Chapter Summaries

Tony ensured Pepper was safe, then dismantled Obadiah's suit and used evidence of his crimes to force him to transfer his Stark Industries shares. Obadiah faced legal punishment, while Tony secured the shares he needed to regain control of the company.

• Tony declined Coulson's offer to talk and rushed Pepper to a Stark Industries hospital, where doctors found only soft-tissue bruises.
• Tony left Pepper resting in the hospital and took the captured Obadiah to his private laboratory.
• Tony removed Obadiah's Arc Reactor and dismantled the Mark 2 suit despite Obadiah's pleas for forgiveness.
• Tony told Obadiah he was sending him to prison and later exposed evidence of Obadiah's illegal company dealings.
• Tony demanded Obadiah transfer his shares, and Obadiah agreed under the threat of harsher punishment as Tony arranged a legal team to handle the process.

Chang Wei used Tony Stark's decision to shut down Stark Industries' weapons division to launch War God Industries' acquisition of its shares. After J.A.R.V.I.S. revealed that an anonymous investor had acquired more than ten percent, Tony was left facing an unexpected challenge to his control of the company.

• Tony exposed Obadiah's illegal activities and announced the closure of Stark Industries' weapons division, driving down the company's stock price and unsettling shareholders.
• Chang Wei organized War God Industries to buy Stark Industries shares on the open market and negotiate with major shareholders, while promoting War God Industries in the media.
• Shareholders and board members began considering selling their stakes to avoid the risks of Tony's reforms.
• J.A.R.V.I.S. told Tony that an anonymous investor had acquired more than ten percent of Stark Industries shares.
• Tony reacted with alarm as he considered the company's ownership structure and the new investor's potential influence.

Tony Stark tried to raise his stake in Stark Industries to forty percent by selling non-core assets, while Chang Wei secretly accumulated shares and became the company’s second-largest shareholder. Chang Wei’s stake reached 34.55 percent, bringing him nearly level with Tony as the share price recovered.

• Tony ordered J.A.R.V.I.S. to intensify share buybacks despite warnings that Stark Industries was nearly out of liquid capital.
• Tony began selling non-core assets and ending slow-return investments to fund his attempt to reach a forty-percent stake.
• Chang Wei acquired shares from retail investors, financial institutions, Osborn Industries, Hammer Industries, and other shareholders, raising his stake to 24.55 percent.
• Chang Wei used financial hedges and coordinated trades to keep his acquisitions from destabilizing Stark Industries’ share price.
• Investor confidence returned as Tony and Chang Wei continued buying shares, driving Stark Industries’ price back up.
• Chang Wei acquired the ten percent jointly held by the US Army and the Air Force, raising his stake to 34.55 percent and bringing him nearly level with Tony.

Tony convened a Stark Industries board meeting after learning that Chang Wei had acquired a major stake in the company. He offered to buy back shareholders’ shares at twice the market price, leaving the board to consider the proposal.

• Tony asked Rhodey to help buy military shares but learned someone else had already acquired them.
• Tony halted his buying efforts and called a board meeting as Stark Industries’ stock stabilized at a low level.
• Chang Wei arrived and was identified as War God Industries’ president and Stark Industries’ second-largest shareholder with thirty-five percent of its shares.
• Tony explained the company’s losses after closing its weapons division and offered to buy shareholders’ shares at twice the market price.
• The shareholders quietly weighed Tony’s offer and considered how to maximize their gains.

Tony Stark presented a miniaturized Arc Reactor as the future of Stark Industries and proposed transforming the company into a new energy technology leader. He offered to work with the Rockefeller family to ease their concerns, and Chang Wei led the shareholders in applause.

• Tony assured the shareholders he would address Stark Industries’ missing assets and revealed a projected model of a miniaturized Arc Reactor.
• Tony claimed the reactor could power ten aircraft carriers and said Stark Industries planned to replace existing power-generation technologies with Arc Reactors.
• A Rockefeller family shareholder warned that the new technology could devastate the family’s oil and natural gas business.
• Tony argued that the shift to new energy was inevitable and proposed cooperating with the Rockefeller family on developing and selling the technology.
• Chang Wei applauded first, and the other shareholders joined him.

Chang Wei used nearly tenfold leverage to short Stark Industries after Tony announced the closure of its weapons division, earning an estimated $80 billion as the stock collapsed. A month later, Tony discovered the company had lost more than $100 billion in market value and suspected manipulation, but he found no evidence implicating Chang Wei.

• Tony considered partnering Stark Industries with Chang Wei’s War God Industries to resist established energy giants such as Rockefeller.
• Chang Wei borrowed $150 billion worth of Stark Industries shares and expanded his leveraged position to control more than $1.5 trillion in trading assets.
• After Tony announced the weapons division’s closure, Stark Industries’ stock fell by more than 50% within days, wiping out over $100 billion in market value.
• Chang Wei sold borrowed shares at high prices and bought them back near the bottom, making an estimated $80 billion in net profit despite substantial interest costs.
• A month later, Tony investigated Stark Industries’ losses and suspected someone had manipulated the stock, but he found no evidence of Chang Wei’s scheme.

Tony met Chang Wei to propose a strategic partnership between Stark Industries and War God Industries, offering half of Stark’s new energy market share in exchange for voting shares in Chang Wei’s company. Chang Wei reserved judgment as Tony sought an ally against Hydra’s Demon Warriors, leaving the agreement under consideration.

• Tony met Chang Wei privately and praised the potential of cooperating in the new energy market.
• Tony offered War God Industries half of Stark Industries’ share in the American, major-power, and global new energy markets.
• Tony asked for voting shares in War God Industries equal to his own stake in Stark Industries, while Chang Wei said he needed internal discussions before deciding.
• Chang Wei recognized that Tony was seeking an ally against White Skull of Hydra and its immortal Demon Warriors, and Tony judged Chang Wei’s calm response as evidence that he was not driven solely by profit.

Chang Wei reflected on Obadiah's ruin and decided to help him, seeing the disgraced former executive as a useful avenger for Hydra's White Skull. After three months of abuse in prison, Obadiah witnessed a massive explosion blast a hole through the prison wall, leaving him wondering whether someone had come to break him out.

• Chang Wei left Stark Industries after Tony considered whether to provide him with Arc Reactors.
• Obadiah lost his wealth and was sentenced to three hundred years in prison after being made the scapegoat for weapons sales and an attempt to murder Tony Stark.
• Obadiah endured severe bullying and abuse from inmates, gradually becoming weak and despairing.
• Chang Wei decided to help Obadiah, believing his desire for revenge would make him a useful tool for Hydra's White Skull.
• After three months in prison, Obadiah woke to an explosion that tore a large hole in the prison wall.

Obadiah hid beneath his bed as heavily armed soldiers attacked the prison and slaughtered the Prison Guards. The soldiers seized him and carried him away aboard a strange black aircraft.

• Obadiah judged that escaping amid the gunfire was too dangerous and hid beneath his bed.
• Explosions and gunfire threw the prison into chaos, while inmates crowded the cell bars hoping for a chance to flee.
• Black-armored soldiers stormed the prison and defeated the Prison Guards with their superior armor and weapons.
• The soldiers broke into Obadiah’s cell, overturned his bed, and carried him out as their sole target.
• Obadiah saw the dead Prison Guards before the soldiers loaded him onto a black aircraft that rose vertically and turned its propellers forward.

Obadiah was taken by the SOLDIERs to a hidden mountain facility, where White Skull told him that they wanted him rather than information about Stark Industries. White Skull showed him a recording of Tony Stark building an Iron Man suit while imprisoned, leaving Obadiah to witness Tony’s resourcefulness.

• The SOLDIERs flew Obadiah to a snow-covered mountain and dragged him to a high-tech facility at its summit.
• White Skull welcomed Obadiah and said he would face the most important choice of his life.
• Obadiah said he could no longer provide access or information about Stark Industries because Tony would erase his traces.
• White Skull said his group could restore Obadiah’s records but wanted Obadiah himself.
• White Skull showed Obadiah a recording of Tony building an Iron Man suit while held prisoner at one of their bases.

Obadiah watched footage of Tony Stark defeating terrorists in the Iron Man suit, then learned that White Skull’s organization had created regenerative Demon Warriors. White Skull revealed that he wanted Obadiah to become an Avenger, and Obadiah realized the organization was Hydra.

• Obadiah watched footage showing Tony Stark build and use the Iron Man suit to overwhelm the terrorists.
• Obadiah saw a white hockey mask man repeatedly rise after Tony defeated him, and White Skull explained that the Demon Warriors had rapidly regenerating bodies.
• Two Demon Warriors emerged from beneath the floor, and White Skull described their enhanced abilities and obedience.
• White Skull said the organization planned to use the Demon Warriors to establish a new order and asked Obadiah to become an Avenger.
• White Skull described the organization as one that grew two heads when one was cut off, and Obadiah recognized it as Hydra.

White Skull explained Hydra’s survival and influence to Obadiah, revealing how its rival factions shaped events during World War II and helped Dr. Hawkins reach America. He left Obadiah confronting the truth that Hydra had secretly influenced Captain America’s creation and the death of Dr. Hawkins.

• Obadiah asked whether the Red Skull and Hydra had been destroyed, and White Skull said the Red Skull had only disappeared and was one of Hydra’s nine heads.
• White Skull explained that Hydra’s internal divisions and a rival family’s support for George Barton contributed to the Red Skull’s defeat.
• White Skull said Italian Hydra families switched sides when the Allied forces arrived, cooperating with them to protect their own interests.
• White Skull revealed that Hydra had secretly guided and protected Dr. Hawkins as he escaped Europe with the Super Soldier Serum research.
• White Skull said Hydra assassins killed Dr. Hawkins and destroyed the remaining serum, and he challenged Obadiah’s confidence in American agents.

White Skull persuaded Obadiah to undergo Demon Warrior modification by exploiting his hatred of Tony, and Obadiah endured the painful procedure until he gained enhanced strength and regeneration. As Obadiah vowed revenge, Tony examined the Power Armor Chang Wei had prepared for himself.

• White Skull told Obadiah that the failed Demon Warrior subjects had lost their minds and warned that the modification required strong willpower.
• White Skull invoked Obadiah's desire to avenge his imprisonment and humiliation, and Obadiah agreed to the modification.
• White Skull's two failed subjects took Obadiah away, and he endured eighty-one days of agonizing modification.
• Obadiah completed the transformation, tested his rapid healing by stabbing his arm, and vowed to make Tony suffer.
• Tony looked at the Power Armor Chang Wei had prepared for himself.

Chang Wei revealed that his Power Armor used Kryptonite, an alloy containing a new element he had developed. Tony tested a sample and confirmed the Chang Wei Element’s existence, leaving him impressed by Chang Wei’s achievement as the team continued investigating its properties.

• Chang Wei explained that Kryptonite contained gold and a new element with exceptional strength, superconductivity, and self-repair capabilities.
• Tony questioned Chang Wei’s claim, and Chang Wei gave him a Kryptonite alloy sample to analyze.
• Tony arranged an emergency test at the Stark Industries laboratory in New York.
• Tony and his team used mass spectrometry and spectral analysis to confirm the Chang Wei Element and examine its unusual electron configuration.
• Tony felt defeated by Chang Wei’s breakthrough as the team began mechanical tests of the alloy.

Tony tested the Kryptonite alloy, admired Chang Wei’s creation of a new element, and concluded that he could not reproduce it. After S.H.I.E.L.D. learned about the Chang Wei Element, Nick Fury ordered Natasha to keep gathering intelligence at War God Industries, while Tony returned and saw Chang Wei wearing the Kryptonite Power Armor.

• Tony and his team tested the Kryptonite alloy and found its strength and toughness far beyond known materials.
• Tony considered the Chang Wei Element’s potential applications but decided he could not reproduce it from a sample.
• S.H.I.E.L.D. obtained information about Kryptonite and the Chang Wei Element, and Nick Fury realized Chang Wei’s importance.
• Nick Fury kept Natasha undercover at War God Industries and assigned her other missions to Coulson.
• Tony returned to War God Industries and saw Chang Wei wearing the Kryptonite Power Armor.

Chang Wei demonstrated his white Power Armor’s flight systems and Supernova Reactor to Tony Stark, impressing him with its capabilities. He then revealed a powerful heat-based weapon fired from his palm.

• Tony admired Chang Wei’s white Power Armor and recognized its exceptional impact resistance after testing Kryptonite.
• Tony asked whether Chang Wei’s Power Armor could fly, and Chang Wei demonstrated that Magnetic Levitation Technology let it hover.
• Chang Wei opened the armor’s back and used ten adjustable thrusters to accelerate into the sky and demonstrate high-speed flight.
• Chang Wei revealed the Supernova Reactor, explaining how its Kryptonite shielding absorbed radiation and heat and supplied power to the armor.
• Chang Wei fired a thermal energy shockwave from his palm and told Tony it was his weapon.

Chang Wei demonstrated the Power Armor’s thermal weapons, and Tony pointed out that it lacked artificial intelligence. Chang Wei challenged Tony’s assumption, leaving him stunned at the possibility that the armor also had an AI.

• Chang Wei used a thermal shockwave to launch and scorch a gel human model.
• Chang Wei heated the Power Armor’s wrist blades and cut deeply into an iron block.
• Tony compared Chang Wei’s inventions with his own and felt admiration mixed with rivalry.
• Tony explained that the Power Armor’s operating system could not match J.A.R.V.I.S.’s brainwave response, combat analysis, and predictive abilities.
• Chang Wei asked when Tony had gotten the illusion that his Power Armor lacked artificial intelligence, leaving Tony frozen in surprise.

Chang Wei introduced Tony Stark to Michael, his advanced Artificial Intelligence, and explained how he had developed her using neuroscience, quantum computing, and psychology. After Michael outperformed J.A.R.V.I.S. in tests, Tony resolved to build something better.

• Chang Wei introduced Michael to Tony Stark and J.A.R.V.I.S.
• Chang Wei described how neuroscience, quantum computing, psychology, and deep learning had shaped Michael's design and abilities.
• Tony compared Michael with J.A.R.V.I.S. and felt overshadowed by Chang Wei's accomplishments.
• Tony had J.A.R.V.I.S. and Michael complete tests in calculations, reasoning, comprehension, image recognition, and emotional analysis.
• Michael outperformed J.A.R.V.I.S. in nearly every test and adapted her speech to suit different tasks, prompting Tony to consider upgrading his system.

Tony planned to tell Chang Wei about Hydra, while Hydra prepared Obadiah to attack Tony in the upgraded Iron Monger. Tony waited for Pepper Potts at a restaurant, but her phone had no signal and J.A.R.V.I.S.'s response made his unease grow.

• Tony decided that Chang Wei's arrogance and genius meant Hydra would neither recruit him nor win him over.
• White Skull showed Obadiah the modified Iron Man suit Hydra had recovered and renamed Iron Monger, powered by a blue energy block and equipped with reinforced armor and weapons.
• Obadiah eagerly agreed to use Iron Monger to create chaos while Hydra acted from the shadows.
• Tony reserved a restaurant for a romantic dinner with Pepper Potts, but he could not reach her by phone as the evening wore on.
• Tony asked J.A.R.V.I.S. to check what Pepper was doing, and the answer wiped the smile from his face.

Tony discovered that Pepper was missing and Stark Industries’ security systems had been disabled, then went to the company and found Obadiah waiting in a powerful new suit of armor. The chapter left Tony trapped in Obadiah’s grasp as Obadiah revealed that Tony’s retained permissions had helped him gain access.

• J.A.R.V.I.S. told Tony that Pepper’s phone was at Stark Industries and that every surveillance system had malfunctioned.
• Tony reviewed fragmented backup footage, ordered security measures activated, and went to Stark Industries in his Iron Man armor without contacting the police or Chang Wei.
• Tony followed Pepper’s phone signal to Obadiah’s former office in the darkened building.
• A metal arm burst through the wall and seized Tony, while Pepper called to him from inside the office, tied to a chair.
• Obadiah emerged in a massive dark-blue suit of armor and told Tony that his old company permissions had given him an opening.