Chapter Summaries

Spider-Man discovered that the heroes of this universe had mostly died, while S.W.O.R.D. detected starships near the wormhole and a Hulk from another universe. The Avengers mistook the wormhole for a deliberate attack and prepared for war, while Su Chen questioned how the Hulk could be alive.

• Spider-Man connected to Earth's network and found that the counterparts of many superheroes, including Thor and Dr. Banner, were dead, with their deaths linked to Su Chen.
• S.W.O.R.D. detected starships near the wormhole and was shocked when Dr. Banner emerged, prompting its acting head to refer the situation to Su Chen.
• Captain America warned the other-universe Avengers to prepare for battle after Mister Fantastic and Doctor Strange concluded that their universe had deliberately opened the wormhole.
• Captain America declared war as the Avengers armed themselves, while the Utopia Alliance remained unaware of their suspicions.
• Su Chen questioned reports that the Hulk was alive and examined footage of the slender figure detected by the starships.

On Xandar, Captain Marvel explained that Su Chen used the six Infinity Stones to erase Ego and assured the planet’s ruler that he would not become another threat. The ruler remained somewhat wary but welcomed the prospect of Su Chen as an ally in maintaining peace.

• The legion commander and Xandar’s ruler watched Ego’s exposed planets collapse and vanish, realizing Su Chen had erased them all.
• Captain Marvel told Xandar’s ruler that Su Chen would never become another Ego, despite the power he had displayed.
• Captain Marvel revealed that Su Chen had used the six Infinity Stones and explained that others had brought them to him through their attempts to target Earth.
• Captain Marvel argued that Su Chen retaliated against those who harmed the people he protected and had never invaded a place without cause.
• Xandar’s ruler said her worries had eased and expressed hope that Xandar could gain Su Chen as a powerful ally.

Captain Marvel learned that a mysterious force made up of people who were already dead had appeared near Earth, so she left Xandar to return. Su Chen confronted Dr. Banner at the wormhole between universes, and Banner transformed into Hulk as the chapter ended.

• Captain Marvel told the Ruler that the Supreme could not discuss an alliance because he was handling a strange incident on Earth.
• Su Chen used the Space Stone to reach the wormhole, where Earth’s ships had gathered and a Vibranium ring had sealed the opening.
• The Avengers identified Su Chen as a powerful ruler from another universe and prepared to face him.
• Su Chen confronted Dr. Banner, rejected his accusation of invasion, and threatened to send him back through the wormhole.
• Dr. Banner transformed into Hulk, who roared at Su Chen and threatened to tear him apart.

Su Chen fought the Hulk, discovered that the supposedly dead behemoth had grown several times stronger, and struck him with a beam of annihilating Cosmic Energy. Iron Man sealed the wormhole with the Möbius Satellite, trapping the Hulk and Spider-Man in the other universe while the beam badly wounded superheroes there.

• The Hulk charged Su Chen and knocked him back, but Su Chen remained unharmed and realized the Hulk’s strength had multiplied several times.
• The Hulk prepared to attack again, and Su Chen fired a blue-white Cosmic Energy beam that swept across the Hulk and continued toward the wormhole.
• Iron Man activated the Möbius Satellite, which assembled around the wormhole and sealed it into a one-way loop, trapping the Hulk and Spider-Man on the other side.
• The beam passed through the wormhole before it closed and erased parts of several superheroes in the other universe.
• Iron Man defended sealing the wormhole, warning that Su Chen’s energy could pierce through Earth and that letting him reach their universe would have been worse.

Su Chen investigated the sealed wormhole after his attack killed Hulk, but neither his senses nor the Space Stone could detect what lay beyond it. Meanwhile, Captain Marvel concluded an alliance between the Utopia Alliance and Xandar, then returned to Earth with Alpha Flight to help guard the planet and investigate the wormhole.

• Su Chen ordered Utopia and S.W.O.R.D. to guard the sealed wormhole and aim every available weapon at it if it reappeared.
• Su Chen discovered that the Space Stone could not detect or reach beyond the blades sealing the wormhole, though his energy beam had struck people on the other side.
• Captain Marvel and Xandar's ruler agreed to form an alliance with the Utopia Alliance.
• Captain Marvel returned to Earth with Xandar personnel and Alpha Flight, assigning the team to protect Earth and investigate the wormhole.

Su Chen went to Asgard and asked Hela about reaching the Realm of Death, then considered rewriting the universe’s boundary between life and death with the Infinity Gauntlet. The Goddess of Death took over Hela’s body and warned that Su Chen was facing a problem he could not immediately resolve.

• Captain Marvel learned from S.W.O.R.D. that Su Chen had gone to Asgard after his return.
• Su Chen found Asgard transformed by its alliance with Earth and learned from Hela that she had conquered the other seven realms in less than a hundred days.
• Su Chen asked Hela how to reach the Realm of Death, and she explained that entering it required death and that changing the boundary between life and death could collapse the universe.
• Su Chen produced the damaged Infinity Gauntlet and said he could rewrite the rule, but Hela warned that this would also let the dead return more easily.
• The Goddess of Death took over Hela’s body, said Su Chen seemed unsettled by a problem he could not resolve immediately, and Su Chen raised the Infinity Gauntlet in response.

Su Chen followed the Soul Stone to the place where the Goddess of Death had told him he could meet her and learn about the return of the dead. He entered the black mist at the boundary between life and death, where his body began transforming into energy particles.

• The Goddess of Death's manifestation began to fade and sent Su Chen information directing him to the boundary between life and death.
• Hela explained that the Goddess of Death feared Su Chen breaking the barrier between life and death and weakening her divine authority.
• Three days later, Su Chen traveled to the planet where Thanos had obtained the Soul Stone, while Captain Marvel and S.W.O.R.D. continued monitoring the wormhole.
• The Soul Stone emerged from Su Chen's chest and guided him past a silent masked figure to a cliff above a dark mist.
• Su Chen entered the mist as the Soul Stone's orange light led him downward, and his body began transforming into energy particles before he reached solid ground.

Su Chen encountered the enemies he had killed in a void created by the Goddess of Death, who explained that they had been kept there instead of entering the Realm of Death. She revealed that the eternal confinement was a punishment Su Chen would approve of, then said she had made the place for him because he had contributed so many lives to her.

• Su Chen reached a clearing in the black mist and recognized David, Ego, Thor, Malekith, and other enemies he had killed.
• The dead threatened Su Chen, but the Goddess of Death appeared and stopped them from fighting in her fragile void.
• The Goddess of Death explained that the void existed between life and death and was connected to the Soul Stone and the Realm of Death.
• The Goddess of Death said Su Chen's defeated enemies were trapped in the void, including a white-haired man who had lost a bet with her.
• Su Chen approved of the enemies' eternal confinement, and the Goddess of Death said she had created the secluded place because he had contributed the most lives to her.

The Goddess of Death proved that Su Chen’s defeated enemies remained imprisoned in the Realm of Death, then explained that his use of the Infinity Gauntlet had opened a passage to another universe. Su Chen learned that the Ultimate Universe held powerful Avengers and another alliance, and welcomed the prospect of facing them as the Utopia Alliance’s next challenge.

• The Goddess of Death showed Su Chen that all the enemies he had defeated, including the Hulk, were imprisoned in her realm and could not have escaped.
• The Goddess of Death explained that energy leaked from Su Chen’s use of the Infinity Gauntlet had broken the barrier between universes and opened a passage.
• The Goddess of Death told Su Chen that the other universe was called the Ultimate Universe and had powerful Avengers and another alliance on Earth.
• Su Chen said the Utopia Alliance could face the Ultimate Universe’s strength and that he was excited to use the new enemy to grow stronger.
• The Goddess of Death hinted that the bad news she had planned to give Su Chen might instead be good news.

Su Chen learned that universes were converging toward a final Infinity Universe and decided to take the fight to the Ultimate Universe using the key he already possessed. The Goddess of Death offered him a share of her authority if he conquered every universe, but Su Chen rejected the offer.

• The Goddess of Death explained that the multiverse was changing and universes would collide until only one vast Infinity Universe remained.
• Su Chen welcomed the coming conflicts, while the Goddess of Death anticipated receiving the lives taken in the wars.
• The Goddess of Death said the fragile barrier and Su Chen's key could let him enter the Ultimate Universe before its forces attacked.
• Su Chen decided the Utopia Alliance should prepare for another war and remembered to account for the different environment there.
• The Goddess of Death offered to share her authority with Su Chen if he made her Realm of Death the only one, prompting Thanos to wail in the mist.
• Su Chen declined the offer.

Su Chen returned from the Realm of Death with a method for strengthening Asgard’s undead army, then ordered Asgard to send its resources to Earth and prepared the Utopia Alliance for a conflict involving another universe. He revealed the sealed passage’s significance to the Alliance, whose members began to grasp the scale of the opportunity and danger ahead.

• Su Chen rejected the Goddess of Death’s offer and left the Realm of Death, declaring that he wanted to rise above death.
• Su Chen returned to Asgard, where Hela told him she had received a method for strengthening the undead apart from the Eternal Flame.
• Su Chen ordered Hela to close routes from Earth to Asgard and use the Bifrost to ship all available resources from Asgard and the other seven realms to Earth.
• Hela asked for the undead army to fight alongside the Utopia Alliance’s Sentry Legion, and Su Chen promised they would be among the first to fight.
• Su Chen summoned the Utopia Alliance’s key members and explained that the sealed passage led to another, apparently stronger universe.
• Su Chen said the Alliance’s ambitions now extended beyond the stars, while its members considered the implications of contact with another universe.

Su Chen ordered the Utopia Alliance to prepare for a confrontation with the Ultimate Universe, while Captain Marvel and the others committed to intensive training. In the Ultimate Universe, Nick Fury faced an Avengers team shaken by Su Chen’s attack.

• Su Chen told Captain Marvel that the Utopia Alliance would maintain its alliance with Xandar but did not need to rely on it.
• Su Chen warned that their counterparts in the Ultimate Universe might be stronger, prompting Captain Marvel and other members to pledge to train harder.
• Su Chen ordered the Utopia Alliance to mobilize its forces and devote its resources to battle preparations, giving them half a month before launching an attack.
• In the Ultimate Universe, Nick Fury confronted the Avengers after Iron Man sealed the wormhole and Su Chen’s strike left nearly ten heroes unable to fight.

After a wormhole attack injured and killed Avengers, Iron Man and Mister Fantastic analyzed its residual energy and found it closely matched Galactus’s. The team decided to seek help from their former allies while Iron Man prepared to update the Anti-Galactus Armor.

• American Captain Marvel and Nick Fury struggled to plan against Su Chen because they knew almost nothing about him or his abilities.
• Iron Man and Mister Fantastic returned with an analysis showing the energy that struck the Avengers was 98 percent similar to Galactus’s Cosmic Energy.
• The Avengers recalled how they had previously driven Galactus away with the Anti-Galactus Armor and help from another alliance.
• Iron Man warned that Su Chen might have abilities beyond the energy they had analyzed and said they should take precautions.
• American Captain Marvel and Nick Fury agreed to contact their other alliance, while Iron Man left to inspect and update his Anti-Galactus Armor.

Nick Fury met with powerful decision-makers who wanted to divide the resources of the other Earth, while Captain America traveled west to seek out a young man with glasses. The young man objected to Captain America's place with the Avengers, and the chapter left their discussion unresolved.

• Nick Fury warned the decision-makers that the other Earth could have weapons and unknown powers, but they insisted the Avengers should secure it for them.
• Captain America changed into ordinary clothes, left his shield behind, and took a train to the western United States.
• Captain America met a young man with glasses in a cornfield and said the danger lay beyond the strange passage.
• The young man complained that Captain America always brought bad news and said he belonged more with their side than with the Avengers.

Captain America and Clark agreed to cooperate across the two Earths, hoping to ease the conflict between their alliances and prepare for Galactus. Back on Su Chen’s Earth, news of the Ultimate Earth set the population and the Utopia Alliance in motion to claim it.

• Captain America told the young man about the other Earth, and they discussed how contact between the worlds could ease the conflict between their alliances.
• The young man agreed to cooperate with Captain America and said he would gather his people to decide which Earth each alliance would claim.
• The young man looked forward to facing Galactus and hoped his alliance would quickly reopen the wormhole.
• At the Utopia Alliance headquarters, Mutants organized for the expedition as news of the Ultimate Earth spread across Su Chen’s Earth.
• Earth’s people eagerly prepared to claim the Ultimate Earth, so the Utopia Alliance imposed rules to restore order and established a large command center.

Su Chen and the Utopia Alliance learned about the Ultimate Universe’s Avengers and Justice League through Spider-Man’s interrogation. After identifying the Justice League’s leaders, Su Chen ordered preparations for an assault across the other Earth.

• Telepathic mutants interrogated Spider-Man and uncovered extensive information about the Ultimate Universe, while the Utopia Alliance also learned about the Avengers and the Justice League.
• Emma Frost briefed Su Chen that the Avengers were divided among factions led by Captain America, Iron Man, and Nick Fury, while the Justice League appeared more united.
• Emma Frost identified Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Aquaman, and Cyborg as key Justice League members.
• Su Chen dismissed the strange descriptions of the Justice League but warned the Alliance not to underestimate them.
• Su Chen ordered the Utopia Alliance to analyze its opponents and prepare to strike across the other Earth.

The Avengers and Justice League negotiated how to divide the benefits of their coming war against Galactus, including which alliance would settle on the newly conquered Earth. Captain America proposed that the alliance whose members killed Galactus first would get the new Earth, while the other kept the remaining one.

• The Justice League arrived at the Avengers’ base, where Captain America welcomed Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Cyborg.
• Batman questioned where Stark was, and Captain America explained that Stark was building the Anti-Galactus Armor while other heroes guarded the wormhole.
• Wonder Woman asked which alliance would claim each Earth after victory, prompting Nick Fury to object that the Justice League could not have the new Earth outright.
• Captain America argued that dividing the Earths between the alliances would prevent another Civil War, and Nick Fury reluctantly agreed.
• Captain America proposed that whichever alliance killed Galactus first would claim the new Earth, leaving the other alliance the remaining Earth.

Batman revealed that the Justice League had a powerful energy weapon to counter the Avengers' Anti-Galactus Armor, while Su Chen and Hela prepared the awakened Legion of the Dead for the coming battle between universes. Hela discovered that her bond to Asgard could restore the Legion and herself even after death, and Su Chen turned his attention to another, larger army.

• Batman led the Justice League to an abandoned nuclear facility and showed them a launcher that could absorb and fire Cosmic Energy at fifteen times the Anti-Galactus Armor's maximum output.
• Su Chen faced the Legion of the Dead in Asgard as the Goddess of Death's blessing awakened new souls within their bodies.
• Hela sensed that her power and connection to Asgard had grown stronger and said the Legion could be restored after death if any fragment returned to their world.
• Su Chen looked toward another army, which was larger than the Legion of the Dead and continued to grow.

Su Chen used the six Infinity Stones to tear open a gateway to Ultimate Earth, and the Utopia Alliance’s three legions began crossing into the other universe. Su Chen adapted to the universe’s resistance, but Hela felt her body starting to decay.

• Su Chen prepared the Legion of the Dead, the Sentinels Legion, and the Utopia Fleet to campaign against Ultimate Earth after Xandar failed to respond.
• Su Chen used a newly forged Infinity Gauntlet containing all six Infinity Stones to reopen a gateway between the universes.
• Su Chen crossed through the gateway, followed by Hela, the Legion of the Dead, the Sentinels Legion, and the New Mutants aboard their starships.
• Ultimate Earth’s resistance appeared before Su Chen as messages, and his body began adapting to the universe’s different rules.
• Hela felt pain as her body began to suffer damage from the universe’s resistance.

As the universes merged, Su Chen noted that the rejection between them was weakening and seemed less harmful to nonliving forces. On Ultimate Earth, the Avengers and Justice League reopened the wormhole while preparing for a counterattack and quietly harboring competing plans; the chapter ended with Batman seeing the few ships near the other Earth and judging that they had underestimated the threat.

• Su Chen explained that the universes’ rejection would fade as they merged and observed that the Legion of the Dead and Sentinels were barely affected.
• Iron Man displayed the Anti-Galactus Armor as the Avengers and Justice League prepared for the wormhole to reopen, while Amazon and Atlantean forces gathered with weapons and luggage.
• Batman told Superman he was more than eighty percent confident, and secret messages urged some Avengers to seize control of the new Earth’s resources.
• Iron Man’s blockade satellite completed its countdown and disintegrated, restoring the wormhole and revealing the other blue planet and a few scattered spaceships.
• Batman grinned at the ships and said their opponents did not seem to take the counterattack seriously.