Chapter Summaries

Evenson warned Natasha that Tony Stark might have less than two months to live and suggested that S.H.I.E.L.D. study Tony’s method for keeping himself functional. After Ivan Vanko attacked Tony in Morocco and Justin Hammer arranged Ivan’s escape, Evenson sent Sarah to begin an operation at Hammer Industries.

• Evenson confronted Natasha about using a scissor hold in front of Tony, and she said Tony was investigating her background.
• Evenson told Natasha that Tony’s condition had worsened and might leave him less than two months; he suggested S.H.I.E.L.D. investigate Tony’s temporary treatment.
• In Morocco, Tony entered a race, but Ivan Vanko attacked him with electric whips before Pepper arrived with the Iron Man suit and Tony defeated Ivan.
• Justin Hammer saw Ivan’s attack as a chance to build his own Iron Man suit, rescued Ivan from prison, and arranged a substitute prisoner’s death in an explosion.
• After seeing news of Ivan’s apparent death, Evenson told Sarah to begin the operation, and she entered Hammer Industries seeking Justin Hammer under an appointment arranged by Daniel Whitehall.

Justin Hammer reluctantly accepted Daniel Whitehall’s order to work with Umbrella Corporation, whose representative, Jill Valentine, was secretly disguised by Sarah. Sarah offered a way to surpass Tony Stark with biological weapons, leaving Justin intrigued but uncertain about the proposal.

• Justin recalled how S.H.I.E.L.D. had investigated his operations before abruptly ending its inquiry, and how he had been warned to stay in line and perform well at Tony Stark’s hearing.
• Daniel Whitehall called Justin, threatened him against refusing, and ordered him to work with Umbrella Corporation’s security director, Jill Valentine.
• After waiting half a month, Justin went with Jack to meet Jill Valentine, who was actually Sarah in disguise.
• Sarah dismissed Justin’s plans to use Ivan Vanko’s armor, warning that it would leave Hammer Industries copying Tony Stark and possibly paying patent fees.
• Sarah offered weapons from a different field, and when Justin asked what kind, she answered, “Biological weapons.”

Sarah persuaded Justin to work with Umbrella Corporation by explaining that its biological weapons research concerned human enhancement technology and demonstrating her invisibility. Justin agreed to serve as an intermediary while S.H.I.E.L.D. investigated the company, and Sarah requested a secret laboratory, equipment, and funding.

• Justin refused to cooperate with Umbrella Corporation because he believed it wanted to develop dangerous biological weapons.
• Sarah explained that Umbrella’s technology enhanced people like Captain America, then demonstrated her invisibility to prove the company’s capabilities.
• Justin asked why Umbrella needed him, and Sarah said S.H.I.E.L.D. was investigating the company, so it needed an intermediary.
• Sarah claimed Umbrella had sold serum to a client who used it in the attack on a special base, drawing S.H.I.E.L.D.’s attention.
• Justin weighed the risks and agreed to work with Umbrella, and Sarah requested a secret laboratory, specified equipment, and funding.

At Tony Stark’s birthday party, Evenson and Natasha witnessed Tony and Colonel Rhodes’s fight, then reported Tony’s worsening condition to Nick Fury. Evenson urged Fury to give Tony the research direction needed to develop a new energy source, leaving Fury to consider whether Tony could solve his own problem.

• Evenson stayed out of Tony Stark’s birthday-party revelry while Natasha approached him to talk.
• Colonel Rhodes attacked Tony in his Iron Man suit, and Evenson protected himself and Natasha from the resulting explosion with Void Protection.
• Evenson told Natasha he wanted to see Nick Fury, and they met Fury at a restaurant to discuss Tony’s self-destructive behavior and failing health.
• Nick Fury revealed that lithium dioxide could temporarily neutralize the palladium in Tony’s blood, but S.H.I.E.L.D. had made no progress finding a replacement energy source.
• Evenson argued that Tony should lead the research because he was a scientific genius who only needed a direction, and Nick Fury considered the suggestion.

Evenson discovered that the Eredar Twins had disappeared from the motel where he had left them, leaving him worried about the trouble they could cause. He spotted them—or their influence—at the renamed Void's Legacy Bar and headed toward the next clue.

• Nick Fury and Natasha brought Tony the hope of lithium dioxide, while Evenson left to handle other matters.
• Evenson went to the motel where he had housed the Eredar Twins and learned they had checked out half a month earlier, taking the prepaid room fees.
• Evenson worried that the powerful demons might have recruited followers or attracted the attention of The Order of Mages.
• Evenson recognized the Blue Fire Bar across the street and saw that it had been renamed Void's Legacy Bar.

Evenson found the Eredar Twins running a bar and gang after they had taken over the place and killed its former boss. He warned them against expanding their territory, then hinted that he had another proposal tied to their background.

• Evenson entered Void's Legacy and recognized Luther, a gang enforcer he had beaten in jail.
• Evenson told Luther he knew the Eredar Twins, Sarolas and Aurelles, and Luther escorted him to their private room.
• Evenson found Sarolas and Aurelles lounging amid smoke and drugs, and they dismissed their attendants to speak with him privately.
• The Eredar Twins explained that they had taken over the bar after Sarolas killed its former boss and argued that the gang's rules would keep the killing from attracting outside attention.
• Evenson accepted their explanation but warned them not to expand their territory, then suggested they would like a plan that could improve their background.

Evenson gauged whether the Eredar Twins were content with their lives on Earth, then warned them that disasters and invading forces could destroy the world. He argued that they needed to prevent those threats to preserve Earth for the Burning Legion and protect their comfortable lives.

• The Eredar Twins described Earth as a world of pain, oppression, indulgence, rage, and indifference, while Evenson watched revelers party after a violent fight.
• Evenson concluded that the twins were satisfied with their lives and warned that climate change, famine, war, and nuclear weapons could destroy Earth.
• The Eredar Twins reacted with dismay at the prospect of losing their comfortable home, even if the dangers were decades away.
• Evenson warned that Twilight's Hammer and forces from beyond Earth also threatened the planet.
• Evenson urged the Eredar Twins to stop these threats so Earth could be handed over to the Burning Legion intact and their current lives could continue.

Evenson tried to persuade the Eredar Twins to help protect the world, but they refused to fight and argued that heroes would emerge to face its troubles. After learning that the world was their refuge from the Burning Legion, the twins asked what Evenson wanted them to do, and he said he needed them to deceive people.

• Saloras and Aurelles accepted Evenson’s proposal but made clear they would not get involved in his mission.
• Evenson argued that the planet’s people were unprepared to resist, while the twins said heroes would appear when disaster struck.
• The twins cited Tony Stark as an example, and Evenson pressed them about the worlds they had seen, which had ultimately fallen to the Burning Legion.
• Saloras and Aurelles explained that they valued this world as a refuge and would not fight or make major sacrifices to protect it.
• Evenson assured the twins that they would not need to fight and said he needed them to deceive people.

Evenson persuaded the Eredar Twins to become co-owners of Umbrella Corporation and build it into a legitimate organization capable of protecting their interests. At Hammer Industries, Sarah showed Justin Hammer Hubbs in a cultivation tank and explained that her mass-producible Super Soldiers would be enhanced beasts rather than humans.

• Evenson asked the Eredar Twins to help transform Umbrella Corporation from a hollow shell into a powerful organization, and they agreed to co-own it under a contract requiring all three owners to approve major decisions.
• After Evenson left, Saloras and Aurelles admitted they were cooperating to protect themselves and avoid the Burning Legion's punishment if the world fell into the Void.
• Justin Hammer found Hubbs soaking in a cultivation tank at Sarah's laboratory and complained that the project had not produced the human Super Soldiers they had discussed.
• Sarah explained that animal enhancement could be mass-produced, while human enhancement faced practical and social obstacles, and described the beasts' combat abilities and low cost.

Sarah demonstrated Hubbs’s brain-control technology to Justin, then concealed the defective prototype to prevent him from approaching the Department of Defense before her mission was complete. She later appeared in Ivan Vanko’s workshop and introduced herself as Umbrella Corporation’s security director, Jill Valentine, as Ivan prepared to attack her.

• Sarah told Justin that the S2 Mechanism let operators control the creatures’ targets and kill them if they began to lose control, and Justin feared the technology could be used on humans.
• Justin asked to photograph Hubbs and gather reference materials for the Department of Defense, but Sarah rejected the request and disposed of Hubbs as an unqualified product.
• Hubbs returned to Evenson’s basement, vomited up the tank liquid, and sprang up when Evenson withheld his dinner until the next day.
• Sarah told Justin that she would finish adjusting the product after Tony’s exhibition, and Justin anticipated using his recommendation to win military favor.
• Ivan worked on his Iron Soldiers and armor while planning revenge against Tony Stark, then charged at Sarah after she appeared and introduced herself as Jill Valentine.

Sarah confronted Ivan Vanko in his workshop, subdued him, and learned that he planned to use his armor and remote-controlled soldiers to kill Tony Stark. She offered to help Ivan complete his revenge in exchange for three favors, and he asked whether she could address the weaknesses in his weapons.

• Ivan attacked Sarah with a screwdriver, but she stopped him and threw him to the floor.
• Ivan tried to strike Sarah with a chair and reach his Plasma Shock Whip, but Sarah destroyed the whip and workbench, then restrained him with her own whip.
• Sarah introduced herself as Jill Valentine, an Umbrella Corporation security director and Super Soldier, and Ivan revealed that Umbrella had received part of his funding.
• Ivan admitted he intended to kill Tony Stark using his Iron Man suit and Remote Controlled Mechanical Soldiers, and Sarah said his plan would fail.
• Sarah explained that Ivan's armor and soldiers had inferior materials and lacked defenses against energy weapons, and Ivan asked her to help solve those problems.

Sarah negotiated with Ivan Vanko for Whiplash blueprints and company funds in exchange for help improving his armor and enabling his revenge against Tony Stark. She gave him a manuscript describing a direct nervous-system connection between pilot and armor, which astonished Ivan and left him asking where it came from.

• Sarah explained how Ivan's armor lagged behind Tony Stark's artificial-intelligence-powered armor, making Ivan demand her proposed solutions.
• Sarah set three conditions: Ivan would provide the Whiplash blueprints, secretly transfer the company's funds, and complete a third task tied to the solution.
• Sarah warned Ivan that Umbrella Corporation could disrupt his revenge if he defaulted, and Ivan agreed to the first two conditions.
• Sarah handed Ivan a manuscript as the third condition, and he initially dismissed its ideas as impossible before becoming engrossed in them.
• Ivan realized the manuscript described connecting armor directly to the nervous system and asked Sarah how she had obtained it.

Sarah explained that Umbrella Corporation’s Human Completion Plan aimed to perfect humanity and that Dr. William Birkin’s work proposed directly linking the human nervous system to machinery. Ivan agreed to develop the technology for his armor before the Stark Industries Park exhibition, leaving him to organize the manuscript and prepare for the work.

• Ivan realized the manuscript described a way to connect the human nervous system directly to mechanical controls, potentially giving his armor faster reactions than Tony’s Iron Man.
• Sarah presented Umbrella Corporation’s Human Completion Plan as a project to cleanse humanity of original sin and restore its divine potential.
• Sarah explained that Dr. William Birkin had proposed replacing parts of the body with machinery, modified himself into a mechanical form, and was later killed after becoming aggressive.
• Ivan asked whether the technology caused Birkin’s mental instability, and Sarah said he had already been mad before modifying himself.
• Ivan agreed to complete the work three days before the Stark Industries Park exhibition and accepted Sarah’s advice to adapt to the armor and reorganize the manuscript.

Evenson explained why Umbrella Corporation needed Ivan Vanko to develop neural-link technology and why its Human Completion Plan would appeal to powerful leaders. At the New York Sanctum, Klayya confronted Master Olivann about her delayed training trip, but he warned that a dark wizard was targeting the order.

• Sarah told Evenson that Ivan had accepted all three conditions, though he was unsure whether he could meet the neural-link technology requirement.
• Evenson explained that the neural-link machine would be Umbrella Corporation’s flagship product and that Ivan’s skills, desire for revenge, and impending death made him a useful, inexpensive developer.
• Sarah questioned the company’s religious-sounding Human Completion Plan, and Evenson said it would give powerful leaders a lofty mission and the promise of immortality.
• Evenson told Sarah to prepare for a final performance, and she said she was looking forward to dancing with a great beauty.
• Klayya asked Master Olivann why he had delayed approving her training trip, and he said Clark and Jonas had vanished while investigating a magical fluctuation that he believed was a dark wizard’s trap.
• Klayya argued that the order would temporarily take away her magic during training, but Olivann remained concerned that the dark wizard was targeting the order.

Olivann reconsidered Klayya’s trip to gain experience after the danger surrounding the missing Sorcerers, while Tony began working on Howard’s energy design and regretted never telling his father he loved him. Olivann promised Klayya an answer in two days, and Tony devoted himself to bringing Howard’s design to life.

• Olivann suspected that the dark wizard had killed Clark and Jonas, raised the New York Sanctum’s alert level, and ordered Sorcerers to travel in teams.
• Olivann postponed Klayya’s training trip, but after hearing her reasons, he agreed to consider it and promised an answer in two days.
• Nick Fury delivered Howard’s belongings and lithium dioxide to Tony and left Coulson to keep him focused on the treatment research.
• Tony watched Howard’s recordings, felt his father’s belated love, and regretted not telling him he loved him.
• Tony began repairing the energy conduits and resolved to bring Howard’s greatest design into the world.

Tony completed a new Arc Reactor that ended his Palladium poisoning, while Ivan declared war on him ahead of the Expo. Tony realized Ivan had tampered with Justin’s Iron Soldiers and recruited Evenson to protect Pepper.

• Coulson told Tony he had been reassigned, then helped him adjust the conduits for his experiment.
• Tony successfully activated the new element and replaced the old reactor’s core, ending his Palladium poisoning.
• Ivan told Justin that his remote-controlled soldiers could only salute, so Justin stripped him of his belongings and ordered him to finish the weapons.
• Ivan called Tony and threatened to take revenge for what Tony’s father had done to his family, then hung up before Tony could trace him.
• Tony linked Ivan to Hammer Industries and realized he had tampered with the Iron Soldiers that Justin planned to show at the Expo.
• Tony called Evenson and persuaded him to attend the Expo and protect Pepper, promising to pay him double.

Evenson accepted Tony Stark’s offer to protect Pepper at the expo, where Ivan Vanko hijacked the Iron Soldiers and attacked Tony. Natasha pursued Ivan to Hammer Industries, but Sarah blocked her, leaving them on the verge of a fight.

• Evenson agreed to protect Pepper for double pay and called Natasha to warn her that Tony expected trouble.
• Tony arrived at the expo in his Iron Man armor, but Ivan hacked War Machine and the Iron Soldiers, which opened fire on him.
• Evenson shielded Pepper and the audience while Natasha questioned Justin, who revealed that Ivan was at Hammer Industries.
• Natasha went to Hammer Industries, while Evenson stayed behind to protect Pepper.
• Sarah kept Ivan from leaving until he confirmed he had prepared the Whiplash blueprints and information she wanted.
• Sarah blocked Natasha in a corridor, caught her attack, and stopped her shoulder throw before Natasha could get past.

Natasha disabled War Machine’s remote control and Tony and Rhodey fought Ivan Vanko, who was defeated but triggered the Iron Soldiers’ self-destruct sequence. Tony rushed to protect Pepper and Evenson, but crashed into Evenson’s barrier just before a nearby Iron Soldier exploded and blasted him into the sky.

• Natasha used Ivan Vanko’s unsecured Russian-language system to shut down War Machine and return control of the armor to Rhodey.
• Pepper learned Tony had concealed his illness and fired Evenson, canceling his compensation for deceiving her.
• Evenson told Natasha that the police had taken Justin Hammer into custody, while Tony and Rhodey fought off the remote-controlled soldiers.
• Rhodey’s Ex-Wife missile failed against Ivan, and Tony’s missiles also proved ineffective as Ivan pinned them down with his whips.
• Tony and Rhodey trapped Ivan’s whips and blasted him at close range, but Ivan activated the self-destruct sequence in the Iron Soldiers.
• Tony flew toward Pepper and Evenson, struck Evenson’s barrier, and was launched into the sky when a nearby Iron Soldier exploded.

After the Expo battle, Tony learned that S.H.I.E.L.D. considered him unfit for the Avengers Initiative, while Nick Fury investigated the Umbrella Corporation's hidden laboratory at Hammer Industries. The investigation yielded little evidence, and Agent Hill reported that the New York Police Department would not release Justin Hammer for questioning.

• Tony read Natasha's evaluation and learned that he was unqualified to join the Avengers, though Nick Fury offered him a consultant role.
• Tony agreed to pay Evenson's wages, partly because Evenson's barrier had protected Pepper.
• Hill told Nick Fury that S.H.I.E.L.D. had found only enzyme solution in the laboratory's culture tanks and recovered only videos featuring women from its erased computers.
• Natasha described Sarah as a German-accented fighter with exceptional close-combat skills and the ability to turn invisible.
• Hill told Nick Fury that the New York Police Department refused to release Justin Hammer for questioning.

After S.H.I.E.L.D. arrested Justin Hammer and searched Hammer Industries, Sunil Bakshi feared the investigation would expose Daniel Whitehall and Hydra. Whitehall stayed calm, while government and military officials panicked over the gray-market arms dealings Justin had handled.

• Sunil Bakshi rushed into Daniel Whitehall's office and reported that Justin Hammer had been arrested and S.H.I.E.L.D. had searched Hammer Industries under Nick Fury's leadership.
• Bakshi warned that Justin could reveal his connection to Umbrella Corporation and lead S.H.I.E.L.D. to uncover Whitehall's Hydra identity and the faction's ties inside S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Whitehall learned that Justin was being held at the New York Police Department and noted that someone seemed more anxious than Hydra.
• Government and military officials panicked when Nick Fury's raid threatened to expose the weapons sales Justin had arranged to dictators, warlords, armed groups, and terrorists.