Chapter Summaries

Daisy and the Winter Soldier fought Dostoevsky, one of Kang's chief officers, whose adaptive armor withstood their attacks. Daisy discovered that her shockwave-powered punch could penetrate the armor and stagger him, leaving Dostoevsky stunned.

• Daisy and the Winter Soldier encountered Dostoevsky guarding the corridor and clashed with the energy wave from his Universal Weapon.
• Dostoevsky charged through the Winter Soldier's grenade blast, knocked away his rifle, and sent him flying with a strike.
• Daisy blocked Dostoevsky's blows with her shockwaves while his adaptive armor resisted their attacks.
• The Winter Soldier shot Dostoevsky's Universal Weapon out of his grip, allowing Daisy's shockwave to hit his chest without apparent effect.
• Daisy tested her suspicion by punching Dostoevsky with a concentrated shockwave, forcing him to stagger backward.

Daisy discovered that her vibrations could disrupt Dostoevsky’s adaptive armor and, with the Winter Soldier’s help, defeated him. Meanwhile, Gwen’s group reached the final checkpoint after Wanda effortlessly cleared their enemies, where they encountered Clemente, Kang’s strongest chief officer.

• Daisy recognized that her shockwaves interfered with the atomic vibrations controlling Dostoevsky’s armor.
• Daisy disabled Dostoevsky’s defenses, knocked away his Universal Weapon, and pinned him down with repeated shockwaves.
• The Winter Soldier fired a laser cannon that destroyed Dostoevsky and his armor.
• Gwen’s group advanced through enemy forces as Wanda defeated each group with a single attack.
• Gwen’s group reached the final checkpoint and encountered Clemente, the strongest of Kang’s three chief officers.

Wanda and Gwen defeated Clemente’s copies as they fought to reach the final Time Anchor, but Clemente escaped. He then confronted a black-clad intruder near β Zone and realized he might be doomed.

• Clemente used speed and seven identical copies to attack Wanda and Gwen, but they could not identify his real body.
• Wanda unleashed a sweeping wave of Chaos Magic that destroyed all seven copies, while Clemente escaped.
• Wanda told Gwen that Clemente had run, and the two continued toward their objective.
• Clemente recovered, blamed his defeat on bad luck, and decided to hunt down the other intruders to regain Kang’s favor.
• Clemente encountered a black-clad intruder heading toward β Zone, threatened them, and felt certain he was dead when they turned around.

S.W.O.R.D.'s squads reached the control center of Kang's ship, where Kang explained that damaging its temporal system would send the ship and its connected people back to the forty-first century. The team attacked him, but his suit and powers overwhelmed most of them, leaving Wanda and Daisy facing him as he prepared to continue the fight.

• Earth's invading ships and machines vanished, and Tony suspected the change was caused by Kang's opponent's plan.
• S.W.O.R.D.'s squads regrouped at the ship's temporal control center and realized it might contain the ship's Time Anchor.
• Kang appeared and warned that damaging the system would activate its backup and return the ship and its connected occupants to the future.
• Pietro attacked Kang at high speed, but the battle suit intercepted him and hurled him to the floor.
• Kang countered the Winter Soldier, Venom, Gwen, and Jessica, leaving them injured or trapped.
• Wanda and Daisy attacked Kang together, but he broke through their magic and shockwave and faced them down.

Wanda, Daisy, and Gwen fought Kang aboard his mothership, but his superior technology overwhelmed them until Michael arrived. Michael revealed that he had rewritten the ship’s spacetime module and removed its Time Anchor, trapping Kang in the twenty-first century, and challenged him to test it.

• Kang attacked Daisy and effortlessly countered Wanda and Daisy’s coordinated assault, then blasted them away.
• Kang declared that he would conquer the era to save his timeline and accused Black Knight of threatening his future.
• Wanda confronted Kang, suggesting he was jealous that Black Knight would be remembered as humanity’s savior, but Kang denied it and attacked her.
• Michael appeared and shielded Wanda from Kang’s beam, then told her she had done enough.
• Michael revealed that he had rewritten the mothership’s spacetime module and removed its Time Anchor, leaving Kang unable to return to the forty-first century.
• Kang questioned whether Michael could have altered the ship’s systems, and Michael taunted him to test the claim.

Michael fought Kang the Conqueror at the Time Particle Conduit using his Asgardian Armor and repeatedly overcame Kang’s advanced defenses. The battle left Kang bewildered as Michael explained that he had cracked Kang’s technology.

• Kang the Conqueror scanned Michael’s Asgardian Armor and assumed it lacked the Reality Stone-powered abilities of Michael’s previous armor.
• Michael’s Pulse Cannon struck Kang despite his automatic defense system, and Kang’s diagnostic showed the system was operating normally.
• Michael broke Kang’s manually deployed energy barrier with his Shockwave Cannon and knocked him down with another Pulse Cannon blast.
• Kang’s green energy attack met Michael’s pulse beam in a draw, while Wanda shielded their companions from the shockwaves with Chaos Magic.
• Kang trapped Michael in a crushing green sphere, but Michael’s armor released enough energy to destroy it.
• Michael used super-speed and a feint to strike Kang at close range, then blasted him onto his back and said he had cracked Kang’s technology.

Michael revealed that Sherry had deciphered Kang’s weapons and used her knowledge to defeat his forces. He disarmed and wounded Kang in close combat, leaving the fight with Kang still standing but badly outmatched.

• Michael resisted Kang’s invisible force and struck him with lightning, explaining that Sherry had learned how to counter Kang’s technology.
• Michael revealed that Sherry had accessed Kang’s knowledge after the Reality Stone breached his firewall.
• Michael dismantled Kang’s attacking robots and disabled the soldiers’ weapons and suits with energy waves.
• Kang drew two energy blades and charged Michael, who seized the blades and slashed Kang’s wrist and chest armor.

Michael defeated Kang, but Kang’s fleet threatened to destroy the room until a mysterious figure in Black Armor erased the ships and killed Kang. The newcomer then turned to Michael, who asked if he wanted to talk.

• Kang ordered his remaining fighters to fire on Michael and the others after his army returned to the future.
• The warships outside the room vanished as an unseen attacker compressed and erased them.
• Kang recognized the arrival as someone he feared and realized his timeline manipulation had drawn that person’s attention.
• A man in Black Armor appeared, nullified Kang’s attack, and disintegrated Kang and his armor.
• The man turned to Michael, who asked if he wanted to talk.

Michael met his future self in an unfamiliar space and learned that their actions could determine which timeline became absolute. His future self revealed that he had allowed Kang to reach the past, then left Michael to choose what to do next.

• Future Michael transported himself and Michael from Kang's ship to a space of his own making.
• Future Michael explained that Michael was a singularity whose choices could overwrite other timelines, and that Kang hoped to erase him to preserve his own future.
• Michael connected Future Michael's account to Victor's theory that time was constant from a higher-dimensional perspective.
• Michael asked whether Future Michael had achieved their goal and why he had waited to confront Kang.
• Future Michael said they had fulfilled their initial expectations and gained immense power, but that this was all he had, then urged Michael to choose his own path before fading away.

After Kang’s defeat, S.W.O.R.D. claimed his mothership and future technology, which Sherry used to plan upgrades to the Reality Armor and improve Michael’s Asgardian Armor. As Michael wondered what would remain after he achieved his goals, the team discussed the mysterious future fighter and spotted reports of a flaming-skull vigilante in Los Angeles.

• S.W.O.R.D. took possession of Kang’s mothership, combat machines, equipment, fighters, and other technology after his army retreated to the future.
• Sherry told Michael that Kang’s materials science could help solve the Reality Armor’s overload problem, with a 79.83% chance of success, and warned him about its energy consumption.
• Sherry overhauled Michael’s Asgardian Armor using technology from the future, improving its defenses and offensive capabilities.
• Michael recalled his future self’s words and wondered what would remain once he reached the pinnacle of power and achieved all his goals.
• Pietro, Jessica, Daisy, and Wanda discussed the mysterious armored figure who had destroyed Kang’s fighters and defeated Kang, while Daisy teased Wanda about asking Michael who he was.
• Gwen reviewed reports of heroes defending New York and noticed a blurry sighting of a flaming-skull vigilante in Los Angeles.

S.W.O.R.D. agents Walter and Terrence investigated rumors of a knight who hunted criminals and witnessed the Ghost Rider destroy a gang hideout. The Ghost Rider turned toward the agents and declared that they were guilty.

• Walter and Terrence drove through Los Angeles while discussing rumors about a knight who punished criminals.
• An explosion and gunfire drew the agents to a burning warehouse used as a gang hideout.
• The Ghost Rider emerged from the flames as gang members burned and died around him.
• The Ghost Rider seized a fleeing thug and incinerated him while Walter and Terrence watched in terror.
• The Ghost Rider turned toward Walter and Terrence and declared, "You... are all guilty!!!"

S.W.O.R.D.'s Extraordinary Squad received an assignment to investigate a mysterious flaming-skull rider after two agents disappeared in Los Angeles. In Latveria, Valeria confronted King Victor Von Doom about what he had become, and Michael questioned Doom's choices after she was removed.

• Pietro, Jessica, Gwen, Wanda, and the others discussed the rider's unclear identity and abilities, while Wanda sensed he might possess mystical power.
• Wanda and Daisy agreed to investigate the rider after two Sky Sword Agents vanished near a burning pharmaceutical warehouse in Los Angeles.
• Valeria visited King Doom in Latveria and asked whether he was really Victor Von Doom.
• Valeria accused Doom of building a wall between himself and the world, and Doom ordered guards to remove her.
• Michael emerged from the shadows and asked Doom if becoming king was truly what he wanted.

Doom told Michael that he no longer needed Valeria or anyone else, while Michael remained unsure whether he agreed. At a dockside warehouse, Wanda and Daisy investigated a gang shipment and found Ghost Rider had reached a fleeing gang leader first.

• Doom said he had become whole and needed no one, and Michael withdrew into the shadows, saying he did not know whether his mind had changed.
• A mustached gang leader opened a sealed crate at the docks, and its strange power made the gathered men see one another as sinister figures and start shooting.
• Wanda and Daisy entered the warehouse and subdued the gang members, while the mustached man escaped toward the shore.
• Daisy pursued the mustached man but found Ghost Rider holding him aloft by the shore.

Daisy encountered Ghost Rider at the docks and fought him, but her shockwaves could not stop him and he nearly killed her. Wanda arrived and blasted Ghost Rider into the water, leaving Daisy injured and the Rider's fate uncertain.

• Daisy watched Ghost Rider burn a mustached man to ashes, then attacked when he turned on her.
• Daisy's shockwaves staggered Ghost Rider but failed to injure him, and he overpowered her in their fight.
• Ghost Rider lifted Daisy by the collar but tossed her aside without burning her.
• Wanda struck Ghost Rider with Chaos Magic, blasting him into the water, then helped the injured Daisy to her feet.
• Daisy identified the creature as Ghost Rider while she and Wanda watched the water.

Lucy and Hugo freed a group of ghosts from metal cases and vowed to find the Darkhold and kill the man who imprisoned them. At the Los Angeles S.W.O.R.D. branch, Michael warned Wanda to stay on standby after hearing about the case, just as Daisy violently blasted a medical worker through the infirmary window.

• Lucy opened a metal case in a laboratory and freed Hugo, who realized they had been imprisoned for years.
• Lucy and Hugo released the other ghosts, who blamed Lucy for their fate and argued over her obsession with the Darkhold.
• Lucy declared that the ghosts would find the Darkhold and kill the man who betrayed them and anyone who stood in their way.
• Wanda told Daisy that the case they recovered appeared empty, then reported their encounter with Ghost Rider to Michael.
• Michael ordered Wanda to remain on standby and said he was coming to Los Angeles after learning that they had opened the case.
• Daisy blasted a medical worker through the infirmary window and into the corridor wall.

Daisy suddenly attacked the medical staff and fought Wanda while trapped in a dazed, darkened state. Wanda failed to reach her mind, and Michael appeared just as Daisy moved to strike the fallen witch.

• Daisy blasted the medical staff through a window and sent Wanda crashing into a wall with a shockwave.
• Daisy wandered through the base, attacking agents as uncontrolled shockwaves damaged the corridor.
• Wanda stopped Daisy from killing an agent and tried to subdue her with Chaos Magic.
• Wanda probed Daisy’s mind but found it obscured by darkness, and Daisy broke free and knocked Wanda down.
• Daisy raised her hand to attack Wanda, but a magical barrier blocked her as Michael appeared in the doorway.

Michael discovered that a mystical influence had trapped Daisy in a waking nightmare, and Wanda used Chaos Magic to remove it. The box’s crystal structure had been containing a ghost, which Michael identified as the source of the infection.

• Michael subdued Daisy and ordered brain scans of her and Wanda.
• Michael found excessive activity in Daisy’s reticular activating system and concluded that a mystical infection was causing her hallucinations.
• Michael explained that Wanda had been protected by Chaos Magic and could use it to remove the infection from Daisy.
• Wanda found and erased the darkness embedded in Daisy’s mind, and Daisy woke up recovering from her nightmare.
• Michael revealed a hidden crystal structure inside the box and explained that it had sealed the force affecting the group.
• Michael told Wanda and Daisy that the box had contained a ghost.

Michael explained how Lucy and Joseph found the Darkhold and how their research transformed the team into ghostlike beings trapped in boxes. After identifying Eli Morrow as the person who imprisoned Lucy, Michael asked Wanda to come with him to confront Eli.

• Lucy and Joseph discovered that the Darkhold revealed knowledge in each reader’s native language and suspected it was reading them.
• Michael told Wanda and Daisy that Lucy and Joseph became obsessed with the Darkhold and built a machine to grant Joseph extraordinary power.
• A jealous team member attacked the researchers, transformed them into ghostlike entities, and imprisoned them in boxes.
• Michael showed footage confirming that the ghost released from Daisy’s box was Lucy, who had caused Daisy’s fear and hyperactivity.
• Michael identified Eli Morrow, now in prison, as Lucy’s betrayer and invited Wanda to go with him.

Michael and Wanda entered South Ridge Prison to find Eli Morrow, but the prison had fallen into violent chaos, apparently after the ghosts arrived. As Wanda shielded Michael from an approaching phantom, it plunged halfway into her body.

• Michael and Wanda arrived at South Ridge Prison to question Eli Morrow about his betrayal of the research team and his attempt to seize the Darkhold.
• Wanda opened the prison gates and found guards and inmates attacking one another in a frenzy.
• Michael asked Sherry to locate Eli’s cell, and she directed them down a nearby corridor.
• Wanda swept the attacking prisoners and guards aside with scarlet magic as Michael continued toward Eli’s cell.
• A phantom emerged from the wall, and Wanda turned to shield Michael as it struck her and partly entered her body.

Wanda and Michael fought a ghost in the prison and learned how Eli Morrow had transformed his former colleagues into spectral beings. They found Eli’s cell empty, and Ghost Rider confronted them, demanding to know where they had taken his uncle.

• Wanda shielded Michael from Charlie, whose ghostly body was blasted away by her Chaos Magic.
• Michael bound Charlie with golden chains and dragged him into a magical abyss, then explained how Eli’s forbidden machine had turned his colleagues into ghosts.
• Wanda wondered whether Mr. Passo had become more talkative as he patiently explained the situation and brought her along.
• Michael and Wanda reached Eli Morrow’s cell and found it forced open and empty, while Sherry searched for Eli through the city’s surveillance systems.
• A man confronted Michael and Wanda, demanded to know where they had taken his uncle, and transformed into Ghost Rider.