Chapter Summaries

Su Ming’s team found that Zombie Reed had escaped the Baxter Building, leaving zombie heroes behind, while Deathstroke considered how to draw him out. In Earth-616, Doctor Doom told Thanos that only 192 Parallel Universes remained and sent him to stop the Illuminati from fleeing Wakanda.

• Su Ming and his team flew to the Baxter Building’s top floor, but Zombie Reed had escaped with his allies and The Doorway.
• The team fought the remaining Zombie Heroes, and Deathstroke proposed using bombs at Yellowstone Park to lure out the zombies still following Reed.
• At Castle Doom, Thanos asked Doctor Doom how his plan was progressing, and Doom claimed that only 192 Earths remained.
• Doctor Doom showed Thanos that the next collision would occur in eight hours and revealed that the Illuminati were preparing to flee Wakanda.
• Thanos agreed to warn the Illuminati and rose to confront them.

Doom captured Doctor Strange after Strange attacked the Multiversal Library, then revealed that he was collecting Molecule Men rather than simply killing them. Strange was left confused as several Molecule Men supported Doom’s actions.

• Doctor Strange led his followers to attack Doom’s Multiversal Library, but Doom’s vacuum-sealed Chamber of Silence left him unable to cast spells, and Black Swans captured him.
• Doom had the Black Swans bring Strange into the library’s great hall, where a purple light revealed the multiverse’s chaotic form.
• Strange recognized Doom as the Great Destroyer and confronted him about the destruction of worlds through the hunting of Molecule Men.
• Doom extinguished the pillar of light and showed Strange several Molecule Men working with him.
• Strange asked Doom to explain his plans and, weakened by the cost of magic, struggled to process the revelation.

Doctor Doom persuaded Doctor Strange to help create a new Earth, while the Avengers struggled to find a way to save the people on another Earth. The chapter ended with Tony discovering the Black Order bombing Wakanda beneath its invisible barrier.

• Doctor Doom explained that Molecule Men were bombs created by the Beyonders and told Doctor Strange that he planned to create a new Earth to strike back against them.
• Doctor Strange agreed to help Doom, who said the plan depended on the Molecule Men’s sacrifice and promised that humanity would not perish.
• At Avengers Mansion, Tony proposed using Kree technology to move people between nearby Earths, while the Avengers rejected Wanda’s suggestion to seek help from Mephisto.
• Wolverine vented his despair, and Cyclops and Tony noted that Professor Charles and Doctor Strange were missing.
• Tony used a surveillance feed to show the Avengers that the Black Order was bombing Wakanda beneath its invisible barrier.

Deathstroke and the Adjutant discussed how they were steering the Multiversal conflict and ordered the heroes to stop destroying worlds as the remaining universes dwindled. The chapter left Doctor Doom under Deathstroke’s leverage and revealed that Natasha and other powerful allies were guarding Susan and the children on Earth-40K.

• Deathstroke explained that he wanted Earth-616 and Earth-1610 to weaken each other while keeping both from defeating the other outright.
• The Adjutant reported that only 193 Parallel Universes remained and that her hero teams were exhausted and losing hope.
• Deathstroke ordered the heroes recalled to their Pocket Dimensions, where they could reunite with family and friends.
• The Adjutant asked whether Magik should continue monitoring Doctor Doom, but Deathstroke said Doom would choose cooperation because he feared losing his mother again.
• Deathstroke revealed that Natasha was in the Baxter Building with Elsa Bloodstone, Polaris, Scarlet Witch, and Phoenix, keeping watch over Susan and the children.

Su Ming rejected the suggestion to plant a bomb at Yellowstone, where Zombie Reed might expect them, and proposed using the Moon to destroy the zombie Earth instead. The group left the Baxter Building and planned to push the Moon into a collision with Earth before Earth-1610 could collide with it.

• Su Ming and Iron Man searched the Baxter Building but found no sign of their decapitation target, and Susan suspected the toy gun they found had belonged to a young victim.
• Su Ming ignored Susan’s bid for his approval and led the group away to find a place to plan.
• Friday proposed planting a high-yield bomb at Yellowstone, but Su Ming decided Zombie Reed might have anticipated that plan and set traps there.
• Su Ming took the group back to the sewers, where he asked whether anyone had played pinball as a child.
• Doctor Grant and Tony understood Su Ming’s billiards analogy: the team could install bombs on the Moon’s far side and push it toward Earth so the two bodies collided before Earth-1610 arrived.

Su Ming and the heroes prepared to alter the moon’s orbit with a modified Planet Bomb to prevent the two Earths from colliding. They left for the moon under cover of illusions, though Zombie Reed might still discover their plan.

• Tony and Doctor Grant modified the Planet Bomb so it could alter the moon’s rotational velocity and orbit.
• Su Ming explained that the moon was the only celestial body available to disrupt the collision between the Earths.
• Susan prepared force fields to protect the group in space, and the heroes praised her before Deathstroke urged them to depart.
• Loki created illusions of the group to distract Zombie Reed while the real heroes boarded the flying carpet.
• The Cloak of Levitation concealed the group and carried them through the sewer outlet toward the moon.

Deathstroke and the Ultimates traveled to the moon, where an army of Inhuman zombies ambushed them near the ruins of Attilan. As the group prepared to escape aboard Deathstroke’s Cloak, Iron Man called for them to take everyone with them.

• Deathstroke brought the group to the far side of the moon, where they saw the ruins of Attilan.
• Blue Marvel spotted an ambush, and hundreds of thousands of Inhuman zombies attacked the Ultimates with a barrage of powers.
• Susan’s force fields protected most of the group from the opening assault, while Jessica and Quake reacted to the overwhelming enemy numbers.
• Deathstroke told Quake that the zombies had once been her kind, then invited her to climb aboard the Cloak with him and Jessica.
• Iron Man swept the zombie ranks with his armor’s energy cannon and demanded that Deathstroke take the others along.

Deathstroke explained that the heroes could avoid most of the Inhuman zombie horde by staying airborne, since nearly all the zombies could not fly. The strategy held until Deathstroke killed a zombie Lockjaw that had ambushed them from behind.

• Deathstroke mocked Iron Man's panic, and the heroes took to the air to escape the approaching zombie army.
• Human Torch questioned why everyone had fled, but the Sorcerer Supreme showed him that the ground-bound zombies could not reach them.
• Blue Marvel recognized that the heroes had gained air superiority, and Deathstroke explained how the Kree's experiments had left the Inhumans with powerful but limited abilities.
• Susan warned that the Inhumans had spatial powers, but Deathstroke estimated that almost none of the zombies could fly.
• Deathstroke sliced a zombie Lockjaw in half as it ambushed the group, then disinfected Cloak with a flamethrower.

Deathstroke explained how he had anticipated Lockjaw’s attack, then led his team toward the ruined city to confront Zombie Black Bolt’s royal family. He assigned Loki to create an illusion combining a bathhouse and Hell as the group prepared to fight.

• Deathstroke explained that he had deduced Lockjaw would attack him and had struck as soon as he sensed the zombie dog behind him.
• Zombie Black Bolt fired a shockwave across the lunar surface, but Deathstroke moved Cloak aside to evade it.
• Deathstroke sent Tony and the Ultimates away to plant bombs while he and his team headed toward the city ruins.
• Deathstroke assigned himself to fight Black Bolt, gave Skye responsibility for Medusa and the other family members, and told Loki to create an illusion.
• Loki agreed to make an illusion combining a human bathhouse and Hell.

Su Ming, disguised as Deathstroke, confronted Black Bolt and the zombie Inhuman royal family at Attilan’s ruined palace. He had Loki conjure an illusion of a locker room full of muscular men, leaving the hungry zombies transfixed.

• Deathstroke surveyed the barren Moon and concluded that the zombies had devoured nearly all life in the universe.
• Black Bolt and the other Inhuman royals emerged from the palace ruins, and Gorgon eagerly called the living humans food.
• Medusa demanded that Deathstroke surrender his flesh and join the zombies.
• Deathstroke put away his weapons and told Loki to serve the meal.
• Loki conjured a realistic locker-room illusion filled with shirtless men, and the Inhumans stared at it hungrily.

Loki trapped Black Bolt and the other Inhumans in a vivid illusion of a hellish bathhouse, exploiting their zombie hunger to keep them distracted. With the bombs installed, Su Ming withdrew with his companions to join the others, leaving the zombies to fall with the lunar tombstone and burn up in the flames.

• Loki transformed the bathhouse illusion into a grotesque Hell-themed kitchen, making the Inhumans see humans as roasted food.
• Black Bolt and the other zombie Inhumans charged into the illusion and frantically tried to eat the imaginary dishes.
• Loki made the illusory food react with bite marks and blood to deepen the zombies' frenzy.
• Deathstroke asked Ms. Drew whether the bombs were ready, and she confirmed that they had been installed.
• Su Ming had Cloak take the group to rendezvous with the others and said the zombies would descend with the lunar tombstone and burn to ash.

Deathstroke’s group destroyed Earth-1610 by redirecting its moon into the planet, though Susan suspected Zombie Reed might have escaped. After learning that 97 Earths remained and Doom was ready, Deathstroke ordered Doom to contact the Constructors’ Processing Terminal Station in the Dream Dimension.

• Iron Man’s bomb altered the moon’s orbit, and it collided with Earth-1610, reducing the planet to an asteroid belt.
• Deathstroke and his companions questioned whether Zombie Reed and the other zombies had escaped, while Susan worried that Reed had prepared a backup plan.
• Tony refused to let Doctor Grant and Wasp use Pym Particles because of his family’s history with Hank Pym.
• A new Earth appeared after Earth-1610’s universe collapsed, and the countdown began again.
• Adjutant told Deathstroke that 97 Earths remained and that Doom was ready with enough Molecule Men.
• Deathstroke ordered Doom to contact the Constructors’ Processing Terminal Station in the Dream Dimension and prove humanity’s potential.

Zombie Reed led the Zombie Heroes through The Doorway as Earth-2149 was destroyed, escaping aboard Galactus's reworked head. On their new world, Reed considered the mysterious black-and-yellow armored figure a dangerous rival and began plotting how to eat him.

• Galactus landed on Zombie Earth to attack its heroes, but Zombie Iron Man blasted him and the Zombie Heroes devoured his body, leaving only his head.
• Reed turned Galactus's head into a flying mobile base and later avoided pursuing the Ultimates through the sewers, sensing their goodbye meant they had another escape plan.
• Reed watched the mysterious armored man kill Black Bolt and his group, then realized the zombies had overlooked a threat in space.
• Reed led the Zombie Heroes through The Doorway in Galactus's shrunken head as their Earth was destroyed.
• On the other side, Reed leaned by The Doorway and considered how to keep the mysterious armored man for himself as food.

Deathstroke confronted Fury over his secret plans while the team rested between Earth-destroying missions. Tony announced that he had prepared two Planet Bombs, and the group got ready to attack another Earth.

• Deathstroke told Fury that he knew he was making secret arrangements, and Fury fell silent.
• Deathstroke's account revealed that Loki had helped infect Big Head Reed's base with zombie Alien progenitors, leaving no one alive beneath its dome.
• Iron Man told Fury and Deathstroke that his attempt to upgrade the Planet Bomb had failed, but he and Doctor Grant had nearly destroyed their own Earth in an experiment.
• Tony revealed that he and Doctor Grant had solved the yield problem by making two bombs, and Deathstroke summoned the others to prepare for the next mission.

Su Ming’s team surveyed an advanced Earth equipped with orbital rings and a space fleet, while Doctor Doom and Adjutant discussed accelerating Multiversity’s elimination rounds. The chapter left Doom preparing to use Namor as a weapon despite Adjutant’s warning about the risks.

• Su Ming’s team approached an Earth surrounded by three orbital rings and a massive spaceport, and Deathstroke identified its burning Cosmic Energy source as evidence of advanced technology.
• Blue Marvel, Iron Man, Susan, Johnny, and the Grey Giant considered how to neutralize the opposing Earth’s fleet and space station.
• Doctor Doom told Adjutant that Multiversity had arrived five years early, disrupting the timeline in which the Constructors would have contacted Earth-616.
• Adjutant told Doctor Doom that Deathstroke had withdrawn the other teams and forbade Doom from entering the field himself.
• Doctor Doom proposed using Namor to help accelerate the eliminations, and Adjutant questioned how the weak Namor could destroy an Earth.

Deathstroke and the Ultimates infiltrated Torch Space Station to learn about the unfamiliar universe, where Reed Richards and Aaron debated how to face its threats. After Deathstroke gathered information, the group discovered that the Earth was moving and that its world’s heroes had already noticed them.

• Deathstroke led the Ultimates to Torch Space Station, explaining that he wanted to find out where the Moon had gone.
• Reed refused Aaron’s suggestion to destroy another Earth and said he would stop the zombie outbreak in Alaska.
• Deathstroke used Strangle to access the station’s network and learn the history of the universe.
• Loki teased Deathstroke while the Ultimates gathered in a park, and he asked Skye whether she had obtained local money.
• Skye said she had created an online shopping scam to get digital currency.
• The Earth began to move, while Deathstroke realized that the world’s master had discovered the group.

Deathstroke gathered the team in a bar on Torch Space Station and revealed that this Earth was too powerful to attack, so they would need to cooperate with its people. The chapter ended with Blue Marvel questioning Deathstroke’s plan and Deathstroke warning the team that disobedience would get them killed.

• Deathstroke led the group into a bar after Skye said their money could cover drinks, while Miles worried about how they had obtained it.
• Tony said the team could not safely destroy this Earth because he could not even crack the bar’s network.
• Deathstroke announced that they would cooperate with the locals and showed a recording of Captain America declaring that the Avengers could move Earth and its attached dimensions into Heaven.
• Susan, Wolverine, and Doctor Grant identified many residents as altered by Terrigen Mist, and Deathstroke clarified that the mutated residents were still humans rather than Inhumans.
• Blue Marvel asked Deathstroke to share his intelligence before expecting the team to follow him, and Deathstroke warned that anyone who caused trouble would die.

Slade explained to the Ultimates that Earth-9997, known as Earth-X, was a Celestial experiment in human evolution, with staged genetic unlocks and mutations shaping its history. He left them with the revelation that this universe was thirty years ahead of Earth-616 and that Reed Richards was central to its story, though he was not Mister Fantastic.

• Tony tried to ease the tension, and Susan and Wasp asked Slade for information about their mission and surroundings.
• Slade identified their universe as Earth-9997, commonly known as Earth-X, and described how Celestials used it as a laboratory for biological evolution.
• Slade explained that the Celestials created genetic locks and staged disasters, gods, wars, and other conditions to study human mutation.
• Slade said that Terrigen Mist spread across Earth after Reed Richards discovered the Negative Zone, triggering mutations throughout the population.
• Slade explained that Earth-X was thirty years ahead of Earth-616 and revealed that Reed Richards was central to the story but was not Mister Fantastic.

Su Ming recounted Earth-X’s history, describing how Reed Richards became the omnipotent Doctor Doom and protected humanity from the Celestials. He decided not to fight Reed over Earth-X’s collision with Earth-1610 and instead planned to win his favor by killing the Zombie Heroes indicated by his glowing Black Lantern Ring.

• The chapter described how Captain America, Iron Man, and Reed Richards founded the Avengers and fought the Celestials, eventually transforming Reed’s son Franklin into Galactus.
• Reed and his allies stopped the Celestial embryo from destroying Earth, then Reed became the living concept of Death and completed his third mutation.
• Su Ming explained that Reed’s People Think ability made him nearly omnipotent within Earth-X, with Aaron providing surveillance as a Watcher.
• Su Ming decided that killing Reed would waste time because Earth-X already had a way to avoid colliding with Earth-1610.
• Su Ming saw his Black Lantern Ring glowing and planned to kill the arriving Zombie Heroes as gifts for Reed.

Su Ming explained Heavenly Reed’s near-unstoppable power and why Earth-X’s dimensional ascension could not be safely copied, leaving the Ultimates to follow Deathstroke’s plan. The group set out for New York, where Su Ming said he had an acquaintance.

• Su Ming described Heavenly Reed’s abilities, and the Ultimates realized how dangerous he was.
• Loki asked about the name Heavenly Reed, and Deathstroke explained Reed’s control over Heaven and its dimensions and concepts.
• Susan suggested copying Earth-X’s Energy Level Transition, but Su Ming explained that it was a risky collective dimensional ascension tied to Earth-X’s Cosmic Consciousness.
• Doctor Grant urged the group to resume their mission, and Deathstroke warned them to let him handle negotiations once they reached Earth.
• Su Ming directed the group to New York instead of Latveria, saying he had an acquaintance there.