Chapter Summaries

Su Ming, Loki, and Doctor Doom watched as Earth-616’s Avengers revealed the coming end of the world to humanity, triggering widespread panic. The chapter left Earth’s people in chaos as Earth-1610 drew closer and its fleets gathered.

• Loki asked Deathstroke to help Yggdrasil grow faster so she could resurrect the Warriors Three, and he suggested she get Thor a dog in the meantime.
• Su Ming and Loki entered the room containing the Cosmic Well, where Doctor Doom watched events unfold on a tablet.
• Doctor Doom explained that the Avengers had made a mistake by telling Earth-616’s leaders about the Multiversity and the danger facing their world.
• People disbelieved their leaders after realizing they had been lied to about the other Earth before, and news anchors’ screams coincided with mass panic in the streets.
• Doctor Doom switched through broadcasts and drone footage showing the chaos spreading across Earth-616.

Deathstroke explained that he intended to make Earth-40K the Multiverse’s Main World by letting Earth-616 fall, gaining the Multiverse’s favor and a narrative advantage. He arranged to contact Earth-1610 about Reed Richards’s ark as the two Earths faced collision.

• Deathstroke told Doctor Doom and Loki that Earth-40K would become the Main World while Earth-616 was left to perish.
• Doctor Doom explained the Matthew Effect, and Loki recognized Multiversity as a chance for their universe to gain the Multiverse’s favor.
• Deathstroke said he would monitor Earth-616 and make sure it died, keeping his larger ambitions to himself.
• Doctor Doom warned that Reed Richards had built an ark to save people from Earth-616’s destruction.
• Deathstroke contacted Adjutant on Earth-1610 and proposed using the single lifeboat to force a contest between Earth-616’s survivors.

Su Ming warned Ultimate Iron Man about the coming battle and helped him plan to seize Noah’s Ark, then arranged for the Black Order to intervene in the conflict. When Loki asked about grafting Earth-10005’s Yggdrasil to another, Su Ming decided to visit the Mutant Universe with him.

• Su Ming told Ultimate Iron Man to secure Noah’s Ark and gave him a map and advice for dealing with Earth-616’s Franklin and Valeria.
• Ultimate Iron Man agreed to prepare a surprise attack to capture the Ark, and he and Su Ming ended their call after wishing each other’s Earth survival.
• Su Ming ordered Doctor Doom to have the Black Order hold back the Avengers, while Doom explained Thanos’s desire to die alongside Death.
• Loki asked about the Earth-199999 and Earth-10005 matchup, then revealed that he wanted to graft Earth-10005’s Yggdrasil to another.
• Su Ming gave Loki a device and ordered the Adjutant to open a Boom Tube to the Mutant Universe.

Deathstroke and Loki visited Earth-10005, where Deathstroke discovered that it was merging with another Earth and preparing to ascend to a higher dimension. Loki teleported them toward Asgard, but they arrived in a garden of fairies instead.

• Deathstroke and Loki arrived in New York on Earth-10005, where Loki felt free of the magical suppression she experienced on their Earth.
• Deathstroke saw green Life Force linking Earth-10005 with another Earth and concluded that the two worlds were merging and would ascend rather than be destroyed.
• Deathstroke reassured Loki that the merging would not threaten their plan, and Loki opened a Teleportation Portal to leave.
• A red-haired woman appeared in New York, drawn by the abundant Life Force Deathstroke had used.
• Deathstroke and Loki emerged in a fairy garden, where Loki wondered why the coordinates for Asgard had brought them there.
• Deathstroke pulled Loki deeper into the woods and said the fairies' bedsheets told him he knew this place.

Deathstroke brought Loki into Olympus Sanctuary to steal the Golden Apple Tree and graft it onto a root of Yggdrasil. Disguised as Greeks, they slipped into the crowded divine realm and headed toward their target.

• Deathstroke showed Loki the mountain palaces and identified them as Olympus Sanctuary.
• Deathstroke explained how Hercules’s eleventh labor involved stealing the Golden Apples and said Zeus had moved the tree to Olympus.
• Deathstroke planned to graft the Golden Apple Tree onto his Yggdrasil root and share the future fruit mostly with his own side.
• Loki agreed to help steal the tree, joking that they should have invaded openly by Asgardian custom.
• Deathstroke and Loki disguised themselves in white bedsheets and walked into Olympus Sanctuary among its gods and nymphs.

Deathstroke and Loki searched Olympus for a god who knew where Sweet Apple Acres was, but the gods they lured into the sunflower field knew only indulgence. They gave up on the scheme and decided to target Apollo, who raced across the sky.

• Loki told Deathstroke that Thor had stopped womanizing after being tricked into sleeping with a hideous monster and publicly humiliated.
• Deathstroke asked Loki to lure a lone god so Strangle could eat his brain and search its memories for useful information.
• Loki lured a burly, lustful god into the sunflower field, where Strangle devoured him; his memories held no knowledge of Sweet Apple Acres.
• Loki refused to lure any more gods after finding them disgusting, and Deathstroke agreed that Olympus's gods were useless.
• Deathstroke and Loki decided to go after Apollo, who was racing across the sky in a two-wheeled chariot.

Apollo spotted a strange Black Light on Mount Olympus and approached Su Ming and Loki, who were disguised as strangers. Su Ming and Loki killed Apollo and took his identity, then set off in his sun chariot toward Sweet Apple Acres.

• Apollo noticed a flash of Black Light on Olympus and landed his sun chariot to investigate.
• Su Ming showed Apollo a black ring, then put it on and pretended it was draining his blood.
• Apollo tried to help Su Ming, and Loki stabbed Apollo from behind while Su Ming's darkness consumed him.
• Su Ming took Apollo's appearance and belongings, while Loki returned the dagger and dismissed the illusion.
• Su Ming invited Loki onto the sun chariot and headed toward Sweet Apple Acres.

Deathstroke and Loki flew to Olympus to steal the Golden Apple Tree, but Athena caught them in the act. Deathstroke stopped cutting and revealed that he had been testing Athena’s tolerance, leaving her shocked by his behavior.

• Deathstroke and Loki joked about Asgardian mounts as they rode a flying chariot to the apple orchard.
• The Sorcerer Supreme, disguised as Apollo, told Loki to keep watch while he cut down the Golden Apple Tree.
• Deathstroke used Godslayer, Chainsaw to saw into the tree, which screamed and bled gold as Loki worried they would be discovered.
• Athena attacked Loki with a golden spear, but he caught it and evaded her sword strike.
• Athena recognized Apollo cutting the tree and warned him that Zeus would be enraged, but he stopped and said he had been testing her tolerance.

Deathstroke stole Zeus's apple tree and used a bizarre song-and-dance routine to confuse Athena rather than kill her. He and Loki returned to Sepulk, where Deathstroke discussed investigating the world after Earth-199999 and Earth-10005 merged.

• Deathstroke stored the felled apple tree and collected Golden Apples while Athena pondered Apollo's madness and the disappearing tree.
• Loki distracted Athena with cryptic talk of Multiversity as Deathstroke, disguised as Apollo, pretended to reveal a multiversal secret.
• Deathstroke performed a Chinese song and dance about a little apple while Loki created illusions to accompany it.
• Deathstroke told Athena that awkward dancing was the Ultimate Weapon of the Marvel Multiverse, then vanished with Loki and left her clutching a Golden Apple.
• Deathstroke and Loki returned to Sepulk, and Deathstroke called Adjutant to report what had happened.
• Deathstroke told Loki that he was an ordinary flesh-and-blood creature driven by Desire.

Deathstroke watched as the MCU and Earth-10005 merged into a new multiverse while the conflict between Earth-1610 and Earth-616 began. On the Helicarrier, Nick Fury learned that Reed Richards had been murdered and accepted Doushou’s offer to send its soldiers into the war, despite wanting a way to escape the Single Universe.

• The MCU and Earth-10005 merged into a new multiverse, which the Adjutant designated Marvel Multiverse 2.
• Deathstroke told the Adjutant to keep watching and said they would not intervene in the Earth-1610 and Earth-616 conflict unless the Beyonders appeared.
• The Adjutant reported that Doctor Doom had not found the Constructors in the Dream Dimension.
• Nick Fury called Reed Richards, but Doushou told him Reed had died from genetic collapse after an electronic intrusion shut down the AI.
• Fury suspected Deathstroke had killed Reed and said Reed’s death had taken away their chance to find an escape from Earth.
• Doushou offered to send its soldiers into the war, and Fury ended the call, still wanting a ship that could escape the Single Universe.

Fury accepted Ultron’s alliance as Earth-1610 descended into chaos, while Iron Man diverted the Ultimates toward the Baxter Building to seize an Ark. Deathstroke escalated the war on both Earths by ordering more sabotage and a zombie force in Hell’s Kitchen.

• Fury ordered Hawkeye to lead a S.H.I.E.L.D. strike team and prepare to cooperate with Ultron against the other Earth.
• A communications officer told Fury that Iron Man had changed the plan and was leading the Ultimates in a surprise attack on the Baxter Building.
• Fury asked Tony what the Baxter Building contained, and Tony revealed that it held an Ark; Fury ordered him to seize the ship and kill Noah’s family.
• The Adjutant reported that Phoenix energy had appeared on Earth-616 with Cyclops as its host, while Loki asked whether they should join the fighting.
• Deathstroke ordered Doom to send the Black Order to Earth-1610 and directed the Adjutant to deploy the Alien Primarchs to Hell’s Kitchen to build a controlled zombie force.

As Earth-616 descended into chaos, Spider-Man risked his life to save civilians and was rescued by Deathstroke’s followers. Deathstroke continued his plans to destroy Earth-1610 while monitoring Tony’s assault on Doctor Strange at the Baxter Building.

• Spider-Man tried to guide civilians to safety and held up falling debris with his body so they could escape, collapsing beneath the concrete slab.
• Deathstroke had his machine servants carry the gravely injured Spider-Man away for treatment, explaining that he wanted to preserve good people and their choices.
• Deathstroke ordered the Adjutant to tell Doom to send Black Swans into Earth-1610 and destroy it.
• Loki watched images of Earth-616’s destruction and admired the many choices available to her.
• Deathstroke checked his surveillance feed and saw Tony and several dozen others attacking Doctor Strange with freezing weapons at the Baxter Building.

The Ultimates chose to abandon their attack plans and prepare to flee Earth-1610 aboard the Ark, but an ambush forced them to fight before they could gather their families. While Tony led the group into battle, a blonde woman boarded the ship with Franklin and Valeria, intent on securing her own escape.

• Tony proposed keeping the Ark grounded and bringing the Ultimates' relatives and friends to it instead of boarding immediately, and the group agreed to send a team to Earth-1610.
• Square-faced Captain led the pickup team through the sewers with Tony's list of three relatives or friends per person.
• The X-Men ambushed Square-faced Captain's team, and a large flaming bird flew toward the battle.
• Tony decided the Ultimates had to help the Captain's group, so he led them toward another sewer exit to keep the Ark hidden.
• A smiling blonde woman arrived with Franklin and Valeria, dragged their bags onto the Ark, and prepared to claim a place aboard without helping the others.

In Sepulk, Deathstroke told Loki how Big Head Reed created the Dome as a lifeboat after discovering Earth-616 and learning of the coming Multiversity. He explained that Reed had secretly destroyed parallel worlds before Deathstroke arranged his death, while the Ultimates and X-Men fought over Earth-616’s lifeboat.

• Deathstroke told Loki that the Dome was a hidden escape vessel, and that Adjutant had erased Doushou’s records of its purpose.
• Deathstroke recounted how Big Head Reed built the Dome with a biological computer, accelerated time inside it, and used its Children of Tomorrow to resist S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Deathstroke explained that Reed had discovered Earth-616, prepared the Dome for escape, and secretly destroyed sixty-seven parallel worlds.
• Deathstroke said Loki and the zombie Aliens had helped kill Reed by infecting the Children of Tomorrow with the Stitched Monster Virus.
• Loki asked about Reed’s theory of a central axis, and Deathstroke said it was mistaken and refused to play with dangerous Reeds.
• Loki thanked Deathstroke for the lesson and asked whether the Deadpool she saw on the screen was the one they knew.

As Earth-616 faced destruction from an approaching planet and the Phoenix Force, Deadpool stayed with Ellie while Deathstroke prepared to intervene. Deathstroke arrived in New York disguised as Batman and ordered Strangle to shoot down Phoenix with a Time Stasis Gun.

• Deadpool comforted Ellie as they accepted that they might die when the two Earths collided, and Ellie gave him her family drawing.
• Loki asked whether they should save Deadpool and Ellie, but Deathstroke refused and had Adjutant send them a belt repair manual and tools.
• Adjutant estimated that the collision would happen in about two hours, so Deathstroke decided to go to Earth-616 and stop Phoenix from ruining the plan.
• Deathstroke and Loki changed their appearances and teleported to New York, where Ultimate Iron Man fought Earth-616's Captain Marvel.
• Deathstroke heard Phoenix-controlled Cyclops justify killing people, handed the Time Stasis Gun to Strangle, and ordered him to shoot Phoenix down.

Deathstroke and Loki distracted the Phoenix and lured it away from New York so he could target its frozen host, Cyclops. Meanwhile, Ultimate Iron Man fought Captain Marvel and waited for his new armor to arrive.

• Deathstroke had Strangle hit Cyclops with a time-stasis ray, freezing him while the Phoenix remained mobile.
• Deathstroke teleported around the Phoenix and taunted it, provoking it to turn and expose openings.
• Deathstroke asked Loki to create an illusion of Jean Grey, and Loki lured the Phoenix toward the waters beyond New York.
• Ultimate Iron Man found the Baxter Building shielded and called for Veronica and the Mark Seven armor while fighting Captain Marvel.
• Ultimate Iron Man flirted with Captain Marvel, who accused him of looking down on women and struck at him.

Deathstroke and his allies abandoned their fight against the Phoenix by leaving it hostless, while Doom monitored the battle in Universe 1610. As the two Earths neared collision, Deathstroke asked Doctor Strange what he planned to do.

• The Phoenix flew toward Loki's illusion of Jean, and Deathstroke shot Cyclops after the Phoenix discarded him.
• Deathstroke explained that the unhosted Phoenix could be left to attack both universes, then asked Adjutant to transport the group to the Multiversal Library.
• Doctor Doom told Deathstroke that the Constructors and Beyonders had not appeared and introduced him to Doctor Strange from Earth-616.
• Deathstroke warned Doctor Strange that his life force was draining and said Kamar-Taj might have helped his desperate world.
• As the two Earths drew close, Deathstroke asked Doctor Strange what he planned to do when Multiversity ended.

Su Ming, Doctor Doom, and their companions watched Earth-616 collide with another Earth and vanish, leaving Earth-40K as the Multiverse’s only surviving world. Su Ming said the Multiverse would be rebuilt around Earth-40K, and the group prepared to wait for the unstable universe to recover.

• Su Ming and Doctor Doom watched the two Earths collide, destroying both worlds and leaving Earth-40K as the only Earth in the Multiverse.
• Doctor Strange grieved the loss of his world and friends, and Su Ming ordered Doom to have him taken away to rest.
• Su Ming said the Multiverse would be reborn with Earth-40K as its template, while Doom warned that space remained unstable.
• Su Ming asked Doom to move the Beyonders’ library materials to Kamar-Taj, and Doom agreed while advising him to wait before rebuilding the Multiverse.
• A small ring-shaped ship appeared in the void, and Su Ming said his new friends were aboard and he planned to feed them.

After the destruction of Earth-616 and Earth-1610, Deathstroke brought the damaged Ark to Contraxia and discovered a small group of survivors aboard. He welcomed them to his planet and led them toward the city to recover.

• Deathstroke ordered Doctor Strange sent to 40K-2 and directed the Ark and his group to Contraxia.
• Deathstroke, Loki, and Doom examined the damaged Ark and opened its hatch with Strangle's tentacles.
• Black Egg, Susan, two children, Ultimate Iron Man, and Captain Marvel emerged as survivors.
• Deathstroke helped Ultimate Iron Man stand and welcomed him to Contraxia.
• Ultimate Iron Man joked about Captain Marvel beating him, and Deathstroke led the survivors toward a Wilson's Fast Food restaurant.

After the Multiverse crisis, Deathstroke arranged new lives for Fury, Ultimate Iron Man, Susan, her children, and Carol on one of his Earths. The survivors accepted their uncertain future, while Tony vowed to prove himself and was reminded that he still needed to deal with his brain tumor.

• Deathstroke told Fury that he had only taken advantage of the Multiversity crisis and promised to send him to live on one of his Earths.
• Deathstroke planned to send Ultimate Iron Man, Susan, Franklin, Valeria, and Carol to a zombie-plagued Earth, hoping Tony would develop a virus-based treatment for his brain tumor.
• Susan comforted Franklin and Valeria by claiming their father might still be alive, while Carol mistook Susan for her Earth-616 counterpart.
• Tony declared that he would rebuild his life and prove himself without relying on his father's fortune.
• Deathstroke reminded Tony about his brain tumor and suggested that the group choose a new team codename, proposing “Reorganized Family.”