Chapter Summaries

Thor and Loki went ice-hole fishing near Asgard, reminiscing about their childhood while preparing to set a net. Loki left Thor knocked unconscious in the water and ran home to tell Frigga and Sif he had fallen into the hole.

• Thor and Loki traveled to the Arctic coast to fish and smoke their catch for winter.
• Thor recalled their childhood fishing trips, while Loki remembered how he and the Warriors Three had left her the smallest fish.
• Thor chopped a hole through the ice and began lowering the net into the water.
• Loki struck Thor on the back of the head with her club, sending him plunging into the ice hole.
• Loki threw away the club and ran home, calling for Frigga and Sif to come see Thor in the water.

Deathstroke intercepted Loki after her prank on Thor and recruited her to provide magical support for an assault on the Celestials’ mothership. Loki agreed to join the mission while making clear she would flee if things went badly.

• Loki ran across the tundra after knocking Thor into an ice hole, but Deathstroke intercepted her with Kitty, Star Destroyer, God Eater, and Dream of a Thousand Cats.
• Deathstroke teased Loki about the flaws in her prank, and she accepted his advice before turning to the mission.
• Loki explained that Odin had fought the Celestials, including a powerful force that had left him badly injured.
• Deathstroke said they were tracking the Celestials’ true body and assigned Loki to provide magical support while God Eater and Celestial Destroyer faced the strongest enemies.
• Loki agreed to join the assault, though she warned Deathstroke that she would escape if the battle turned against them.

Elaine and the Great Evil Beast reached a balance in Hypertime, and Deadpool acted as the plan’s final variable. He slipped behind the Beast and plunged his arms into its body, leaving his fate unclear.

• Deadpool explained that Elaine and the Great Evil Beast had to reach a draw for DC Hypertime to regain balance, and he ran a betting pool on the outcome.
• Elaine reappeared gripping one of the Great Evil Beast’s fingers, and the two reached an even match.
• Deadpool prepared to disrupt the balance, playing the Starship Troopers theme song before charging at the Great Evil Beast with Katana.
• Deadpool used the Plot Continuity Gem to reach the Beast’s back, made a small indentation with Katana, and thrust both arms into its body.

Elaine used Deadpool to distract the Great Evil Beast and gain an advantage in their struggle over the Future’s balance. The Great Evil Beast accepted a new balance, and Elaine left with Deadpool before preparing to overwrite Hypertime with her Omniverse.

• Deadpool let the Great Evil Beast swallow him, distracting it from its contest with Elaine.
• Elaine used the distraction to shift control of concepts and authority toward her side, including greater influence for humanity in the Future.
• The Great Evil Beast agreed to maintain the new balance, and a symbolic clasp of black and white hands marked their agreement.
• Elaine caught Deadpool as he fell after the Great Evil Beast vanished, then left the Unlight Sea with him.
• Elaine told Deadpool she would overwrite Hypertime with her Omniverse and said Past God’s avatars would likely try to stop her.

Lucifer revealed that his confrontation with Enigma had only been a delay tactic while Elaine’s plan advanced, and he watched the Old Man reclaim Voice of God’s power. He then met with Batwoman, confirmed their preparations against the other divine avatars, and tried to charm her.

• Voice of God’s body became a shapeless mass as the Old Man reclaimed its power, and Lucifer explained that the avatar was being erased.
• Lucifer watched Voice of God explode into white light, then left the ruined universe through a fiery portal.
• Lucifer arrived at Batwoman’s location and credited Deadpool’s unexpected usefulness and her intelligence for the plan’s success.
• Lucifer reported that the Old Man had begun reclaiming power from his avatars and warned that Sound of God and Wrath of God could be next.
• Batwoman said The Spectre and The Word would attack, and Lucifer revealed that Lantern and Zatanna had already been assigned to deal with The Spectre and Sound of God.
• Lucifer admitted that demons had been reporting Batwoman’s movements to him, then offered her wine and flirted with her.

Batwoman met with Lucifer to arrange the next phase of their plan, but refused his advances and kept the details from Silver White and Enchantress. After Lucifer departed, the women questioned her about working with a demon, and she told them they could use each other while ordering them not to disturb Starro.

• Lucifer told Batwoman that she could begin the next phase of the plan and tried to offer her an intimate invitation.
• Batwoman refused Lucifer and directed him to the door, so he left in a pillar of fire after placing wine on the table.
• Enchantress teased Batwoman about the women learning of her secret plan, but Batwoman insisted they knew no details and should follow her arrangements.
• Silver White asked how Batwoman had become involved with Lucifer and whether the demon could be trusted, and Batwoman said no demon was trustworthy but they could use each other.
• Enchantress asked to drink Lucifer's wine, and Batwoman warned it might be made from human blood before telling the women to stay quiet and let Starro work.

Hypertime was renewed by a new power, while Jar-ro tried to read a ghostly target’s mind and Su Ming’s team prepared to infiltrate the Celestials’ mothership. The plan left Loki set to sneak aboard with Breakers and send the team the leader’s location for a decapitation strike.

• Hypertime collided with a new power and renewed itself, beginning a future that ordinary people in Multiverse 1 would not notice.
• Jar-ro struggled to breach the mental defenses of the ghostly target Batwoman had captured, then realized its eyes might offer a way in.
• Su Ming and the others caught up with the Celestials’ mothership, following it at a distance while Cloak kept pace.
• Deathstroke told Loki to infiltrate the mothership with Breakers, locate the Colored Celestials’ leader, and send back the coordinates for an attack.
• Loki agreed to the plan after Deathstroke promised him a Celestial artifact to take home to Mother.

Celestial Destroyer infiltrated the Colorful Celestials’ mothership to locate Exterminator while Deathstroke prepared for a possible confrontation with First Firmament. Deathstroke waited with Kitty and God Eater, assigning the latter to stop Celestial Destroyer if he turned against them.

• Celestial Destroyer disguised himself as a red Colorful Celestial and flew into the mothership after Deathstroke reminded him to strike Exterminator quickly.
• Deathstroke told God Eater to eat Celestial Destroyer if First Firmament appeared and turned him against them.
• Kitty teased Deathstroke for preparing a backup plan while acting friendly toward Celestial Destroyer.
• Deathstroke followed the mothership under Cloak’s cover and waited for Celestial Destroyer to find Exterminator.
• Deathstroke conjured steak for Kitty and asked her to use her Dream to counter First Firmament’s conceptual attacks.

Loki and Breakers infiltrated the Colored Celestials’ mothership, where Breakers explained how they cultivated universes for experiments. When Breakers had no plan for finding Exterminator, Loki took charge and revealed that his mastery of illusion magic would guide their search.

• Celestial Destroyer passed the mothership’s outer defenses and entered the vessel with the Second Princess hidden inside him.
• Breakers explained to Loki that the Colored Celestials used the ship’s testing zone to cultivate and release experimental Single Universes.
• Breakers said his Dark Celestial kin had been scattered and that he could not contact their leader, One Above All.
• Loki warned Breakers that Deathstroke might treat him as cannon fodder if he could not prove his worth.
• When Breakers admitted he had no reliable way to locate Exterminator, Loki ordered him to follow his lead.
• Loki announced that the Sorcerer Supreme had sent him because nobody understood illusion magic better than he did.

Loki planned to lure the Colored Celestials’ leader, the Exterminator, into an ambush by creating an illusion of One Above All. Colossus chose the mothership’s Energy Cabin as the best place to make the illusion convincing and provoke the enemy.

• Loki asked Celestial Destroyer about One Above All’s abilities and devised a plan to use an illusion to draw out the Exterminator.
• Loki explained that Celestial Destroyer would hold back any Colored Celestials who appeared besides the Exterminator while Deathstroke and the Sorcerer Supreme ambushed them.
• Celestial Destroyer approved the plan and agreed to restrain the other enemies if events changed.
• Loki asked Colossus where to stage the illusion, and Colossus led him toward the Energy Cabin, predicting that its importance would frighten the Exterminator.
• Loki reacted with interest when Colossus named the Energy Cabin.

Loki used her improved illusions to draw out the Exterminator, and Su Ming prepared to move against the Celestials. He left the spaceship with Kitty, the God Eater, and Strangler Sprout, choosing his lightsaber over relying on Quantum Concepts.

• Loki used her ability to turn illusions into tangible images and successfully drew out the Exterminator.
• Su Ming joked with Kitty and watched Strangler Sprout learn to peel prey’s scalps like orange skins.
• Su Ming revealed that Loki had drawn out the Exterminator and announced it was time to act.
• Kitty suggested using Quantum Concepts against the Celestials, but Su Ming rejected the idea because overusing them could cost him his humanity.
• Su Ming and Kitty agreed to head out and fight the Celestials using his skill with a blade.

Loki secretly siphoned a little energy from the Celestials’ power source while maintaining his illusion of One Above All and waiting for Deathstroke’s reinforcements. As Exterminator hesitated during their confrontation, Deathstroke arrived to begin the attack.

• Deathstroke ordered God Eater to eliminate the minions and Ash to help strike their leader, then teleported away with them.
• Loki cautiously stole a tiny amount of energy from the vast sphere, resisted a hallucination of Odin, and kept his disguise and communication spell intact.
• Celestial Destroyer blended in among the Colored Celestials while they watched Exterminator negotiate with the apparent One Above All.
• Exterminator challenged One Above All, but its silence made him hesitate, giving the attackers time to act.

Deathstroke, OAA, and their allies ambushed the Colored Celestials, killing the Exterminator and throwing the opposing force into disarray. With the Colored Celestials leaderless, the battle turned into a swift defeat for them.

• The Exterminator attacked what he believed was OAA, but his staff passed through an illusion.
• Deathstroke ambushed the Exterminator and severed his weapon-gripping hand with a golden Energy Weapon.
• The God Eater charged at the observing Colored Celestials while the Exterminator recognized Deathstroke as the Sorcerer Supreme of the 40K Multiverse.
• Dream of a Thousand Cats used Reality Warping to bite the Exterminator in half and devour him.
• Su Ming took the Exterminator's staff and attacked the Colored Celestials as the Celestial Destroyer revealed himself, helping rout the leaderless force.

Deathstroke and God Eater routed the Colored Celestials aboard their mothership, and Dream of a Thousand Cats explained how it had defeated Exterminator. With Exterminator dead and his shrunken head recovered for Strangle, the survivors remained to be hunted down.

• Deathstroke tested a planet-smashing weapon while God Eater slaughtered the Celestials and chased their scattered survivors.
• Deathstroke praised the plan, and Dream of a Thousand Cats said Exterminator had underestimated him because he recognized him as human.
• Dream of a Thousand Cats explained that Exterminator's scanners could not confirm its existence and that it had frightened him by making him dream he was a mouse.
• After Deathstroke fed the cat, it revealed that it had eaten Exterminator and produced his shrunken head for Strangle.
• Strangle swallowed Exterminator's head, while the surviving Celestials elsewhere aboard the mothership remained to be hunted.

Loki left with the staff she had earned, stolen energy, and a haul of food for Frigga after Su Ming warned her to go. Once she was gone, Su Ming examined the golden sphere and its disabled Celestials, recognizing a familiar structure in the device draining its energy.

• Su Ming called Loki over, reminded her that her mission was to make Frigga proud, and handed her the staff as payment.
• Loki accused the golden sphere of invading her mind, and Su Ming explained that she had triggered its defenses by taking its energy.
• Loki packed food to bring home to Frigga and joked about Thor before agreeing to leave.
• Su Ming had the Adjutant send Loki home with barrels of liquor, then turned his attention back to the golden sphere.
• Su Ming observed the powered-down Colored Celestials and recognized that the sphere's energy-transfer device resembled the molecular structure of Element Zero.

Constantine and Zatanna waited at the Hall of Justice for Sound of God, whom Batwoman had predicted would attack. When The Word demanded two children, Zatanna protected Constantine from his first blow, and Constantine taunted the Avatar.

• Constantine and Zatanna discussed Batwoman’s prediction that Sound of God would attack the Hall of Justice and worried about Elaine’s future.
• The Word descended in a blood-red sky and demanded that they hand over two children in exchange for peaceful deaths.
• Constantine stalled and challenged The Word, who appeared before him and punched him.
• Zatanna shouted “Ineffective!” and used Backward Speech Magic to make The Word’s punch leave Constantine unharmed.
• Constantine mocked The Word and warned that killing him would upset the balance.

Elaine’s human friends had been hidden from Old Man God, who threatened them to control her future. As Sound of God attacked, Constantine and Zatanna used their brief opening to summon a demon king for help.

• Old Man God used Elaine’s two childhood friends as leverage, hoping their deaths would force her to abandon her human side and become an entire god.
• Elaine arranged for Lucifer to protect the children, but Batwoman hid them herself rather than trust Deathstroke; even Old Man God could not find them.
• Constantine reasoned that Sound of God lacked the full authority to break Zatanna’s Backward Speech Magic immediately, giving her time to impair it.
• Zatanna cast several backward spells at Little Red Riding Hood while Constantine completed a summoning circle using saliva and cigarette ash.
• A gigantic red hand emerged from the circle, and a demon king began dragging itself from the lava-like passage between Hell and the human world.

Constantine summoned Asmodeus to test Word of God while fleeing with his allies, and Su Ming searched for a way into the Golden Orb after realizing it matched Old Man’s comic page. Su Ming suspected the orb was a door to The One Above All and wondered whether that being had known he would come.

• Constantine taunted Asmodeus, who emerged from Hell with a massive axe and threatened to torment him after his death.
• Constantine ran off with his ex-girlfriend and ordered the others to fight Asmodeus or die trying.
• Asmodeus attacked the still-controlled Little Red Riding Hood with his flaming axe.
• Su Ming circled the Golden Orb with Kitty and examined a dead Celestial, searching for a way inside.
• Su Ming compared Old Man’s comic page to the Golden Orb and concluded it might be a door to The One Above All.
• Kitty offered to protect Su Ming as he entered the orb, but Su Ming held back and wondered whether The One Above All had anticipated his arrival.

Deathstroke and Kitty found no way to investigate the enormous ball of light, so they waited for the Celestial Destroyer while discussing the God Eater and eating. The Adjutant then reported that Deadpool had defeated the Great Evil Beast with Elaine’s help.

• Kitty told Deathstroke that the ball of light had no physical substance and that its surrounding Webway structure was an energy device.
• Deathstroke found that neither Dark Concepts nor Quantum Concepts could reveal the light’s nature, and he decided to wait for the Celestial Destroyer.
• The Adjutant reported that Deadpool had defeated the Great Evil Beast, then explained that he had spent the past half hour with Elaine.
• Deathstroke concluded that Elaine had helped Deadpool defeat the Great Evil Beast and suspected that she had prepared a gift for him.

Su Ming learned that Elaine had taken Deadpool away after rescuing him, but ruled that Deadpool’s mission to lure out the Origin Judges and Origin Court remained unfinished. He directed the Adjutant to recruit Damian to Batwoman’s team to monitor her plans, leaving the Adjutant to organize the operation.

• The Adjutant reported that Elaine had rescued Deadpool from the Hand of Creation, taken him away, and returned him to the Main Dimension about half an hour later.
• Su Ming said Deadpool would not be paid because the strategic objective of drawing out the Origin Judges and Origin Court had not been completed.
• The Adjutant reported that Lucifer had contacted Batwoman, and Su Ming decided the Adjutant should not plant surveillance on Batwoman.
• Su Ming ordered the Adjutant to notify Damian and have him join Batwoman’s team to gather information.
• The Adjutant accepted the assignment and went offline to arrange personnel and military forces.