Chapter Summaries

Diana and the others faced the Tuxedo Skeleton and Colossus as the skeleton incapacitated Superman with a mysterious powder. Diana attacked him in fury while Harley tried to pull Kara out of her grief, but the battlefield suddenly plunged into weightlessness.

• The Tuxedo Skeleton kicked Colossus flying, then smeared a handful of powder over Superman's face until he collapsed and stopped breathing.
• Kara rushed to Superman, and Diana followed to attack the skeleton while Harley explained that the powder was different from the sedative she had tried before.
• Kara lifted Superman's body as Diana launched a furious assault on the skeleton, but he blocked her sword with his bones and appeared amused.
• Harley provoked Kara by saying Superman was dead and started leading her away with his body as Colossus struggled to rise in the distance.
• The battlefield shifted into weightlessness, and everyone began plunging violently downward.

Deathstroke revealed himself to Wonder Woman and confronted Doctor Manhattan, who explained that his death would give rise to Blank. The chapter ended with Deathstroke realizing that their meeting had already determined Manhattan’s death and Blank’s birth.

• The setting transformed into a metal castle, where Doctor Manhattan appeared before Diana and the disguised skeleton.
• Deathstroke revealed his identity, explained his disguise, and asked Doctor Manhattan where Blank was and why he had hidden her existence.
• Doctor Manhattan told Deathstroke that Blank was another version of himself who would emerge when he died.
• Doctor Manhattan showed Deathstroke a miniature multiverse and explained that observing him would determine his state.
• Deathstroke concluded that meeting Doctor Manhattan had already set his death—and Blank’s birth—in motion.

Su Ming confronted Doctor Manhattan in Quantum Space and agreed to help prevent Blank's birth, while Manhattan prepared to share the regret of his former self, Jonathan Osterman. As Superman remained near death, Manhattan began recounting his past.

• Su Ming asked Doctor Manhattan whether he regretted anything and learned that Jonathan Osterman still had a story to tell.
• Su Ming explained that Superman's survival was essential to the universe's origin and that Manhattan's choices had made Deathstroke part of the Timeline.
• Su Ming agreed to listen to Jonathan Osterman's last words as the blue man cleared away the castle complex.
• Doctor Manhattan began telling Su Ming about his life as Jonathan Osterman in August 1959.

Doctor Manhattan recounted the events that transformed him and described how he became aware of other universes, while Su Ming and the others listened. He ended by asking Deathstroke whether his pursuit of knowledge made him guilty and whether he deserved to exist.

• Doctor Manhattan explained how he and Jen grew close after a photographer mistook them for a couple and how her broken watch led him to the Experiment Chamber.
• Doctor Manhattan described how nuclear radiation transformed him into a being of light and how the Watchmen Universe responded by setting humanity on a course toward nuclear war.
• Su Ming suggested that the recurring eleven minutes and fifty-seven seconds might be a curse aimed at Doctor Manhattan, but Doctor Manhattan said time and space had become meaningless to him.
• Doctor Manhattan recounted seeing events from different years and glimpsing Superman from another multiverse through a dark barrier.
• Deathstroke interrupted with a joke, irritating Harley, while Doctor Manhattan continued and asked Deathstroke whether he was guilty and should exist.

Mercenary explained his plan to Doctor Manhattan, who destroyed the Angel Statue and accepted the arrangement recorded in Batwoman’s notebook. Su Ming then restored Superman’s memories and brought him, Diana, Kara, and Harley together in the Dreaming before they set off for Superman’s home.

• Mercenary told Doctor Manhattan that only one path remained to prevent Blank from appearing after his death and offered him a plan.
• Doctor Manhattan destroyed the Angel Statue with his quantum powers, and Su Ming handed him Batwoman’s notebook containing the plan.
• Su Ming joked with Dream while Superman woke in the Dreaming after Dream removed sparkling sand from his ear.
• Su Ming brought Superman back to his friends, while Diana sensed something strange and Harley kept quiet about her unchanged memories.
• Kara told Superman she had joined the Justice League and left the DEO, and Su Ming said he had dealt with the Angel Statue.
• Superman agreed to take everyone home and cook seafood for them.

Su Ming joined Superman’s family for a makeshift dinner and questioned Clark about his recovery after the Angel Statue incident. As Kara considered moving closer to Clark, Su Ming warned that DEO agents were watching Superman’s home, and Clark discovered them across the street.

• Clark’s damaged kitchen left the family with fish soup, salad, and bread, while Diana’s soup was excessively salty.
• Su Ming asked Clark whether he had lingering symptoms or an unusual craving for milk, and Clark said he felt fine apart from a brief headache.
• Harley discussed the Justice League’s psychological care and criticized Batwoman’s failed Sanctuary Plan.
• Kara asked Clark whether she and her parents could move to Metropolis, and Su Ming supported her leaving International City because of the DEO’s methods.
• Su Ming warned that DEO agents across the street could target Superman’s home with Kryptonite weapons, and Clark used Super Vision to spot them.

After Superman's family dinner, Su Ming took Harley to Sepulk, where she claimed she had a stomachache and demanded cake. The chapter ended with Holloway finding nothing wrong with her and Su Ming discussing the rise in violent injuries on Earth-40K.

• Diana offered to confront the agents watching Superman's home, but Superman stopped her and said he had nothing to hide.
• Joe left the dinner in anger, and Su Ming teased Superman about Jonathan eventually moving out with a girlfriend or boyfriend.
• Su Ming took Harley to Sepulk after she complained of a stomachache and demanded cake.
• Holloway examined Harley and found that only her brain waves were unusually active, while Su Ming said he wanted a doctor's reassurance.
• Su Ming and Adjutant discussed the increase in gunshot patients and violent injuries on Earth-40K as Holloway prepared to return to the hospital.

Su Ming began explaining how he had altered the Timeline by ordering the Adjutant to retrieve items connected to Doctor Manhattan’s past. The Adjutant and Harley learned that the first two items were matching photographs of Jonathan Osterman and Janey Slater, while Su Ming’s list of fourteen locations remained unfinished.

• Doctor The Mustache refused Deathstroke’s invitation and returned to the hospital, while Harley rejoined Su Ming for cake.
• Su Ming met the Adjutant and Harley in the Throne Room, where the Adjutant asked what he had changed in the Timeline and Harley asked about The Man Who Stopped Laughing and the bald man in the jar.
• Su Ming ordered the Adjutant to retrieve a photograph hidden in Carver Coleman’s dressing room on Earth-0 in 1952.
• The Adjutant retrieved a photograph of Jonathan Osterman and Janey Slater at an amusement park, and Su Ming explained that it had become part of someone’s memory.
• Su Ming ordered the Adjutant to find a second copy hidden in B.F. Skinner’s Walden Two after a 1940 train derailment on Earth-One, and the Adjutant retrieved it.

Su Ming gathered fourteen photos and transformed them into a diary of Doctor Manhattan’s memories for Harley to examine. The diary revealed Jonathan Osterman’s first love for Janey Slater and ended with his account of the accident that trapped him in the Intrinsic Field chamber.

• Su Ming had the Adjutant retrieve fourteen photos hidden across Parallel Worlds and the Dark Multiverse.
• Su Ming turned the photos into a leather-bound diary and gave it to Harley.
• Harley read Jonathan Osterman’s early diary entries about falling for his colleague Janey Slater.
• Harley read how Janey followed Jonathan to a hotel after their visit to the Amusement Park and began their relationship.
• Harley reached Jonathan’s account of the accident, when he was trapped inside the Intrinsic Field chamber as the experiment activated.

Su Ming explained that he had nearly become a quantum Observer like Doctor Manhattan but chose to consume Quantum Concepts with Dark Concepts and retain his humanity. Harley read Jonathan’s diary and learned that he married Janey, built a family, and lived in a world whose history gradually converged toward Earth-0.

• Harley teased Su Ming about replacing Jonathan and becoming Doctor Manhattan after reading Jonathan’s diary entry about the Experiment Chamber.
• Su Ming said he had sensed that becoming an Observer would strip away his emotions, and Adjutant explained the Observer’s role to Harley.
• Su Ming described choosing to use Dark Concepts to consume Quantum Concepts rather than abandon his humanity.
• Harley read that Jonathan proposed to Janey, married her, and later raised children while gradually writing less in his diary.
• Jonathan’s world’s history moved toward Earth-0, with the Justice Society, Superman, Batwoman, and Little Dai appearing on its altered track.

Su Ming told Harley how he had replaced Doctor Manhattan and altered events to preserve the Timeline, leaving Jonathan and Janey Osterman to live ordinary lives and die of cancer. He then sent their diary to Lucifer and ordered Bobo to gather help to capture The Spectre.

• Harley learned that Jonathan and Janey had died of cancer in 1990, surrounded by their family.
• Su Ming explained that he had replaced Doctor Manhattan, killing Rorschach and others and triggering Rebirth to keep the Timeline intact.
• The Adjutant took the diary, and Su Ming ordered it sent to Lucifer after his investigation of the wish was settled.
• Su Ming contacted Bobo and told him to gather people to capture The Spectre, preferably sealing him at the bottom of the sea or in space.
• Bobo agreed to contact Constantine for help dealing with The Spectre.

Deathstroke explained how the 2077 Timeline and the memories of its events had been erased, leaving only a few people aware of the truth. After checking on the battles against the King of Frost and the Guardians of the Galaxy, Su Ming decided to take a break and asked Harley and the Adjutant about vacation plans.

• Deathstroke told Harley that the 2077 Timeline no longer existed and that most people remembered only a simplified account of Superman's encounter with the Angel Statue.
• Su Ming suspected that the Record Keeper who had advised Blank might have had his own motives, while he worked to digest the Dark Concepts he had gained.
• The Adjutant reported that Batwoman and Joker were holding their ground against the King of Frost, though their forces had lost some Synthezoids.
• The Adjutant said Star-Lord and the Guardians of the Galaxy were making slow progress on their documentary because Star-Lord kept causing trouble.
• Harley decided to return to the Observatory Base on Monster Earth to continue her research, and Su Ming prepared to leave Sepulk with her and the Adjutant.

Su Ming discussed the unknown Blank Strategist and the possibility that the threat could affect other universes, then planned to investigate them himself. Meanwhile, Lucifer read Deathstroke’s message in the diary and concealed it from the waking Izanami-no-Mikoto.

• Su Ming told Harley he was trying to identify the person who had advised Blank and was preparing for the consequences of the broken balance among The Source, The Void, and God.
• Su Ming warned that the threat might reach universes under his control, including Harley’s favorite My Little Pony world, and said he would investigate them personally.
• Harley joked with Su Ming, and he decided to sleep and begin his investigation the next day.
• Lucifer read Deathstroke’s message in the diary, learned that Blank had been dealt with, and hid the diary in his suit.
• Izanami-no-Mikoto woke beside Lucifer with bruises and no memory of how she had arrived, while Lucifer claimed she had fallen asleep.

Peter, Squirrel Girl, and Jewel traveled to Contraxia to recruit crew members for their ship and discovered the planet was under Deathstroke’s control. Little Rose directed Peter to the job market while his teammates stayed behind to eat and drink.

• Peter, Squirrel Girl, and Jewel left the S.H.I.E.L.D. group and decided their ship needed more crew members.
• The three arrived at New London on Contraxia and recognized Deathstroke’s likeness on the planet’s orbital patrol ships.
• Little Rose welcomed them to Wilson’s Fast Food, where they ate and drank the food and beverages offered to them for free.
• Little Rose invited the trio to visit the job market so they could recruit crew members.
• Squirrel Girl and Jewel waved Peter off to handle recruitment while they stayed at the restaurant.

Peter and Little Rose set up a recruitment post in Contraxia’s job market so Peter could find freelance crew members for Doreen and Jessica’s ship. An alien applicant arrived, leaving Peter to decide whether to hire him.

• Little Rose explained the crew’s profit-sharing arrangements and took Peter to Contraxia’s job market to recruit without advance pay.
• Little Rose gave Peter a Universal Translator and helped him post the crew opening through the city’s information client.
• Peter completed the recruitment notice while Little Rose teased him about acting more confident behind his Spider-Man mask.
• A snow-white, birdlike alien arrived to apply and flattered Little Rose, who told him to begin the interview.

Peter and Little Rose interviewed Guda Gugu, a birdfolk follower of Oshtur, as a potential crew member for their space voyage. Guda Gugu claimed to excel at mental arithmetic, but his impressive answer to Peter’s calculation was wrong.

• Peter met Guda Gugu, and Little Rose explained that the birdfolk counted as half one of them because they followed Oshtur.
• After putting on his mask, Peter questioned Guda Gugu about what skills he could offer the crew.
• Guda Gugu recalled leaving the City of Sephiroth after Oshtur allowed her people to enter the Main Dimension and described struggling to adapt and find work.
• Seeing the Iron Cans with Little Rose, Guda Gugu said he excelled at mental arithmetic rather than combat.
• Peter tested Guda Gugu with a large square, and Guda Gugu answered quickly with an incorrect result that Little Rose corrected.

Peter interviewed two alien applicants for his ship and rejected Guda Gugu before meeting a licensed Companion whose unusual ability involved intimate contact. Little Rose hired the Companion after Adjutant relayed Deathstroke’s approval, and she prepared to board Peter’s ship.

• Peter rejected Guda Gugu as unsuitable for the ship after his interview.
• A pink-skinned alien woman introduced herself and demonstrated her As Shadow Follows ability by getting physically close to Peter.
• Little Rose explained that the woman was a licensed Companion trained in skills including diplomacy, medicine, and intelligence gathering.
• Adjutant informed Little Rose that Deathstroke wanted the woman assigned to Peter’s ship, so Little Rose hired her and gave her boarding instructions.

Deathstroke arranged a tempting test aboard his ship to strengthen Peter’s willpower and discussed Peter’s unusual value with Franklin in the Beyond Realm. Franklin explained his theory that quantum particles could develop souls through layers of consciousness, and Deathstroke asked him for advice on developing abilities gained by devouring quantum particles.

• Deathstroke ordered Adjutant to place a beautiful alien companion aboard his ship to test Peter’s restraint and prepare him to control his Symbiote.
• In the Beyond Realm, Franklin told Deathstroke he was happy Peter had met him but wondered why Deathstroke valued Peter so highly.
• Deathstroke explained that Spider-Man, like The Flash, could give his allies a guaranteed-victory advantage if sacrificed, and said Peter’s no-killing rule was rare in 40K.
• Franklin presented a theory that quantum particles could develop souls by advancing through layers of memories, reactions, selfishness, and blank souls.
• Franklin suggested Doctor Manhattan’s memories and stories had helped quantum particles respond to him and transform into a being with a soul.
• Deathstroke asked Franklin for advice on developing the abilities he had gained by devouring quantum particles.

Su Ming advised Franklin against creating universes with intelligent life and discussed preparing for the First Firmament, the Celestials, and possible hypothetical enemies. Meanwhile, Loki and Thor found the Creation Runes in the DC Universe and were sent back to 40K Earth.

• Franklin warned Su Ming that universes with intelligent life could require endless corrections and reboots, and Su Ming crushed the tiny universe he had created.
• Su Ming and Franklin discussed the First Firmament, the Celestials, the Beyond Realm, and the progress of Zero Matter research before agreeing to play catch.
• Loki sensed that something had changed while Thor celebrated finding the twenty-four Creation Runes.
• Loki asked the Adjutant to send her and Thor back to 40K Earth, and blue light descended after Sheriff approved the return.

Ciri arrived in the Beyond Realm to ask Su Ming for help because the Wild Hunt had found her and Geralt. Su Ming set off with her for the First World, but their teleportation was disrupted and they landed near Aleport instead.

• Ciri suddenly appeared in Franklin's boat and told Su Ming that the Wild Hunt had come after Geralt.
• Su Ming reassured Ciri, equipped her with a Vibranium vest and Infinite Bullets pistols, and agreed to help as he had promised.
• Ciri teleported Su Ming and herself toward the First World, but the Celestial Convergence interfered with her ability.
• Su Ming recognized their location as an island south of Aleport and learned that Geralt and Ciri had been attacked in the First World.
• Su Ming took out his Cloak and prepared to carry Ciri to the First World.