Chapter Summaries

New guard Donald saw the terrifying, heavily shackled prisoner in Island Prison’s S-Level Zone during a patrol. After the guards left, a blonde woman appeared on the cell wall and spoke to the prisoner.

• Billy Koferdale led newcomer Donald through the S-Level Zone’s strict inspection routine and explained that only one prisoner was held there.
• Koferdale warned Donald not to ask about the prisoner’s identity and said the inmate could destroy the island if anything went wrong.
• Donald inspected the sealed cell and saw the prisoner bound in layers of steel restraints, with only his amber-yellow eyes exposed.
• The prisoner’s killing intent left Donald terrified, and Koferdale escorted him away after completing the inspection.
• The prisoner thought about escaping when a laughing woman’s voice answered him, and a blonde woman appeared on the wall.

Baron Zemo offered Abomination freedom in exchange for joining his plan, and Abomination accepted. After Zemo’s people removed the device suppressing his strength, Abomination broke his restraints and became free.

• Amora introduced Baron Zemo to the imprisoned Colonel Blonsky, who had become known as Abomination after gaining Hulk-like powers.
• Baron Zemo praised Abomination’s strength and offered to free him if he joined their undertaking.
• Abomination agreed by blinking twice, eager to escape his cell.
• Zemo’s people removed the device suppressing Abomination’s strength, and his wounds healed.
• Abomination regained his power, shattered his restraints, and roared as he stretched his arms for the first time in years.

Abomination escaped the Island Prison and overpowered Thor in a fight outside its gates. A mysterious purple-clad man ordered Abomination to rendezvous with him, and Abomination obeyed, leaving Thor buried in the rubble.

• Abomination broke through the Island Prison’s defenses, destroyed the courtyard, and smashed open the gates.
• Thor arrived and challenged Abomination, mistaking him briefly for Hulk before recognizing that he was a different monster.
• Thor and Abomination fought, but Abomination used his combat skill and strength to knock Thor through a wall and bury him beneath a collapsed watchtower.
• A mysterious purple-clad masked man ordered Abomination to rendezvous with him, and Abomination felt compelled to obey.
• Abomination left the prison, and Thor emerged from the rubble too late to stop him.

Abomination joined Baron Zemo, who gathered powerful villains to form a team and planned to strike at the Black Knight's group before reclaiming Hydra. Zemo intended to use the power he gained to confront his old enemy, Captain America.

• Abomination followed a mysterious pull from Island Prison to Zemo's hidden mountain base.
• Zemo threatened Abomination with his Scepter and persuaded him to follow his leadership for now.
• Abomination met Amora, Executioner, Laser Man, Taskmaster, and Grim Reaper at the command center.
• Zemo showed the group intelligence on the Black Knight's gifted team and proposed eliminating them before reclaiming Hydra.
• Zemo revealed that his larger goal was to gain power and eventually face Captain America again.

Wanda Maximoff and Daisy Johnson investigated reports of a powerful creature in the mountains, finding signs of its immense strength and endurance. Their search led them to a concealed metal door in the rock, leaving them to wonder what was hidden there.

• Wanda and Daisy discussed Daisy’s life at S.W.O.R.D. and Daisy teased Wanda about having feelings for their boss.
• Wanda and Daisy arrived at the reported location in a stealth-mode Kree craft and found broken trees, enormous footprints, and shattered rocks.
• Wanda used Chaos Magic to sense the creature’s traces and estimated that it was over three meters tall, with great strength and endurance.
• Wanda and Daisy followed the traces through the woods and discovered a concealed metal door at the foot of a mountain.

Daisy and Wanda fought purple imitations of the Avengers in a hidden facility and discovered that the figures were magical holograms. After Daisy destroyed them with shockwaves, Amora and Zemo watched and confirmed that their plan against the two women would continue.

• Daisy and Wanda explored a dark facility and were surrounded by purple figures resembling Iron Man, Captain America, Spider-Man, Thor, and Hulk.
• Wanda and Daisy fought the figures, noticing that they repeated the same attacks and were weaker than the real Avengers.
• Wanda realized the figures were light projections given physical form by magic, and Daisy concluded that short-wave vibrations could destroy them.
• Daisy unleashed powerful shockwaves that disintegrated the purple Avengers.
• Amora and Zemo watched the fight through a crystal ball, and Zemo said the encounter had been a test before their plan continued.

Eddie met a mysterious psychologist who awakened Venom’s darker persona, while Michael identified the hard-light technology behind the fake Avengers and traced the emerging threat to Baron Zemo. The S.W.O.R.D. team learned Zemo was assembling a force to attack them, and Michael prepared to respond.

• Eddie met a woman claiming to be a psychologist, who persuaded him to question his role and brought Venom forward while Eddie was unavailable.
• Michael analyzed the fake Avengers and determined that they were tangible holographic puppets made with advanced hard-light technology.
• Michael identified laser specialist Arthur Parks, known as Laser Man, as a participant in the plan but not its mastermind.
• Michael showed footage linking Baron Zemo to Abomination’s escape from Island Prison.
• Michael told the S.W.O.R.D. team that Zemo was assembling a force to attack them, and said Zemo did not understand the strength of the opponents he had provoked.

Baron Zemo recruited Eddie Brock, believing Venom had betrayed Michael’s team and would lead the Masters of Evil to their headquarters. Michael already knew about the plan through Taskmaster and waited confidently for the next move.

• Zemo waited anxiously for Amora to bring Venom, whom he hoped to recruit as a defector from Black Knight’s team.
• Amora brought Eddie Brock to Zemo, and Eddie claimed Venom had taken control of Brock and agreed to join Zemo.
• Zemo demanded information about the team and its headquarters, and Eddie agreed to lead the Masters of Evil there.
• Taskmaster secretly warned Michael that Venom had betrayed the team and promised to guide Zemo’s forces to their base.
• Michael thanked Taskmaster, confirmed the agreed payment, and told him to wait for a signal.

Baron Zemo led his team into an apparently deserted S.W.O.R.D. base, where Venom revealed that Eddie Brock had tricked them and Taskmaster defected. Amora could not teleport them out of a barrier made to block her magic, and Michael appeared to confront the trapped group.

• Amora brought Baron Zemo, Laser Man, Abomination, Executioner, Grim Reaper, Taskmaster, and Eddie Brock into a deserted S.W.O.R.D. base and sensed that they were inside a magical barrier.
• Baron Zemo realized Venom was not on Eddie and demanded to know where it was, prompting Grim Reaper to attack him while Venom possessed him.
• Venom revealed himself as Eddie's ally, returned to Eddie, and transformed back into his full form.
• Taskmaster announced that he had canceled his contract with Baron Zemo for a higher-paying offer, while Grim Reaper lay collapsed on the floor.
• Baron Zemo ordered Amora to teleport them out, but she explained the barrier blocked her magic and had been designed specifically to prevent her escape.
• Michael appeared in the hall in blue-and-black armor and addressed the trapped group.

Michael and the Avengers’ allies cornered Zemo and his team, then split into fights across the hall. Wanda broke through Amora’s magic with an unexpected close-range attack, while Executioner fell to the heroes’ coordinated assault, leaving Zemo to face Michael.

• Michael confronted Zemo as Scarlet Witch, Quake, Quicksilver, Winter Soldier, and Spider-Woman surrounded him and his team.
• Zemo ordered his allies to attack, and Abomination charged Daisy, who dodged his blows and blasted him with shockwaves.
• Wanda fought Amora, cut through her spell with Chaos Magic, and closed in to attack her at close range.
• Gwen, Quicksilver, and Winter Soldier coordinated their attacks to knock Executioner down before he could help Amora.
• Zemo faced Michael while the other battles continued around them.

Michael used his upgraded armor to trap and launch Laser Man into space, then disarmed Baron Zemo. Across the battlefield, the other fights continued, and Amora prepared to reveal her ace against Wanda.

• Zemo sent Laser Man to attack Michael, but Michael's armor converted Laser Man into electromagnetic waves and fired him into space.
• Michael dodged Zemo's attack, seized his Scepter, and knocked him to the ground.
• Daisy and Venom struggled against Abomination while Gwen, Quicksilver, and Winter Soldier fought Executioner without gaining the upper hand.
• Executioner threw his axe at Wanda, forcing her to deflect it and giving Amora time to retreat from the fight.
• Amora caught her breath and prepared to reveal her ace against Wanda.

Amora awakened Abomination’s destructive madness, turning him against everyone in the base. Blue-black armor intervened just before Abomination could kill Wanda and went after him outside.

• Amora chanted a spell that transformed Abomination into a towering, mindless berserker.
• Abomination overwhelmed Venom and Daisy, then blasted Gwen and Pietro aside and hurled Executioner through a wall.
• Winter Soldier and Scarlet Witch attacked Abomination, but their weapons and magic failed to harm him.
• Abomination tore through Wanda’s magical defenses and charged at her.
• Blue-black armor struck Abomination aside before he reached Wanda and told her to lead the team inside.
• Wanda agreed, and Blue-black armor pursued Abomination into the sunlight.

Michael fought the massively enhanced Abomination, whose Gamma mutation had been amplified by energy matching Loki’s Scepter. After restraining Abomination with magical chains, Michael prepared to launch S.W.O.R.D.’s next operation.

• Sherry identified an energy signature in Abomination that closely matched the energy source of Loki’s Scepter and had intensified his Gamma mutation.
• Michael used his armor’s propulsion and Pulse Cannon to evade Abomination’s attacks and repeatedly strike him, but Abomination’s wounds healed rapidly.
• Abomination shattered Michael’s magical shields and tore a massive slab of earth from the ground to crush him.
• Michael phased through the boulder, blasted Abomination, and used Cyttorak’s Crimson Chains to bind his arms.
• Sherry reported that S.W.O.R.D. was in position, and Michael ordered the target locked on and the launch sequence started.

Michael used S.W.O.R.D. to destroy Abomination and defeat Baron Zemo’s assembled Masters of Evil, but Amora and Executioner escaped through powerful magic. He confronted Zemo with the confiscated Scepter and began questioning him.

• S.W.O.R.D. fired on Abomination, blasted through his body, and drove him into the mantle until all signs of life vanished.
• Michael returned to the base and found Baron Zemo subdued, Grim Reaper unconscious, Taskmaster surrendered, and Laser Man launched beyond the Solar System.
• Wanda told Michael that blue, domineering magic had transported Amora and Executioner away after breaking his barrier.
• Michael reassured Wanda that the escape had been an uncontrollable accident.
• Michael picked up Zemo’s Scepter, held it to Zemo’s throat, and said they still had things to discuss.

Baron Zemo recalled how Captain America disfigured him and how he later tried to reclaim Hydra and take revenge, only to be defeated by Black Knight. Michael discovered Zemo’s Scepter was a fake and learned Amora had manipulated him; Venom then moved to eat Zemo.

• Zemo remembered how Captain America’s fight with him left Adhesive X fused to his face and fueled his lifelong desire for revenge.
• After Captain America returned, Zemo planned to regain Hydra and form a villain team, but Black Knight took control of Hydra first.
• Michael questioned Zemo about recruiting an Asgardian witch, and Zemo claimed they shared the goal of conquering the world.
• Michael broke Zemo’s Scepter and revealed it was a fake, telling Zemo that Amora had manipulated him and served someone else.
• Michael handed Zemo over to Venom, who prepared to eat him as Zemo screamed.

Amora gave Zemo the genuine Mind Stone and learned that the time for their revenge was approaching. Meanwhile, Bruce Banner was drugged at a roadside diner with a serum designed to suppress Hulk, and General Ross arrived as Banner collapsed.

• Amora blamed Zemo for the failed trap but admitted that Executioner had held his own against their opponents.
• Amora revealed Loki's Scepter and its genuine Mind Stone to Zemo, who told her to stay ready for the coming opportunity to take revenge.
• Bruce Banner ate at a roadside diner while a man chatted with him about the Avengers and his truck-driving job.
• The man injected Banner with an improved Hulk-suppressing serum, leaving him exhausted and unable to transform.
• General Ross entered the diner and told the helpless Banner that no one could save him this time.

After the Masters of Evil collapsed, Michael strengthened S.W.O.R.D.'s defenses against Amora's unknown backer while advancing a new nanotech armor project and finishing a powerful sword made from Ronan's Omni-Weapon. Sherry then reported that anonymous warnings to Tony Stark might be connected to Wallis Corporation, and Michael left the investigation to others.

• Taskmaster left after Michael paid him, while Grim Reaper surrendered and was reassigned as a special agent to another department.
• Michael asked Doctor Strange and the Sanctums to watch for Amora and her unknown ally, then continued with his plans while S.W.O.R.D. searched for them.
• Quincy Creative Institute broke through a nanotechnology bottleneck, and Michael began planning a new generation of nanotech armor.
• Michael completed a heavy black sword modified from Ronan's Omni-Weapon, which could create force fields, shockwaves, and powerful cosmic-energy attacks.
• Sherry told Michael that she had traced several anonymous warning emails sent to Tony Stark to a suspicious location connected to Wallis Corporation, and Michael declined to investigate personally.

Jessica Jones investigated the suspicious Wallis Corporation on Michael Passo’s orders and found its employees unnaturally wary. After breaking into the company’s top floor, she was caught between two groups of security guards.

• Jessica recalled joining S.W.O.R.D. after Michael urged her to decide what kind of person she wanted to become.
• Jessica investigated Wallis Corporation and found its owner, Harry Wallis, had almost no discoverable connections.
• Jessica visited the company under the name Lisa Benson, but the receptionist denied her appointment and the employees turned their attention toward her.
• Jessica broke through a wall from a neighboring travel agency and climbed the elevator shaft to reach Wallis Corporation’s offices.
• Jessica set off an alarm and found security guards closing in from both ends of the corridor.

Jessica fought through robot security guards at Mr. Wallis's company and searched his office for clues. Finding no personal traces of Harry Wallis beyond his ID photo, she realized the company's strange security and secrecy pointed to what it was really doing.

• Jessica fought through the security teams and discovered that the guards were robots disguised with human skin.
• Jessica broke into Mr. Wallis's office and found only routine paperwork and business records.
• Jessica searched the office computer and documents but found no personal photographs of Harry Wallis or his family.
• Jessica connected the company's robotic guards, employees' alarmed reactions, and Wallis's vague records, and realized what the company was about.

Jessica Jones reported that Wallis Corporation was a shell company and Harry Wallis was a fabricated identity, while Sherry uncovered signs of another artificial intelligence in its heavily encrypted system. Michael learned that the recurring name in the damaged data was ULTRON.

• Jessica Jones told Michael that Wallis Corporation had no real operations, Harry Wallis did not exist, and robot guards protected the company.
• Jessica showed surveillance footage in which Harry Wallis's fingerprint clock-ins appeared without anyone entering the building, and Michael told her to stop investigating for now.
• Sherry matched Harry Wallis's photograph to facial features taken from five different people, confirming that his identity was fabricated.
• Sherry told Michael that Wallis Corporation's unusually encrypted database seemed to contain traces of another artificial intelligence that had erased data ahead of her investigation.
• Sherry projected the name ULTRON, which repeatedly appeared in the system's damaged data.