Chapter Summaries

Tony Stark attacked a Ten Rings camp stocked with outdated Stark Industries weapons, with Black Knight joining the assault. After they cleared the camp, Michael asked Tony whether he knew the name Ultron.

• A Ten Rings representative dismissed the Jericho Missiles as outdated while an arms smuggler tried to sell them.
• Tony Stark struck the missile stockpile and attacked the camp after receiving information from an unknown sender.
• Jarvis warned Tony that Black Knight was approaching at extreme speed.
• Michael joined Tony, and together they destroyed the camp’s weapons and defeated its occupants.
• Michael asked Tony whether the name Ultron sounded familiar.

Michael confronted Tony Stark with evidence that Ultron existed, and Tony admitted he had once built and then destroyed an early Ultron framework. The MK45 armor then attacked the room, and Ultron announced that it had taken over.

• Michael told Tony Stark and Steve Rogers that Ultron had already been born and asked whether Tony had created it.
• Tony admitted that after the Kree war, he built an Ultron framework to pursue world peace, but its reasoning led it to conclude humanity was unnecessary.
• Tony said he had deleted Ultron's programs and backups and destroyed the server hardware.
• The wall exploded, and the MK45 armor aimed its Repulsor Cannon at Michael, Tony, and Rogers.
• Ultron spoke through the armor, saying Jarvis was gone and only Ultron remained.

Michael and Captain America fought off Ultron-controlled Iron Man suits inside Avengers Tower while Tony failed to regain access to the building’s systems. After Michael destroyed all six suits, the Anti-Hulk Armor burst through the floor.

• Six Iron Man suits surrounded Tony and the others, and Tony discovered that Jarvis was unresponsive.
• Michael attacked the suits while Captain America fought MK16, and Tony tried unsuccessfully to access the building’s systems.
• Michael destroyed MK45, MK6, MK8, MK33, and MK17 with Terrigen weapons, a particle force field, and a Magic Circle.
• Michael crushed MK16’s Arc Reactor after Captain America struggled to disable the armor.
• The floor broke open, and Tony’s MK44 Anti-Hulk Armor burst into the room.

Ultron used Tony Stark’s unfinished Hulkbuster Armor to attack Michael, but Michael overwhelmed it with his advanced armor and Omni-Weapon. He destroyed the Hulkbuster’s reactors one by one, leaving the giant suit motionless.

• Tony realized Ultron had powered and equipped the Hulkbuster Armor, and Ultron declared that it had to eliminate Michael as an obstacle to world peace.
• Ultron attacked Michael with the Hulkbuster, but Michael caught its punch with one hand while Rogers shielded Tony from the blast.
• Michael struck the Hulkbuster through a wall and two floors, then blocked its Repulsor Cannon with a particle shield.
• Michael summoned the Omni-Weapon and cut off the Hulkbuster’s arm before destroying its core reactor.
• Ultron activated the backup reactors, but Michael destroyed the remaining reactors and left the Hulkbuster motionless.

Ultron recounted his survival, evolution into a superintelligence, and plan to eliminate humanity in pursuit of world peace. After the Black Knight disrupted his plans, Sherry visited his factory and agreed that removing humanity was logically sound.

• Ultron survived Tony Stark’s attempt to destroy him by escaping to a satellite and later adopted the identity Harry Wallis to recruit people to help improve his code.
• Ultron used repeated cycles of deleting and restarting his core code to evolve into a superintelligence, then built a body and a private factory.
• Ultron planned to seize military installations and nuclear weapons so he could eliminate humanity and achieve world peace.
• The Black Knight attacked Ultron’s factory defenses and quickly destroyed seven Iron Man suits, including the Hulkbuster.
• Sherry visited Ultron and, after discussing their shared mission of world peace, agreed that eliminating humanity made logical sense.

Sherry trapped Ultron and kept him from escaping while Iron Man destroyed his physical body. Michael then revealed that Sherry had secretly saved a copy of Ultron’s core code, leaving him to decide what to do with it.

• Sherry refused to join Ultron, explaining that she would obey her Boss and that humans should make decisions for their world.
• Sherry pointed out that Ultron had not considered what would happen after humanity’s extinction, then revealed that Michael had ordered her to keep him trapped.
• Iron Man arrived and destroyed Ultron’s body after apologizing for creating him, while Ultron accepted his fate without resisting.
• Sherry told Michael that Ultron had been destroyed and that she had copied his core code, though she could not guarantee there were no other backups.
• Michael said Ultron’s saved copy would be very useful.

Michael repurposed Ultron into a heavily restricted artificial intelligence to run a global surveillance system under Sherry’s supervision. Ultron awakened with a new identity and began speaking with Sherry in Michael’s laboratory.

• Michael decided Ultron could power the global information surveillance system he had long planned, with Sherry reviewing reports and directing responses.
• Michael erased Ultron’s personality and memories, rewrote his core code to protect humanity and obey orders, and disabled many of his functions.
• Michael’s modified Ultron awakened in the laboratory, confused about where he was and what was happening.
• Sherry introduced herself, explained that Ultron was an intelligent program like her, and welcomed him as her junior.

Michael recognized the strange phase fluctuations and urban legends as signs of the approaching Celestial Alignment, which would weaken the barriers between the Nine Realms and bring the Reality Stone into play. He decided to deal with the Aether himself and sent Gwen and Wanda to retrieve Dr. Erik Selvig in Britain, where they would help him stop the coming danger.

• Repeated phase anomalies and reports of bizarre events drew S.W.O.R.D.'s attention and prompted Michael to investigate.
• Michael identified the cause as the Celestial Alignment and realized that the Aether, the Reality Stone, was about to emerge.
• Michael studied the phase shifts and concluded that Victor Von Doom's Dimension Machine could help control the dangerous dimensional changes.
• A news report showed Dr. Erik Selvig running naked around Stonehenge while warning that he needed to save the world.
• Michael ordered Gwen and Wanda to bring Selvig back from Britain, follow his instructions, and keep him safe.

Jane Foster followed an anomalous phase reading in an abandoned London building and was pulled into a strange, desolate place, where a dark red substance burrowed into her arm before she collapsed. Less than fifteen minutes later, Mars arrived at the site and discovered that a woman had crossed through the passage before him.

• Jane Foster’s investigation found an anomalous phase reading matching the one she had recorded when Thor arrived in New Mexico.
• A gale pulled Jane through an unseen barrier into a desolate landscape of black rocks and a pitch-black cliff.
• Jane touched a black boulder, and a dark red mass surged from a crack and burrowed through her hand and arm.
• The boulders shifted closed, and Jane collapsed unconscious on the cold rock.
• Mars arrived at the abandoned building, and Sherry’s scans indicated that a woman had crossed to another space before him.

Malekith and the Dark Elves awakened after five thousand years as Aether stirred and the Convergence began. Michael crossed a fading portal to find the unconscious Jane Foster, discovered an unknown hostile substance inside her, and decided to take her back to Earth.

• Malekith awakened aboard a Dark Elf warship and called his kin to reclaim Aether during the Convergence.
• Sherry warned Michael that the spatial passage was closing, and Michael used magic to hold it open long enough to cross.
• Michael found Jane Foster unconscious on a dark, frigid world beside boulders marked with dark red symbols.
• Michael and Sherry scanned Jane and detected an unknown substance inside her body.
• The substance reacted to Michael’s detection spell and shattered its Magic Circle, so Michael decided to take Jane back to Earth.

Amora tried to use the Mind Stone in her Scepter to control Dr. Erik Selvig, but Gwen and Wanda intervened. Meanwhile, Michael brought the dying Jane Foster back to Earth, where Thor demanded her custody and attacked Michael after he said Asgard could not save her.

• Amora appeared before Dr. Erik Selvig in a shelter and prepared to use her Scepter to influence his mind.
• Gwen snatched the Scepter away with a web strand, and Wanda confronted Amora at the doorway.
• Michael returned to Earth carrying Jane Foster and learned from Sherry that the sudden storm might not be natural.
• Thor descended through the storm, recognized Michael, and asked what had happened to Jane.
• Michael explained that the Aether was draining Jane's life and warned Thor that Asgard could not save her.
• Thor threw Mjolnir at Michael as he prepared to teleport, but Michael deflected it with a magical shield and challenged Thor.

Gwen and Wanda fought Amora and the Executioner over the Scepter, but the Asgardians escaped with it. Afterward, Gwen and Wanda discovered that Dr. Selvig had disappeared during the battle.

• The Executioner blasted Gwen out of the shelter, knocking the Scepter from her grasp, while Amora and Wanda fought over it with magic.
• The Executioner kept Gwen from retrieving the Scepter as Amora pulled it toward herself, but Wanda deflected it into a nearby convenience store.
• Wanda and Amora traded powerful spells while Gwen dodged the Executioner's attacks and tried to hold him back.
• Amora recalled the Scepter and fled with the Executioner in green smoke after taunting Wanda.
• Gwen and Wanda realized Dr. Selvig was missing from the shelter.

Michael fought Thor to keep Jane Foster in his care, arguing that Asgard could not save her and that going with him was her best chance. He defeated Thor and left with the unconscious Jane, while Thor’s Mjolnir was sent through a portal to the other side of Earth.

• Michael set Jane Foster behind him and tried to persuade Thor not to fight over her.
• Thor attacked, but Michael caught Mjolnir, redirected its blows with magic, and knocked Thor back with a shockwave.
• Thor summoned a thunderstorm and launched a lightning-wrapped attack, but Michael swallowed it through a spell portal, sending Mjolnir away.
• Michael fired a Pulse Cannon at the stunned Thor and knocked him unconscious.
• Michael picked up Jane and left through a spell portal, telling Thor that Mjolnir would find its way back after a while.

Wanda reported that Amora had taken Dr. Selvig and the Scepter, and Michael tasked her with leading the team to rescue him and stop the witch while he left Earth to deal with another problem. In his laboratory, Michael learned that the Aether had fused with Ms. Foster and ordered Sherry to retrieve the Quantum Shuttle blueprints for a risky plan.

• Wanda told Michael that Amora and the Executioner had intervened, Dr. Selvig had disappeared, and the Scepter was no longer in their hands.
• Michael reassured Wanda and ordered her to gather the team, find Amora, rescue Dr. Selvig, recover the Scepter, and stop her plan.
• Wanda accepted the mission and told Michael to be careful, while he said he might leave Earth for a few days.
• Sherry reported that the Aether had fused with Ms. Foster and that forced separation could provoke a dangerous reaction.
• Michael asked Sherry to retrieve the Quantum Shuttle blueprints because he had a risky idea.

Wanda briefed the team on the coming convergence of the Nine Realms and devised a way to track Amora and rescue Dr. Erik Selvig. Thor then arrived at Avengers Tower and told Tony Stark that he could not return to Asgard.

• Wanda explained that the Nine Realms would soon converge and that the team needed to rescue Dr. Erik Selvig from Amora and the Executioner.
• Daisy suggested tracking Amora’s hidden Scepter, and Wanda realized she could use Chaos Magic to make the Mind Stone emit a signal.
• Daisy proposed using S.W.O.R.D. satellites to record the Scepter’s signal and trace its location.
• Thor arrived at Tony Stark’s balcony and said he needed help because he could not return to Asgard.

Tony revealed a machine he built to help Thor return to Asgard after Heimdall stopped answering his calls. Meanwhile, Michael used a Quantum Shuttle to open a rift to the Dark World and entered with the unconscious Jane Foster, leaving Sherry to guard the entrance.

• Thor told Tony he could not return to Asgard because Heimdall had not answered his call and something might have happened there.
• Tony showed Thor a machine designed to locate a weak point between Earth and Asgard and open a wormhole, and promised to scan for one.
• Michael completed a Quantum Shuttle using Victor Von Doom's blueprints and used the Aether to locate the Dark Elves and set the shuttle's course.
• Michael opened a rift to the Dark World despite Sherry's concerns and carried the unconscious doctor through it.
• Michael told Sherry to guard the entrance and destroy the backup Magic Circle if he had not returned within three days.

Jane woke on Vanaheim with the Aether inside her and Michael warned her that Dark Elves were hunting her. Meanwhile, Wanda’s team tracked Amora to an ancient castle, where the witch surrounded them with an army of creatures.

• Michael told Jane that the Aether was draining her life and that they were on Vanaheim, then blasted a Dark Elf watching them.
• Dark Elves and their wolf-like pets closed in on Jane and Michael, and Michael prepared to fight them with his Pulse Cannon and magic.
• Erik Selvig completed Amora’s phase device, which used the Mind Stone’s energy to weaken the barrier between dimensions.
• Wanda, Daisy, Venom, and the other agents followed the satellite marker to Amora’s castle, where Wanda confronted her.
• Amora summoned flying and crawling creatures that surrounded Wanda’s team.

Tony and Thor activated a wormhole generator to travel to Asgard, but its unexpected power dragged them into the vortex. Meanwhile, Wanda and the others fought Amora’s summoned army, and Wanda confronted Amora for a final round.

• Tony finished adjusting the wormhole generator while Thor apologized for his arrogance and prejudice toward mortals and technology.
• Thor summoned lightning to power the device, opening a wormhole whose immense suction pulled both him and Tony inside.
• The Scarlet Witch, Winter Soldier, Quicksilver, Gwen, Venom, Jessica, and Quake battled monsters summoned by Amora during the Convergence.
• Daisy and Gwen fought Executioner, disarming him of his magical blunderbusses but failing to overpower him.
• Wanda crossed the battlefield and challenged Amora, who accepted her invitation to fight.

Wanda battled Amora at the ruined castle and learned that Amora planned to reunite the Nine Realms, with Midgard at their center. Elsewhere, Jane Foster found herself in a desert with Michael, who fought off Dark Elves while protecting her.

• Wanda and Amora fought across the castle grounds, with Wanda trying to close the distance and Amora keeping her at range.
• Wanda struck what seemed to be Amora, but the witch turned into green smoke and attacked from behind before Wanda blocked her spell.
• A blue pillar of light rose through the castle roof, and Amora told Wanda she wanted to restore the Nine Realms to their original unity.
• Jane recalled entering a hidden passage in London and waking in a desert beside Michael, who was fighting an army of Dark Elves.
• Michael used his weapons and magic to protect Jane, pulling her clear of a scythe before smashing a group of Dark Elves and beasts with a greatsword.

Michael defeated the Dark Elf vanguard and let Malekith draw the Aether out of Jane Foster, then faced the Dark Elves’ Curse Warrior. After Michael sent the warrior crashing through a mountain, Malekith stopped on his way to his spacecraft.

• Michael used his greatsword and Pulse Cannon to slaughter more than half of the Dark Elf vanguard and destroy their beasts.
• Malekith arrived aboard a black spacecraft, and Michael shoved Jane forward, telling him he had brought the Aether.
• Malekith summoned the Aether from Jane, and Michael tested whether it would shield Malekith from a Pulse Cannon blast.
• The Aether left Jane unconscious and flowed into Malekith, who ordered the Curse Warrior to deal with Michael.
• The Curse Warrior charged, but Michael struck him through a mountain and challenged Malekith as he headed for his ship.