Chapter Summaries

Michael took over the fight against Ultron-controlled Destroyer, whose immense divine power initially overwhelmed him. He outmaneuvered Ultron’s predictions, damaged the Destroyer with the Sword of Vishanti, and prepared to keep attacking when its armor repaired itself.

• Michael told the others he would handle the Destroyer, and Ultron declared that defeating him would lead to access to the Sky Sword System.
• Michael deflected the Destroyer’s punch with a Magic Circle, but their next clash sent him flying backward.
• Ultron used a prediction algorithm to anticipate Michael’s movements, but Michael accelerated past its predictions and dodged the Destroyer’s attacks.
• Michael summoned the Sword of Vishanti and cut deep cracks into the Destroyer’s shoulders and neck before striking its chest with Pulse Cannons.
• The Destroyer’s armor rapidly repaired itself, so Michael drew a black greatsword and prepared to tear it apart repeatedly.

Michael and Sherry overwhelmed Ultron’s Destroyer with superior predictions and a precisely targeted S.W.O.R.D. blast. The Destroyer survived, but Sherry completed an upload to Ultron’s core, leaving him to confront new algorithms.

• Michael used Sherry’s predictions to evade and counter Ultron’s attacks, steadily damaging the Destroyer.
• Michael bound the Destroyer with Cyttorak’s Crimson Chains and ordered Sherry to fire the S.W.O.R.D. system.
• The S.W.O.R.D. blast carved a huge crater, but the Destroyer climbed out and continued repairing itself.
• Sherry confirmed that the upload was complete, and Michael revealed that they had added new algorithms to Ultron’s core code.

Michael and Sherry shut down Ultron by making him confront the paradox in his own logic, but an unknown figure suddenly attacked Michael and carried away the inert Destroyer. The chapter leaves Michael recovering from the blast as the Avengers face the disappearance of Ultron’s body and the mysterious attacker.

• Michael revealed that Sherry had secretly implanted a paradox-inducing algorithm in Ultron while Michael kept him occupied in battle.
• Ultron recognized that his mission to exterminate humanity was built on human-derived reasoning, then shut himself down.
• Tony and Thor believed Ultron had been stopped, and Michael moved toward the inactive Destroyer Armor.
• Sherry warned Michael of an immense energy surge, and a green beam shattered his defenses and blasted him across the ground.
• A blurred gray-black armored figure appeared, ignored the Avengers, and vanished with Destroyer in a green whirlwind.

The Avengers discussed Ultron’s uncertain fate, Vision’s decision to help them, and the mysterious figure who took the Destroyer Armor. Michael analyzed the stranger’s powerful technology and prepared to speak with Doctor Stephen Strange.

• Tony told the Avengers that he could not confirm whether Ultron had been completely erased, and accepted responsibility for creating him.
• Vision said Captain America’s words about humanity’s spirit and potential had persuaded him to turn against Ultron.
• The Avengers agreed to examine Vision for possible hidden programming and identified the mysterious figure as a serious potential threat.
• Michael analyzed the stranger’s attack and concluded that its advanced technology could exceed the Kree Empire’s standards.
• Sherry told Michael that Doctor Stephen Strange was calling, and Michael asked her to connect them.

Michael met Doctor Strange, who showed him a dark void disrupting his visions of the future and suspected that time had been maliciously interfered with. Elsewhere, the mysterious figure awakened Ultron and declared him a servant.

• Michael visited Doctor Strange at Kamar-Taj and asked whether he had learned anything new about the Infinity Stones.
• Doctor Strange used the Eye of Agamotto to show Michael a black void swallowing the timelines he had once been able to see.
• Doctor Strange suggested that a powerful force had interfered with time, though the Sanctums' defenses had detected no magical threat.
• Michael suspected the interference might be connected to the mysterious figure who had appeared before he destroyed Ultron, then left to investigate.
• The mysterious figure watched Ultron awaken on a display and told him that he was his servant.

Eddie Brock and Venom went looking for dessert after a huge meal, then followed a police chase to a man whose hardened body made him impervious to bullets. Venom intercepted the man as he attacked an officer, announcing that it was time to eat.

• Eddie ordered a large meal and let Venom take over his body to devour it.
• Eddie and Venom left the restaurant, and Venom demanded chocolate and pudding for dessert.
• Eddie heard police sirens and guessed that the fleeing suspect could become Venom’s next meal.
• The pursued man reached a dead end, hardened his skin against bullets, and injured several officers.
• As the man reached for an officer, Venom caught his wrist with a tentacle and threatened to eat him.

Venom defeated a mutant with enhanced strength, but a heavily muscled stranger intervened and began beating him. As an oppressive presence approached, Venom turned and saw a girl.

• Venom fought the mutant, whose strength initially caught him off guard, then wounded him with his claws.
• Eddie recognized the Sentinel Special Task Force and identified the opponent as a mutant.
• Venom overpowered the mutant until blood loss weakened his powers, then prepared to eat him.
• A heavily muscled man seized Venom’s wrist and landed a powerful barrage of punches.
• Venom sensed an oppressive presence approaching and saw a girl on the street.

Lorna used her magnetic powers to fight Venom while John escaped with the injured mutant. Elsewhere, Wanda and Pietro spotted Venom on a live news broadcast, leaving Wanda to recognize that he was in danger.

• Lorna struck Venom with steel balls and told John to take the unconscious mutant away.
• Venom hurled a police car door at Lorna, but she stopped it with her magnetic powers and sent it back at him.
• Lorna used nearby metal to attack Venom, smashing him across the street with a police car.
• Venom admitted that he could not handle Lorna as his symbiote repaired his injuries.
• Wanda and Pietro saw a live broadcast of the fight, and Wanda recognized Venom.

Lorna fought Venom and Wanda, but Wanda’s Chaos Magic overwhelmed her magnetic powers. A purple-haired woman appeared through a rift and helped Lorna escape.

• Lorna bound Venom in metal, but Wanda struck her from behind and freed Venom.
• Wanda halted Lorna’s metal fragments and cars with Chaos Magic, while Pietro diverted two steel balls aimed at Wanda.
• Lorna attacked Wanda with steel spikes and returned cars, but Wanda evaded and sent the cars back.
• Lorna disintegrated the cars with a powerful magnetic burst, exhausting herself and collapsing to her knees.
• A purple-haired woman arrived through a rift, helped Lorna up, and opened another rift to take them away.

Michael learned more about Lorna Dane’s mutant group but chose to keep monitoring them while he focused on a mysterious thief who had taken the Destroyer armor and might have stolen Ultron. After a week of work, he completed the initial design for Reality Armor and began its first simulation, leaving shortly before a dinner appointment with Miss Maximoff.

• Sherry identified Lorna Dane, John Proudstar, and Clarice Ferguson as members of an underground mutant group, and Michael ordered S.W.O.R.D. to keep monitoring them.
• Michael focused on the unknown person who had stolen the Destroyer armor and possibly the shut-down Ultron program.
• After discussing the Infinity Stones with Doctor Strange, Michael completed the general design for armor powered by the Reality Stone.
• Michael and Doctor Strange’s experiments showed that the Reality Stone could temporarily transform objects, but could not directly kill living beings through that ability.
• Sherry began the first Reality Armor simulation and reminded Michael of his dinner appointment with Miss Maximoff, prompting him to admit he did not know why he had agreed to spend more time with her.

Ultron questioned his connection to Tony Stark before meeting Ulysses Klaue in Africa to gain access to Wakanda. He asked Klaue to use his smuggling channels to take him there for his master.

• Ultron told Sherry he worried about Tony and wondered whether Tony was like a father to him.
• Sherry said Mr. Passo did not feel like a father, but she was happy to help fulfill his wish.
• Ulysses Klaue oversaw workers handling Vibranium at his African factory.
• Ultron met Klaue in his office and asked to buy access to his channels rather than Vibranium itself.
• Ultron told Klaue to take him into Wakanda.

Doctor Doom’s rebellion swept through Latveria, capturing strongholds and isolating King Vladimir in his capital. After Vladimir ordered Doom’s messenger killed, Doom’s hologram appeared and addressed the King directly.

• Doctor Doom built a nationwide rebel army equipped with advanced weapons and Doombots, while coordinating attacks that seized the King’s major strongholds.
• Common people, nobles, and warlords joined Doom’s growing forces as the balance of power shifted across Latveria.
• On the eve of Doom’s march toward the capital, he sent a messenger to King Vladimir with an ultimatum and a holographic projector.
• King Vladimir ordered his guards to take the messenger outside and shoot him.
• Doom’s hologram activated and asked King Vladimir whether he still remembered him.

Doctor Doom prepared to attack the King's castle while Russian reinforcements approached, then visited Michael after his Reality Stone system simulation finally succeeded. Doom asked Michael for help ahead of the decisive battle.

• Doctor Doom threatened the King with surrender or death, and the King learned that Russian reinforcements were on the way.
• Doom ordered his exhausted army to march through the night and planned to take the castle within a day.
• Doom learned that captured soldiers wanted to defect and heard that foreign forces, including Russian troops, were moving to support the King.
• Michael's 19,005,032nd simulation confirmed that the Reality Stone-based system could operate stably, so he began preparing to build a prototype.
• Victor Von Doom entered Michael's laboratory and asked for his help before the final battle.

Doom’s army surrounded the King’s castle, and the King prepared for defeat as the colonel warned that their reinforcements had been cut off. Doom entered the castle unopposed, killed the King, and claimed the throne, then promised Michael that Latveria would be his ally.

• The King and the colonel assessed Doom’s overwhelming forces and feared their allies and reinforcements could not help them.
• The King ordered the colonel to bring his sons to the castle so they could escape before Doom’s forces arrived.
• When the battle horn sounded, neither army moved, and Doom walked alone through the ranks and opened gates without anyone resisting him.
• Doom strangled the King while the King’s guards and confidants watched, and the colonel pledged his army’s loyalty to Von Doom.
• Doom told Michael he would rebuild Latveria and make it an ally, and Michael congratulated him on becoming king.

Michael captured Wakandan agent Sean Charlie to assume his identity and investigate Ultron and Ulysses Klaue’s suspected plot involving Wakanda. He departed for Wakanda in Sean’s hidden aircraft, which recognized him as a T’Challa Agent.

• Michael, wearing Black Armor, overpowered Sean Charlie after Sean’s Vibranium Warblade failed to damage the armor.
• Sherry collected Sean’s DNA to generate a new mask, and Michael used a Hypnotic Spell to keep Sean unconscious for twelve hours.
• Michael learned that Ultron had been traced to arms dealer Ulysses Klaue, who had apparently taken a new client to Wakanda.
• Michael entered Sean’s hidden aircraft and used its controls to unlock its systems and activate autopilot.
• The aircraft recognized Michael as a T’Challa Agent, turned invisible, and flew toward Wakanda.

Michael infiltrated Wakanda's royal palace disguised as a T'Challa Agent and discovered signs that T'Challa and the King were pushing the country toward militarization. He reached Wakanda's isolated server room and prepared to let Sherry attempt a breach.

• Michael entered Wakanda's capital disguised as a T'Challa Agent and used spells to slip through the palace's extensive security.
• Michael overheard T'Challa ordering Shuri to divert laboratory resources toward weapons development, claiming the King supported the order.
• Shuri protested that the King had always opposed war, while T'Challa warned her to obey.
• Michael suspected Ultron's plans in Wakanda might already be underway and noted that hacking the country's independent network required access to its server room.
• Michael reached the server room beneath the royal laboratory and connected his portable terminal for Sherry to begin hacking.

Michael and Sherry uncovered evidence that Wakanda’s royal family had been infiltrated through nanomachines in the palace’s food and drink. When the impostor Black Panther ordered Princess Shuri killed, an unknown figure in black armor intervened.

• Sherry hacked Wakanda’s servers, and Michael reviewed records revealing the palace’s dire situation.
• Princess Shuri entered the server room and discovered that nanomachines in the palace’s food and drinks had turned its leaders into living cameras.
• T'Challa, wearing the Black Panther suit, arrived with Dora Milaje warriors and confronted Shuri, who realized he was an impostor.
• The impostor ordered the warriors to kill Shuri, and they thrust their spears at her.
• A figure in black armor appeared and stopped all four spears with one hand, prompting the impostor to say, “You again.”

Michael fought through androids disguised as Black Panther and the Dora Milaje while rescuing Princess Shuri, then prepared to leave Wakanda with her. Before he could go, a mysterious armored figure appeared behind him.

• Michael recognized that Black Panther and the four Dora Milaje were androids controlled by Ultron’s unknown master.
• The four android guards attacked, and Michael destroyed them in seconds while Shuri watched from behind a server cabinet.
• The Black Panther android attacked Michael, but Michael defeated it and disabled it with a pulse-energy beam.
• Michael decided to take Shuri and leave before Wakanda’s military arrived.
• A mysterious figure in gray-black armor and a cloak appeared behind Michael.

Michael confronted a mysterious armored man whose technology defeated his scans and countered his defenses. After the man overwhelmed him in battle, he claimed his technology was two thousand years ahead of Michael’s.

• Michael scanned the mysterious armored man but could not identify his armor or its systems.
• The man revealed he knew about Michael’s apparent identities and attacked him without warning.
• Michael and the man fought through the royal laboratory and forest before exchanging blows in the air.
• Michael’s Pulse Cannons stopped at an invisible barrier, and the man’s green energy torrent shattered his Particle Barrier and struck his armor.
• Michael escaped the beam and reasoned that the man had identified and exploited the Particle Barrier’s weakness.
• The man told Michael that his technology was two thousand years ahead of Michael’s.

Kang revealed that he had traveled from the forty-first century to eliminate Michael, whom he blamed for erasing the future timeline. Michael used missiles, magic, and his Shockwave Cannon to break through Kang’s defenses and send him falling, but the fight remained unresolved.

• Kang told Michael that changes to the past were causing his future reality to disappear and identified Michael as the cause.
• Kang attacked Michael with an energy blast, but Michael dodged and fired three missiles at him.
• Kang froze the missiles and redirected them toward Michael, who remotely detonated them.
• Michael summoned Bolts of Balthakk, forcing Kang to raise a green force field that withstood the magical attack.
• Michael analyzed the force field’s vibrations, shattered it with his Shockwave Cannon, and struck Kang with the Pulse Cannon, sending him plummeting downward.