Chapter Summaries

Xia Yu visited the Golden Palace while Thor met with Loki, who was disguised as Odin, and told him about Earth and his feelings about Jane and the throne. In the wine cellar, Xia Yu encountered a heartbroken, drunken Sif, who angrily demanded to know why Thor and Odin favored Earthlings.

• Xia Yu told Thor to meet him later at the Rainbow Hall, then went to look around the Golden Palace while Thor went to see Odin.
• Loki, disguised as Odin, questioned Thor about Xia Yu and listened as Thor recounted the battle with Malekith and spoke of loving Jane and not wanting the throne.
• Xia Yu took tea leaves from Odin's study and went to the wine cellar, where he found Sif drinking alone.
• Sif complained that Odin and Thor favored Earthlings, then grabbed Xia Yu by the collar and demanded to know why.
• Xia Yu told Sif she was drunk and should go back to rest, but she refused.

Drunk and heartbroken over Thor, Sif kissed Xia Yu, and the two crashed through a liquor cabinet as he tried to push her away. Thor and the Warriors Three walked in on them, leaving Xia Yu to face an awkward explanation.

• Sif told Xia Yu that she had supported Thor for centuries and felt ignored in favor of Jane Foster.
• Sif suddenly kissed Xia Yu, and he struggled against his attraction while trying not to take advantage of her drunkenness.
• When Xia Yu tried to push Sif away, she instinctively resisted, and they fell onto and smashed the liquor cabinet.
• Thor finished speaking with Loki, who was disguised as Odin, then went with the Warriors Three to find Xia Yu.
• Thor and the Warriors Three found Sif on top of Xia Yu with their lips locked; Sif sprang away, and Xia Yu helplessly claimed she had been fighting him for a drink.

After Sif fled the wine cellar in embarrassment, Volstagg attacked Xia Yu while Fandral and Hogun watched. Xia Yu led them to an open field, where he stopped Volstagg’s full-force axe strike with his bare hand, leaving the Warriors Three stunned.

• Sif realized what had happened, screamed, and fled the wine cellar, leaving Xia Yu to face the others’ suspicions.
• Thor chased after Sif to clear up the misunderstanding while Volstagg attacked Xia Yu with his axe.
• Fandral and Hogun chose to watch as Xia Yu opened a portal to a grassy field and challenged Volstagg to fight there.
• Volstagg charged Xia Yu, who caught the blade of his full-force axe strike between his fingers.
• Xia Yu released the axe, sending Volstagg stumbling backward onto his backside as the Warriors Three stared in disbelief.

Xia Yu fought the Warriors Three after they confronted him over a drunken misunderstanding with Sif, then returned to Earth with Thor. Thor explained his long-standing engagement to Sif, while Sif began questioning her feelings and considered visiting Earth.

• Xia Yu challenged Volstagg, Fandral, and Hogun to attack together, then easily beat them while mocking their pride.
• Thor arrived and tried to stop Xia Yu, but Xia Yu caught Mjolnir, struck Fandral with it, and punched Thor away.
• Xia Yu summoned lightning to incapacitate the Warriors Three, explaining that their arrogance and Volstagg's attack had angered him.
• Thor called for the Warriors Three to receive treatment, canceled the victory feast, and returned to Earth with Xia Yu.
• Thor told Xia Yu that Sif was his childhood fiancée and admitted he had only just realized her feelings for him.
• Sif questioned whether she truly loved Thor and wondered whether she should visit Earth after recalling her kiss with Xia Yu.

Xia Yu and the Avengers searched for enough rare metal to build their spaceship, and Xia Yu decided Wakanda’s vibranium could solve the shortage. After arriving in Wakanda, he asked King T'Chaka to show them the real country, prompting the Wakandans to react with hostility.

• Tony told Xia Yu that the Avengers lacked enough special metal to build their spaceship, while Thor confirmed Asgard had no more Uru Metal or Destroyer material.
• Xia Yu realized Wakanda might have a large supply of vibranium and arranged a formal visit through Peggy.
• Xia Yu brought Tony, Banner, and the Captain to Wakanda aboard the Xia Star, while Natasha stayed behind.
• King T'Chaka welcomed the Avengers and introduced his son, T'Challa, and guard leader Okoye.
• Xia Yu asked T'Chaka to show them the real Wakanda, and the Wakandans became hostile.

Xia Yu revealed that he knew Wakanda’s secrets, prompting T'Chaka to order the Avengers captured or killed. Xia Yu incapacitated most of the guards and seized T'Chaka, leaving T'Challa and the remaining guards afraid to act.

• Xia Yu told T'Chaka that he knew about Wakanda, vibranium, the Black Panther legacy, and the heart-shaped herb.
• T'Chaka ordered his guards to capture the Avengers and kill them if they resisted, despite T'Challa's objections.
• Xia Yu formed a hammer from the Aether and struck the ground, knocking out most of the surrounding guards while Tony lifted Captain and Banner clear of the shockwave.
• Xia Yu bypassed T'Challa and reached for T'Chaka, while T'Challa's punch rebounded from an invisible force and injured his wrist.
• Xia Yu placed a hand on T'Chaka's shoulder, and T'Challa and the remaining guards froze rather than make a move.

Xia Yu demonstrated that he could enter Wakanda and take its Vibranium by manipulating space, then explained that the Avengers had come to request some. The chapter ended with T'Chaka stunned when Tony estimated that they needed four tons.

• Xia Yu reassured T'Chaka that he meant no harm and opened a portal to prove he could reach Wakanda unseen.
• Xia Yu displayed a pile of weapons and warned that he could take Vibranium or place nuclear warheads inside Wakanda.
• Banner cheered at the Wakandans, and Tony and Captain quickly tried to smooth over the insult.
• Xia Yu opened a large portal to the palace, and T'Chaka led the group inside to discuss their visit.
• Tony told T'Chaka that the Avengers needed about four tons of Vibranium, leaving the king speechless.

Xia Yu tried to persuade T'Chaka to provide Vibranium for an Avengers spaceship by stressing the dangers facing Earth and offering T'Challa a visit to Asgard. After repeatedly changing the requested amount, Xia Yu asked for four tons, and T'Chaka crushed his cup in anger.

• Xia Yu explained that the Avengers needed Vibranium for a spaceship to defend Earth from threats in space.
• T'Challa asked about Xia Yu's space travels, and Xia Yu offered to take him to Asgard.
• T'Chaka agreed that Wakanda should help protect Earth and asked how much Vibranium the Avengers needed.
• Xia Yu lowered his request from four tons to 3,700 kilograms, then to 3,600 kilograms, before asking for four tons again.
• T'Chaka crushed the cup in his hand.

Xia Yu negotiated with T'Chaka over technological cooperation, training, and Vibranium, but the king refused to let anyone besides Black Panther use the Heart-Shaped Herb. Wakanda agreed to join the spacecraft research and provide Vibranium, leaving Tony and Xia Yu poised to exploit the king’s offer.

• Xia Yu proposed technological cooperation with Wakanda, invited its scientists to help design the spacecraft, and asked T'Challa to join the Avengers as Black Panther.
• Xia Yu offered Wakanda the Yijin Jing and proposed developing a new alloy for Black Panther's suit, but T'Chaka refused to share the Heart-Shaped Herb with anyone besides Black Panther.
• Xia Yu gave Wakanda the Yijin Jing as a gesture of goodwill, and T'Chaka accepted it while deciding to monitor the Heart-Shaped Herb closely.
• T'Chaka agreed to send 500 kilograms of Vibranium for the spacecraft research and provide more as needed, while Xia Yu signaled Tony to enlarge the spacecraft plan.

Xia Yu discovered that metal from Asgard’s Destroyer could absorb spatial energy, allowing him and Tony to make storage bracelets for the Avengers and their allies. He delivered the bracelets to Peggy’s group in London, where the Captain was moved by Tony’s gesture toward Bucky, then went to see Nick Fury to check a theory.

• Xia Yu brought Black Panther and his son aboard the spaceship for a flight around Earth, then later opened a portal so Shuri and five Wakandan scientists could join the team with Vibranium.
• Xia Yu discovered that the Destroyer’s wreckage could absorb spatial energy, and he and Tony secretly made twenty storage bracelets for the Avengers and others.
• Xia Yu delivered bracelets to the Captain, Hawkeye, and Falcon at Peggy’s estate, including one marked with an arm for Bucky.
• The Captain wanted to thank Tony for the bracelet, but Xia Yu advised him to wait because Tony would feel awkward about it.
• Xia Yu left to meet Nick Fury and check a theory.

Xia Yu examined Captain Marvel’s pager and noticed a S.W.O.R.D. emblem, then visited Odin to ask how Asgard stayed afloat in space. After Odin explained the difficulty of building a floating landmass, Tmall offered a solution involving Ego, though it required completing a mission.

• Nick Fury teased Xia Yu when he visited the intelligence base in Germany, and Xia Yu borrowed Captain Marvel’s modified pager for Tony to study.
• Xia Yu spotted a S.W.O.R.D. emblem on the pager and suspected that Nick Fury was a Skrull, but he chose not to confront him.
• Odin called Xia Yu about the house by the sea, and Xia Yu brought him food and supplies before asking how Asgard floated in space.
• Odin explained that a floating landmass required immense magical power and a planet’s intact core, so he suggested modifying the moon instead.
• Tmall told Xia Yu it had a complete solution for his floating-landmass plan, but it required a mission, and it named the Celestial Ego.

Xia Yu visited the Ancient One at the New York Sanctum to ask about fixed portals, but spent most of the encounter teasing her about her age and a promised gift for Natasha. As he began to leave, the Ancient One stopped him and demanded to know why he had brought so many Infinity Stones to Earth.

• Xia Yu recalled Ego and planned to seek out Ego's Planet before the Guardians of the Galaxy destroyed it.
• Xia Yu decided to ask the Ancient One about fixed portals and opened a portal to the roof of the New York Sanctum.
• Xia Yu found the Ancient One sunbathing and teased her while presenting women's care products as a mock gift.
• The Ancient One angrily told Xia Yu to leave, but called him back when he started to go.
• The Ancient One asked Xia Yu what he intended to do with so many Infinity Stones on Earth.

Xia Yu refused to surrender the Infinity Stones, and Ancient One challenged his ability to protect them. After her attempts to knock out his soul failed, she took him into the Mirror Dimension, where his Aether armor withstood her attacks and left him relaxed as she continued fighting.

• Xia Yu argued that Earth needed the Infinity Stones to defend itself, while Ancient One insisted that keeping them would attract danger.
• Ancient One struck Xia Yu twice in the chest to knock out his soul, but his soul resisted because it had absorbed three Infinity Stones.
• After Xia Yu mocked her age, Ancient One brought him into the Mirror Dimension to teach him a lesson.
• Ancient One attacked Xia Yu with a conjured whip, but his Aether shield blocked her blows.
• Ancient One used magical rings and spatial attacks against Xia Yu, who formed an Aether barrier and sat down to smoke a cigar.

The Ancient One tested Xia Yu but found that his abilities countered her magic, and he injured her before healing her. After Xia Yu urged her to let go of her control over Earth's protection, the Ancient One asked why he had come and what he planned to do with the Infinity Stones.

• The Ancient One stopped attacking Xia Yu after her injuries and exhaustion left her unable to overcome his defenses.
• Xia Yu punched through the Ancient One's layered magical shields, sending her flying and leaving her with blood at the corner of her mouth.
• Xia Yu healed the Ancient One with his Internal Energy and returned them both to the real world.
• The Ancient One realized Xia Yu's abilities countered her sorcery, leaving her unable to prove he was strong enough to protect Earth or the Infinity Stones.
• Xia Yu told the Ancient One it was time to let go of her responsibility for protecting Earth.
• The Ancient One asked Xia Yu what he had come to see her for and what he intended to do with the Infinity Stones.

Xia Yu explained Thanos’s threat and his plans for a mobile base and a floating continent, then discussed using stored Tesseract energy to power permanent portals. After Ancient One punished Tony Stark for insulting her, Tony learned how to build the portals and agreed to help Xia Yu prepare for the coming threat.

• Xia Yu told Ancient One about Thanos, his plan to wipe out half the population of planets, and Xia Yu’s ideas for defending Earth and taking the fight to Thanos.
• Ancient One explained that she could open portals to fixed destinations, but they would need the Tesseract as a power source; Xia Yu suggested storing its energy, and Ancient One agreed it could work.
• Xia Yu healed Ancient One’s physical injuries and summoned Tony Stark, who insulted her and was punished when she knocked his soul out of his body and sent it through other dimensions.
• Ancient One explained to Tony that she was the Sorcerer Supreme and that his journey had been real, then showed him how he could use the Tesseract to build a permanent portal.
• Tony agreed with Xia Yu’s plans to make Earth safer and moved his artificial-intelligence project up the agenda, while Xia Yu noted that Baron Strucker could set the events surrounding Ultron and Vision in motion.

Xia Yu helped Bucky get a vibranium arm through T'Challa and Shuri, then took Tony to South Korea to be treated with the Regeneration Cradle. Tony's chest wound was healing as Xia Yu left him with Pepper to recover and spend time together.

• Captain arranged for Falcon to grow close to Shuri and T'Challa, and T'Challa joined the Avengers on an operation in London.
• T'Challa offered Bucky a vibranium arm, and Shuri made it with Wakanda's materials.
• Tony combined alien battery technology with Wakandan energy research to make his miniature Arc Reactor thinner.
• Dr. Helen Cho told Tony that the Regeneration Cradle could heal small injuries, so Xia Yu took Tony and Pepper Potts to South Korea.
• Xia Yu knocked Tony out, removed the device and shrapnel from his chest, and placed him in the Regeneration Cradle.
• Xia Yu left Pepper with Tony as the cradle repaired his wounds and urged them to go on a date.

Xia Yu and Natasha’s quiet date in New York was interrupted when Peter Parker stopped a robbery as Spider-Man. Xia Yu confronted him afterward about using his powers before the agreed age, but Peter refused to promise that he would stop helping people.

• Xia Yu took Natasha to dinner and shopping after returning from South Korea.
• Peter Parker caught a street robber as Spider-Man while Xia Yu and Natasha watched.
• Xia Yu stopped Spider-Man from swinging away, revealed himself, and publicly asked him to join the Avengers.
• Xia Yu told Peter he had at least three and a half years before he could use his powers under their agreement, then arranged to meet him on a nearby rooftop.
• Natasha secured the rooftop from surveillance, and Peter admitted he had been trying to hide his actions from Aunt May.
• Natasha said they could keep Peter’s secret if he promised not to do it again, but Peter refused.

Peter told Xia Yu and Natasha how he had failed to save an old man from a robber, and his guilt drove him to secretly make webbing and patrol the streets. Hearing Peter’s story made Xia Yu recognize ordinary people as real lives and accept the responsibility of being a superhero.

• Natasha refused to let twelve-year-old Peter fight crime before he turned sixteen, and Peter insisted he could not ignore people in danger.
• Peter told Xia Yu and Natasha that he had called the police after witnessing a robbery, but returned to find the old man fatally stabbed; he blamed himself for the man’s death.
• Natasha hugged Peter and comforted him as he broke down crying.
• Xia Yu reflected on Peter’s guilt and the ordinary people around him, realizing that the world beyond the Avengers was real and that he bore responsibility for protecting it.

Xia Yu and Tony helped Peter Parker become a protected reserve member of the Avengers, but Tony’s aggressive response to criticism sparked a citywide robot-policing controversy. Meanwhile, Nick Fury located Baron Strucker in Eastern Europe, and Captain America called Xia Yu and Tony before confronting him.

• Xia Yu told Tony about Spider-Man’s resolve, and Tony arranged Vibranium Nano Armor, apartments, Steel Soldiers, and E.D.I.T.H. to protect him.
• Natasha persuaded Aunt May to let Spider-Man fight minor street crimes, provided he reported organized crime to the Avengers.
• Xia Yu and Tony introduced Spider-Man as an Avengers reserve member, and the team welcomed him after hearing about his determination.
• After The Daily Bugle criticized Spider-Man and the Avengers, Tony deployed satellites and Iron Legion robots across New York, prompting a dispute with the police and public.
• Tony and the New York government announced a joint robot-police project to calm public objections.
• Nick Fury found Baron Strucker hiding in Eastern Europe, and Captain America contacted Xia Yu and Tony before acting.

The Avengers launched an assault on Baron Strucker’s fortified castle, where he had been conducting experiments with the Mind Stone Scepter. As the battle began outside, Strucker opened the door to Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver’s room.

• Strucker used the Mind Stone Scepter and Chitauri technology to create superpowered soldiers, with Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver as his only successful subjects.
• After Hydra agents drew attention by going out, the Avengers discovered Strucker’s castle and arrived with ten members for an assault.
• Tony Stark’s projection revealed the castle’s hidden defenses, and Xia Yu threw Dr. Banner toward a bunker.
• Hulk transformed in midair, smashed the bunker, and charged ahead as the Avengers attacked the outer defenses.
• Falcon took to the sky for reconnaissance while Tony headed toward the castle, and Strucker opened the twins’ room.