Chapter Summaries

Brad considered Shazam’s possible move to his New Universe, then heard Constantine’s proposal to gather DC’s powerful beings so Brad could relocate them all. Though Constantine’s plan stirred Brad’s greed, Brad distrusted him and sent him to another universe.

• Brad reasoned that Shazam could bring Billy’s loved ones and the magical system tied to him into the New Universe if he agreed to move.
• Deadpool introduced Constantine, who arrived at Brad’s restaurant and discussed his methods for interfering with information density.
• Brad exposed Constantine’s history of swindling people and the magical potion hidden in his cigarette, then refused to trust his claims.
• Constantine offered to gather the many creditors and powerful beings he had offended so Brad could bring them and their connected realms into the New Universe.
• Brad recognized that Constantine had stirred his greed, declined the deal for now, and transported Constantine to another universe.

Constantine’s attempt to tempt Brad into a deal failed, and Brad’s microscopic robots led Constantine to Jon’s tavern. After escaping Jon with a stolen beer and a boast about the fallen angel sisters, Jon took the robots to the Minotaur Tavern, hoping to use them to win the sisters’ favor.

• Brad tracked the microscopic robots he had planted on Constantine and waited to see whether Constantine’s proposed deal concealed a trap.
• Constantine visited Jon’s tavern, where Jon extracted the robots from him and learned Brad had resisted his temptation.
• Jon sealed the robots in a bottle while Constantine traded claims about the fallen angel sisters for three beers and escaped through a spell.
• Jon transformed into black wind and traveled to the Minotaur Tavern, where he spotted the angel sisters surrounded by demons.
• Jon planned to expose the sisters’ past with Constantine and use Brad’s robots to win their auction.

Jon tried to auction off a bottle of nanobots in the Minotaur Tavern, boasting that they came from Brad’s technology. Brad appeared, revealed the nanobots’ power, and confronted the demons in the tavern.

• A demon offered to buy Jon a glass of A Jinx's Life, and the Minotaur Tavern Owner made him pay for it.
• Jon smashed his glass to draw the tavern’s attention and announced that he had brought back something belonging to Brad.
• A dark magic user showed footage of a human enhanced with nanomachines, increasing the demons’ interest in Jon’s bottle.
• Jon claimed the nanobots were far smaller than the nano scale, but Brad’s voice interrupted and exposed his exaggeration.
• Brad made the nanobots escape the bottle and consume a drunken demon, then used them to assemble his body in the tavern.
• Brad told the frightened demons that he knew a little dark magic and could stand in their realm.

The first Batman explained to Brad how the batman meme arose as the DC universe repeatedly rebuilt itself to survive and counter Superman. He wanted Bruce Wayne and Batman to finally rest, but Brad remained eager to study the meme.

• Brad asked whether the Justice League’s information could be removed, and the first Batman agreed that Bruce Wayne could be extracted but said he could not leave because memes could not exist in a real universe.
• The first Batman showed Brad how the earliest DC universes formed, gave rise to Superman, and repeatedly declined and were replaced.
• The third universe created the batman concept to give humanity a counter to Superman, adding extraordinary traits and a tragic past to Batman before the concept spread as a meme.
• The first Batman said Bruce Wayne was nearly perfectly compatible with the meme and had carried its unreasonable burdens for too long.
• Brad expressed interest in researching the batman meme, while the first Batman warned that infection could drag Brad’s New Universe into unreality.

Brad spoke with the Batman meme through Zurr-En-Arrh and learned its view of Perpetua and the Monitor Race. He asked the meme to influence the First Batman, and Zurr-En-Arrh agreed to plant psychological suggestions in Bruce's subconscious.

• Wildcat recognized Batman, and Batman escorted Brad past him without revealing much about Brad.
• After Batman locked Brad in a temporary cage, Brad used his inspiration vision to draw Batman into his Inspiration Realm.
• Zurr-En-Arrh introduced himself and explained that he could connect to the Batman meme, though he would forget the meme's existence if his personality entered the real world.
• The Batman meme said Perpetua was a powerful latecomer constrained by the Source Wall and described her arrival as a useful distraction for Brad.
• Brad asked the Batman meme to influence the First Batman, and Zurr-En-Arrh offered to plant psychological suggestions in Bruce's subconscious.

First Batman questioned Brad about Perpetua and learned why Luthor was gathering the Seven Energy Substances. He decided to investigate Brad’s claims and guide Perpetua’s arrival himself, while Brad suggested a location in the Multiversal In-Between.

• Bruce’s Zur-En-Arrh Personality gradually led First Batman to accept that Brad might not be entirely harmful to DC, and Bruce visited Brad to ask about Perpetua.
• Brad told First Batman that the Seven Energy Substances could create a beacon to guide Perpetua’s arrival and weaken the barrier between the Source Wall and Present Reality.
• Brad claimed Perpetua’s arrival would devastate reality if she appeared at random, and he accused Batman of endangering the world by keeping him imprisoned.
• First Batman said he would verify Brad’s claims and guide Perpetua himself rather than let Brad do it.
• Brad named the Multiversal In-Between as a suitable alternative location, where Doomsday and Golden Amazo were still fighting.

Luthor and Brad used a staged bombing and the Police Commissioner’s remarks to fuel worldwide opposition to superheroes. As protests grew, Brad refined his theory of the good and evil scales, arguing that ordinary people could become evil by turning against heroes.

• Luthor’s armed group raided a company building in Gotham City while secretly removing the collectibles through an underground passage.
• The robbers detonated explosives before a speedster could arrive, destroying the building and killing hostages.
• The Police Commissioner suggested that superhero pressure had driven the robbers to cause the deaths, and anti-superhero arguments spread online.
• People marched against superheroes, petitioned to strip the Justice League of its privileges, and stormed the Hall of Justice.
• Brad told Luthor that ordinary people who constrained or attacked heroes belonged on the evil side of the scales, and he described how fallen heroes could shift the balance.

Luthor built a continent in Knowhere to study the Totality after a wave of anti-superhero sentiment drove teams around the world out of public life. After betraying Brad and activating the Totality with seven forms of material energy, Luthor realized his expectations had been planted in his mind just as the two suns began falling toward him.

• Public backlash forced the Teen Titan and Doom Patrol to disband, drove the Ten Gallant Heroes into hiding, and pushed the Justice League and Justice Society into retreat or retirement.
• Luthor found a location beyond the world in an old book of Eastern magic and gathered seven forms of material energy while no one could stop his work.
• Luthor and Brad created a continent-sized stretch of land in Knowhere so they could investigate the Totality.
• Once the land was complete, Luthor stabbed Brad and took the Totality and the seven forms of material energy for himself.
• Luthor placed the materials into a bagua-like device and activated it, but nothing happened.
• Luthor realized his belief that the Totality would reveal the universe's ultimate secret had been manipulated, then saw Knowhere's gold and red suns falling toward him.

Perpetua emerged in the Synthetic Continent, subdued Multiversal Doomsday, and empowered Lex Luthor as her agent. Golden Amazo revived and confronted her, claiming he could surpass anything she could do.

• Luthor realized that he and Brad had been manipulated as Golden Amazo fell into the Synthetic Continent.
• Multiversal Doomsday crashed down, but Perpetua pressed it into the ground with one finger and declared that humanity needed to be purged.
• Perpetua recognized Luthor's ambition and selfishness, chose him as her agent, and gave him seven extraordinary powers from the Totality Wheel.
• Luthor knelt before Perpetua, but his Battle Armor spoke without his consent and revealed that someone had tampered with it.
• Golden Amazo revived after its golden tentacles retrieved and absorbed the Battle Armor's components, then challenged Perpetua.

Golden Amazo and Doomsday fused to create an Ultimate Lifeform after Perpetua overwhelmed them. The new being challenged Perpetua, who claimed she had the advantage on her home ground.

• Golden Amazo copied Lex Luthor's seven beyond-tier powers, countered them, and blasted him into the Synthetic Continent.
• Perpetua moved to destroy Golden Amazo, but Doomsday broke free and disrupted the continent beneath her.
• Golden Amazo admitted he could not defeat Perpetua alone and fused with Doomsday, using his computing power to clarify Doomsday's thoughts.
• The fusion caused every Doomsday across the parallel universes to die, leaving an Ultimate Lifeform whose power and knowledge grew exponentially.
• The Ultimate Lifeform said he had finished reading the multiversal system and raised a golden lance against Perpetua.
• Perpetua called him an imitation and warned that she was stronger on her home ground.

Michael talked with Kara about his unease over his father Brad being branded a multiverse criminal, while Brainiac watched their closeness with regret. Brainiac then warned them that the future had become unstable and that present reality was in serious trouble.

• Kara sat with Michael on the rooftop and tried to reassure him that Brad was a good person targeted by First Batman.
• Michael reflected that Brad cared more about research and power than good or evil, despite his favorable public image.
• Brainiac, a level 12 clone attending the academy, watched Kara and Michael grow close and felt wistful about losing her attention.
• Brainiac interrupted them and reported that DC's foundations had been shaken and their future was becoming unstable.

Michael and Brainiac discovered that catastrophic changes threatened the timeline and modified a shuttle to escape. After Michael killed Kara for risking their departure, they selected a classmate and fled the academy in the shuttle.

• Michael confirmed Brainiac's data showed the future timeline was becoming unstable, then received Brad's warning that the DC universe might not survive.
• Michael told Brainiac and Kara they needed to modify a shuttle, and Brainiac followed his lead despite Kara's objections.
• Michael and Brainiac dismantled the academy's shuttle and worked to build one capable of surviving the worsening timeline.
• When Kara urged them to warn the school, Michael stabbed her with a kryptonite dagger and told Brainiac that saving the academy's nearly thousand occupants would leave them unable to escape.
• Michael and Brainiac chose a technologically promising classmate, knocked the student unconscious, and departed in their modified shuttle.

As Superman and the heroes struggled to reach the battle between Perpetua and the Ultimate Lifeform, First Batman assembled a new source of power for him. The resulting Thought Deity Armor entered the Multiversal In-Between and forcibly separated the two combatants.

• Deities watched Perpetua fight the Ultimate Lifeform, while Brad secretly studied the spectators’ plans.
• A shuttle crashed in Metropolis as Superman and the other heroes monitored the multiversal crisis from the Watchtower.
• First Batman suggested combining Superman’s power with Shazam’s, and Shazam transferred the six gods’ power to Superman.
• First Batman released Zansha, who attacked and absorbed the enhanced Superman’s powers.
• A colossal Thought Deity Armor reached into the Multiversal In-Between, seized Perpetua and the Ultimate Lifeform, and ordered them to stop.

Superman’s Thought Armor gained the upper hand over Perpetua, but its power faltered as Zansha drained Superman. The Batman Who Laughs brought in two future Supermen to stabilize the armor, and Brad revealed himself as the one who had secretly arranged events against Perpetua.

• The Thought Armor sealed Ultimate Life and restrained Perpetua, who threatened the First Universe and made its inhabitants beg Superman to surrender.
• Superman hesitated as Perpetua’s threat reached him, while Zansha unconsciously drained his powers and caused the Thought Armor to fade.
• Brad called on The Batman Who Laughs, who opened a doorway to possible futures and brought Golden Superman and God of Strength Superman into the battle.
• The two future Supermen joined the Thought Armor, allowing the awakened Main Universe’s Superman to resume crushing Perpetua and cast aside Ultimate Life.
• Perpetua learned that Brad had orchestrated key events against her, then saw him rise unharmed and declare that he had gained enough time.

Brad transformed into a fourth-tier being by consuming viral material derived from Doomsday and Amazo, then drained much of the DC Multiverse before a powerful being’s sneeze reset events. He returned with a Mother Tree of All Things and a replacement DC Multiverse, while Superman prepared to return to Earth with him.

• Brad transformed Doomsday and Amazo into viral concentrates, consumed them, and became a colossal tree that pierced parallel universes and drained watching deities.
• Brad seized much of Perpetua’s authority, but Thought Armor Superman told her that Brad was saving DC; a tentacle then pierced them both.
• A sleeping golden tabby sneezed, and Perpetua and Thought Armor Superman found themselves in the Great Void, where Brad explained that DC was a dream and his lost body was only one avatar.
• The Great Void Tree returned to Brad, raising him firmly to the fourth tier, and he created a replacement DC Multiverse for Perpetua as compensation.
• Thought Armor Superman and Perpetua returned to the Multiversal In-Between with Brad; Superman knocked Zansha unconscious, helped Brad up, and agreed to return to Earth with him.

Brad developed the New Universe and searched the Great Void for a way back to Marvel. After finding Marvel restored as a multiverse and learning that his history had been erased, he entered it to locate Skynet’s physical body, arriving in the Prehistoric Era.

• Brad shaped the New Universe, controlled its magical forces, and allowed The Batman Who Laughs to reincarnate and inspire humanity’s emerging faiths.
• Brad encountered the ruined Ultimate Nullifier Universe, restored its history into a universe fruit, and gave Group the name Legion to develop within it.
• Brad finally found Marvel, where he learned that its history had replaced him with a powerless Bradley and that God Emperor Doom’s plans had been thwarted.
• Brad left the New Universe behind and entered Marvel alone, ordering a search for Skynet’s physical body.
• Brad arrived in the Prehistoric Era, surrounded by towering trees and roaming dinosaurs.

War God met Fan Fei and joined other powerful people of prehistoric Earth on a journey to stop a catastrophe. At the mountain’s summit, they helped Odin defeat a Red Iron Giant, and Odin warned that many more giants were coming.

• War God followed a streak of light west and met Fan Fei, who told him a disaster threatened the world and invited him to help avert it.
• War God traveled with Fan Fei, learned her fighting techniques, and met Agamotto, Starbrand, Black Panther, a boy riding a flaming-skeleton mammoth, and Firehair at the mountain.
• War God grew into the group’s strongest fighter, and the others accepted him as their leader as they climbed toward the summit.
• At the summit, War God’s electronic voice told him to help the blond man with the hammer destroy the Celestials, so he and the others attacked the Red Iron Giant.
• The group tore the Red Iron Giant apart, and Odin warned them that many more giants like it were coming.

Brad manipulated the conflict between the Prehistoric Avengers and the Celestials to force Original Skynet out of hiding. After War God sacrificed his freedom to contain the Brood Swarm, Original Skynet emerged from it, and Brad plucked him from looping spacetime.

• Brad learned that the Celestials were attacking Earth to extract the Progenitor's vaccine from Primitive Humans, and he secretly empowered Zgreb through the One Above All's identity.
• The Celestials infected Fan Fei with the Cosmic Hive Virus, causing War God to realize he did not want to lose her.
• Skynet reactivated through a time-transcending signal and told War God he could end the war.
• War God negotiated peace with the One Above All, then promised to guard the Brood Swarm's main camp for the rest of his life.
• The One Above All sealed War God and the Brood Swarm away, while Skynet infiltrated the swarm and absorbed its collective mind.
• Brad reached into looping spacetime and captured the newly reborn Original Skynet.

Brad found Hemen at the end of the universe, then recovered the history of Li He, the last naturally conceived human in the Ultimate Nullifier Universe who became a data entity and fought Skynet. After separating that universe from Marvel, Brad departed into the Great Void and remembered his full name: Brad Li.

• Brad traveled to the far future, where humanity faced the universe’s impending end and Hemen hid within the virtual world’s endless time.
• At the universe’s collapse, Brad met Hemen, who acknowledged Brad could extract him from his paradox and write the cycle’s story.
• In the Ultimate Nullifier Universe, Li He grew up in humanity’s last underground refuge, built an army, and attacked Skynet’s central system.
• Li He plugged himself into Skynet, escaped as data, absorbed the collective consciousness of captured humans, and built a body with Ultimate Nullifier technology.
• Brad separated the Ultimate Nullifier Universe from the Marvel Universe, steered the Great Void Tree into the Great Void, and remembered his full name as Brad Li.