Chapter Summaries

Deadpool joined Su Ming and the others in their fight against Darkseid, surviving an Omega Beam before helping distract and provoke him. Darkseid broke through their restraints and charged at the two cousins, ready to attack.

• Deadpool flew on the Green Goblin Glider and explained that Spider-Man had given it to him as a wedding gift.
• Darkseid struck Deadpool with Omega Beams, but Deadpool regenerated and returned to the fight.
• Su Ming called Deadpool over to help, and Deadpool joined him while Superman and Cyborg tried to keep Darkseid occupied.
• Su Ming and Deadpool mocked Darkseid and his family, while Deathstroke joined in and insulted Yuga Khan and Steppenwolf.
• Darkseid heard the insults, broke through the others' restraint, and charged at Su Ming and Deadpool with his fist raised.

Su Ming’s plan provoked Darkseid into attacking Deadpool, then used Deadpool’s regeneration and repulsive antics to distract and weaken him. Deathstroke restrained Darkseid while Su Ming siphoned energy from him, leaving the battle ongoing.

• Deathstroke and Deadpool mocked Darkseid’s New Gods title and invoked Yuga Khan, provoking him to abandon Superman and attack Deadpool.
• Darkseid punched through Deadpool, but Deadpool clung to his arm and taunted him while Deathstroke watched without concern.
• Deathstroke stabbed Deadpool in the lower back, spraying Darkseid with the contents of Deadpool’s stomach and intestines.
• A cat’s meow prevented Darkseid from changing reality as Deathstroke wrapped him with Strangle and locked his arms around his head.
• Deadpool kissed Darkseid while Su Ming used The Force and the Dark Concepts of the Dark Tower to pierce Darkseid’s back with his ribs and siphon his energy.

Su Ming used the Devouring Method and Tenth Metal to drain Darkseid while holding him down, as Enchantress summoned Lucifer to help. The chapter ended with Su Ming asking Lucifer to compress Darkseid’s concept and force it through a wound into his body.

• Su Ming warned the Justice League to stay back and explained that his Symbiotes could devour Darkseid’s energy through the Tenth Metal.
• Darkseid vomited black liquid that formed sketched figures, and Su Ming recognized them as stories intended to replace Multiverse 1’s history.
• Enchantress summoned Lucifer, who explained that he opposed Darkseid’s plan to end his love for humanity.
• Lucifer joined Su Ming and asked whether he intended to take Darkseid’s codename and become a god.
• Su Ming said he wanted to become the dark side, then asked Lucifer to compress Darkseid’s concept and push it through a wound into his body.

Lucifer Morningstar helped Su Ming and Big Cat restrain Darkseid, then pierced him with the Seraphim Blade while Strangle devoured his Omega Energy and darkness. Darkseid was left as a faint, empty shell, while Lucifer invited Big Cat and Daniel to visit his Los Angeles nightclub after they returned.

• Su Ming held Darkseid in place as Lucifer arrived with the Seraphim Blade and prepared to strike.
• Lucifer declared that he denied Darkseid’s attempt to grow stronger, then stabbed him and wounded the foundation of his Omega power.
• Lucifer twisted the blade against Deathstroke’s bones as Strangle drained Darkseid, forcing Su Ming to bear the immense pain.
• Darkseid faded into a translucent shell after his energy and darkness were stripped away, while Lucifer watched the cycle begin again.
• Lucifer stopped Big Cat from eating the Fruit of Wisdom and invited it and Daniel to visit his nightclub in Los Angeles.

Su Ming defeated the dying Uxas and explained that he planned to reconcile the multiverse’s creation with the forces that threatened it. Uxas died after asking to speak with Superman, and Su Ming later admitted that he had invented the Dodo Bird Effect to give him peace.

• Uxas lay helpless as the world faded to gray, and Su Ming told him he had prepared for the threats beyond their multiverse.
• Uxas asked whether Su Ming would choose Alpha or Omega, and Su Ming described the Dodo Bird Effect as different paths reaching the same destination.
• Su Ming argued that Crisis Energy and the Force of Connection could ultimately produce equivalent multiverses, and Uxas asked to speak with Superman.
• Su Ming called Superman over, then joined Lucifer and dismissed concerns about his debt to Saraph.
• Uxas shattered into fine sand and vanished, and Su Ming admitted to Lucifer that he had lied about the Dodo Bird Effect.

After Darkseid’s defeat, Su Ming prepared to leave the collapsing battlefield and continue his cleanup work. As the group departed with the Book of Destiny, Batwoman worried about how the universe would change without the Essence Society.

• Su Ming explained that calling someone a dodo meant he would make them meet their end, then sent Lucifer to entertain Deadpool while he handled cleanup with Luthor.
• Su Ming, Batwoman, Bobo, Little Fu, and Big Cat remained behind as Lucifer took most of the group back to Earth-0.
• Bobo asked whether Su Ming would choose Alpha or Omega, and Su Ming said he already possessed Sigma and wanted everything.
• Big Cat revealed that the Book of Destiny was hidden inside its body and warned that anyone who looked at it would suffer bad luck.
• Su Ming reassured Batwoman that Darkseid was permanently dead and offered her candy, but she refused and said she needed to observe how the universe would turn without the Essence Society.

After Darkseid’s defeat, Luthor joined Deathstroke and Su Ming in exploring Omega Earth, a world transformed into a refuge where humans and Symbiote Cats lived together. Su Ming revealed it as a possible escape route if Earth-0 or Multiverse 1 became unsalvageable, while Deathstroke warned that humanity would face many enemies in the multiverse.

• Luthor reflected that he had survived his failed Year of the Villain by yielding to the Justice League, while Darkseid’s lack of meaningful allies had made his defeat inevitable.
• Su Ming told Luthor that Darkseid’s remaining forces would be handled by Superboy-Prime and newly deployed Space Marines and Battle Sisters.
• Luthor left the Fortress of Doom with Deathstroke to visit Omega Earth, and Big Cat explained that it had become a world where humans and cats lived together.
• During a tour of Omega Earth, Luthor proposed opening a tourist route, but Batwoman objected and Su Ming said it was too soon.
• Su Ming explained that Omega Earth was a prepared refuge for humanity if Earth-0 or Multiverse 1 became beyond saving.
• Deathstroke warned that humanity’s arrival in the multiverse would expose it to many enemies, and said they would deal with whoever stood in their way.

After the battle, Deathstroke returned to Earth-0 and spoke with Batwoman, who confronted him about the Anti-Life Equation. Deathstroke reassured him he would not use it, then arranged for the Joker to distract Batwoman and headed to New York to find Harley and study the equation.

• The Justice League members and their allies dispersed after the celebration, while Deathstroke and Batwoman left the Hall of Justice together.
• The Flash thanked Deathstroke for bringing the Future Reverse-Flash back, then left to deal with him in Central City.
• Batwoman confronted Deathstroke about the Anti-Life Equation, and Deathstroke admitted he had it but promised not to use it to control humanity.
• A Joker-themed rocket exploded nearby, and Batwoman flew off after the Joker appeared in an alley.
• Deathstroke told Strangle that he had arranged for the Joker to distract Batwoman and planned to study the Anti-Life Equation alongside the Celestial Equation.
• Deathstroke asked the Adjutant to teleport him to New York to find Harley and said he would take a few days off.

After defeating Darkseid, Su Ming returned to Brooklyn and celebrated with Harley, who asked about the battle and received a strange chair as a souvenir. The pair planned a vacation hunting zombies in another universe, agreeing to travel as ordinary people.

• Su Ming returned to Brooklyn with Harley and told her that Darkseid was dead and he had taken his power and concept.
• Harley learned that Superman had scattered Darkseid's remains, then happily accepted a tree-person chair Su Ming had brought back as a souvenir.
• Harley told Su Ming that Ivy had gone to her island for plant experiments, then asked him about the adventure.
• The next day, Su Ming proposed visiting the Halo universe or the MonsterVerse, but Harley chose to go zombie hunting in another world.
• Su Ming refused to use Earth-40K-1 as their destination because it was being allowed to evolve naturally, and he contacted Adjutant to arrange a different zombie-filled universe.
• Harley insisted that they travel as ordinary people without superpowers, and Su Ming agreed to prepare for the trip.

In San Diego, the public watched the Overlord Organization prepare to return to Skull Island, where the government’s renewed investigation raised fears of awakening more monsters. A weathered man and a strange young girl arrived at a bar near the end of the chapter, with the girl pretending to be his daughter.

• The bar owner watched a broadcast about the Overlord Organization’s new Skull Island expedition and recalled the danger posed by monsters and the previous investigation’s losses.
• A reporter showed Overlord personnel boarding Osprey aircraft and the advance team repairing an old Outpost on Skull Island.
• The broadcast displayed the island’s vast rainforest and mountains as a drone surveyed the terrain.
• A rugged man and a heavily made-up young girl entered the bar, and the owner greeted them as visitors to the city closest to hell.
• The girl demanded alcohol and chili con carne fries, but the owner refused to serve her alcohol and offered her milk instead.
• The girl joked about being underage and called the man darling, so he warned her that the owner might call the police if she kept it up.

Thomas and Martha stopped at Old Mike’s bar in an evacuating San Diego and learned that the Overlord Organization’s Skull Island expedition could bring monsters to the city. Old Mike refused to leave the bar that held his memories, while Martha responded to his grief with a carefree suggestion.

• Old Mike served Thomas and Martha food and drinks, then heard Thomas introduce them by those names.
• Old Mike explained that the Overlord Organization was restarting its Skull Island exploration and that people were fleeing San Diego in fear of the monsters.
• Thomas asked why Old Mike was staying, and Old Mike said his bar was all he had after his wife and child were killed in a gang shootout.
• Martha suggested that Old Mike use his money to find a Ukrainian bride and have another child, but Old Mike told her that lost things could not always be replaced.

Thomas recognized that the Marines’ rainforest advance team was walking into an ambush and bet Old Mike they would be wiped out within three minutes. The broadcast then showed a zombie attack in the studio, leaving Old Mike to recognize the creature on camera.

• Thomas warned that the Marines had failed to watch the canopy and bet Old Mike that the squad would be gone within three minutes.
• Two soldiers disappeared, and Martha identified enormous chameleons hiding in the trees as the attackers.
• The broadcast cut away after half the advance team had been lost to the concealed monsters.
• Ragged figures stormed the studio and attacked the guests and staff while the camera continued recording.
• Old Mike recognized the creature feasting in front of the camera as a zombie.

After a zombie attack aired on television, Thomas and Old Mike discussed how people on this MonsterVerse Earth feared giant monsters more than zombies. Thomas asked the Adjutant how to make the zombie threat more frightening, and she questioned his idea of evolving them into Zombie Tyrannomon.

• Old Mike watched the bloody broadcast end and wondered why humanity had suffered such retribution.
• Thomas explained that Godzilla and other monsters had made humans feel powerless, while the Overlord Organization sought a Parallel World Gate as an escape.
• The little girl realized the locals were not frightened enough by zombies for the survival role-playing game she had planned.
• Thomas told Old Mike to secure the bar, then checked its back entrance and ventilation window.
• Thomas contacted the Adjutant, who said the zombies' small size made them less frightening than monsters to the people of this world.
• Thomas asked whether zombies could evolve into Zombie Tyrannomon, and the Adjutant asked what that meant.

Su Ming had the Adjutant turn the Stitched Monster Virus into a way to fuse zombies into giant creatures for fighting the monsters. As worldwide infection began, he secretly arranged vaccines for Old Mike and others, while Harley prepared to shoot the approaching zombies.

• The Adjutant explained that Pym Particles could not safely enlarge zombies, but the Stitched Monster Virus could fuse them into enormous, self-aware creatures.
• The Adjutant estimated that 70 million zombies could form a giant beast capable of challenging the monsters, and Su Ming ordered the virus deployed worldwide.
• Su Ming told the Adjutant to vaccinate Old Mike and secretly protect people she considered valuable or interesting from the First Impact.
• The Adjutant sent zombies for Harley to use as targets, and Su Ming returned to the bar beside Martha.
• Harley eagerly took out her oversized revolver when Su Ming pointed out several fast-moving zombies charging toward Old Mike.

Old Mike was nearly killed by zombies outside his bar, but Martha shot them and Thomas persuaded him to stay and fortify the shop. As the group prepared for the outbreak, a Zombie Giant Beast was close to finishing its merger underground.

• Old Mike froze when several zombies rushed him, but Martha shot them dead with her oversized revolver.
• Martha invited Old Mike to stay with her and Thomas, and Thomas said the roads were likely blocked and the bar had supplies and a Dynaman in its cellar.
• Old Mike agreed to help defend the bar and gathered his shotgun and ammunition.
• Thomas gave Martha a suppressor and ammunition, and she went upstairs to shoot zombies while Thomas and Old Mike barricaded the doors.
• Thomas and Old Mike watched the silent government news coverage as the Zombie Giant Beast neared completion underground.

Old Mike and Thomas remained trapped in a bar as zombies crowded outside, while Thomas secretly activated the Argus project. A giant monster emerged beneath Washington D.C., destroying the capital and leaving the country’s leadership in ruins as the survivors watched the news in despair.

• Old Mike and Thomas barricaded the bar against the zombies, and Thomas told him the military would not rescue them.
• Thomas secretly contacted a Black Hand beyond deep space and activated the Argus project, awakening a colossal being underground.
• Breaking news reported that a giant monster had emerged beneath Washington D.C., destroyed the capital and The Pentagon, and killed much of the national leadership.
• The broadcast showed the monster absorbing zombies, attacking key targets, and driving people mad with fungal spores while the National Guard failed to stop it.
• Thomas wondered whether growing infection would make the monster stronger, and Old Mike feared their world could no longer be saved.

Thomas, Old Mike, and Martha prepared to flee the bar as zombies gathered outside, hoping to reach Thomas’s vehicle and find a safer place. They opened the back door and faced a dark, foul-smelling alley.

• Old Mike heard the zombies crowding around the bar and decided he wanted to survive rather than stay and die there.
• Thomas persuaded Old Mike that zombies would not destroy the bar, and the two men packed food, medicine, weapons, and other supplies.
• Old Mike and Thomas agreed to escape together in Thomas’s military-grade vehicle, and Martha joined them with ammunition and supplies.
• Martha joked about buying Old Mike a bride, and Thomas joined in until Old Mike said the jokes had calmed his nerves.
• Martha unlocked the bar’s back door, revealing a dark alley filled with the stench of rot.

Thomas, Old Mike, and Martha crossed a rain-soaked alley toward the supermarket, where Thomas killed a zombie and the group planned to enter through the back door. Old Mike insisted they rescue any Survivors they found, while Martha began recording their reactions to the apocalypse.

• Thomas led Old Mike and Martha through the storm toward the supermarket, and they spotted a zombie feeding beside a dumpster.
• Thomas killed the zombie with his dagger and finished off its victim after he reanimated.
• At the end of the alley, Thomas decided they would avoid the zombie-filled main road and enter through the supermarket's back door.
• Thomas asked whether they should rescue any Survivors inside, and Old Mike insisted they help their neighbors despite the risks.
• Martha recorded Old Mike's response in her notebook as Thomas began picking the back-door lock.

Su Ming arranged a zombie outbreak and a sequence of natural disasters to draw out monsters while preserving humanity's future, and Harley celebrated her Zombie-Beating Festival. Meanwhile, Old Mike and Thomas searched a dark supermarket for supplies and planned how to reach Thomas's armored RV.

• Su Ming had Adjutant infect people in the United States and Canada, forming a composite monster beneath Washington D.C. and scattering other zombies across the region.
• Su Ming planned a month of global torrential rain and polar ice melt as the first disasters, intending to push people into survival mode before awakening more monsters.
• Old Mike, Thomas, and their companions found few zombies in the supermarket and gathered supplies while looking for survivors.
• Old Mike and Thomas spotted Thomas's armored RV in a parking lot patrolled by zombies.
• Thomas put a child's walkie-talkie toy in a candy jar and planned to use it to distract the zombies so they could reach the RV.

Thomas, Martha, and Old Mike escaped the zombies in a heavily equipped RV, and Thomas showed the old man its expanded interior. Old Mike agreed to drive them away from San Diego while the Overlord Organization continued investigating Skull Island.

• Thomas threw a noisy canister into the parking lot to lure the zombies away, and Martha helped Old Mike reach the RV.
• Thomas unlocked the RV, and Martha shut the door behind them as zombies crashed into it.
• Thomas showed Old Mike the spacious RV interior, which was enlarged by an Undetectable Extension Charm.
• Thomas said they needed to leave the city because the Overlord Organization was still investigating Skull Island.
• Old Mike volunteered to drive them toward the mountains, and Thomas handed him the keys.