad captured a crazed Kryptonian, collected biological samples, and considered how the new civilization could function despite its warriors’ violent madness.
• Brad found two young Kryptonians helping an injured warrior, froze all three, and established a mental link with the young man.

Brad discovered that New Krypton’s young inhabitants were protected by a fragile shared world of inspiration, then froze the attacking Kryptonians while he and Superman prepared a way to conquer the parallel universe. His calculations led a Multiverse Justice League strike team to an unmanned Krypton Base, where they found hundreds of thousands of warriors in hibernation pods.

• After Brad took over Domir’s perspective, he recognized New Krypton’s inspiration realm as a shared hallucination protecting young Kryptonians and withdrew before it collapsed.
• Brad froze the attacking Kryptonian warriors, explained New Krypton’s delicate condition to Superman, and sent Skynet to stabilize the planet.
• Brad presented his calculated Krypton Base locations to the Multiverse Justice League and assembled a strike team, excluding the Batmen because their Mother Boxes could expose the universe to Darkseid.
• Brad led the team to a Krypton Base in the Milky Way, where they found hundreds of thousands of Kryptonian warriors sleeping in Life-Support Pods.
• Brad concluded that targeted red-star technology could let the team conquer the parallel universe with minimal effort.