Chapter Summaries

Merlin used Thor's Scarlet Chains to bind Fallen and helped Arcee kill him, then turned to resolving the Extraction Tower crisis. In New York, the Avengers struggled to stop the wormhole, while Stark and others arriving from the future found themselves staring at the invasion-filled sky.

• Merlin restrained Fallen with Thor's Scarlet Chains, and Arcee stabbed him through the head.
• Merlin opened Fallen's chest and recovered his Spark, while Megatron fled after Optimus Prime wounded him and the Decepticons retreated.
• Merlin brought Skyfire and the others to the battlefield, where Simmons contacted the approaching reinforcements to stop them from bombing the Autobots.
• In New York, the Avengers failed to break the Tesseract's force field and learned Merlin had gone to Egypt to deal with the Extraction Tower.
• Stark and others wearing Nano Time-Space Travel Battle Suits appeared in a concealed alley and were bewildered by the wormholes filling the sky.

Future Scott, Stark, Bruce, and Steve arrived in 2012 and found a version of the Chitauri invasion transformed by the R-Star Platform and its players. After Stark traced the altered timeline to the platform and Merlin Shaw, the group decided to stay and search for the Space Stone and Time Stone.

• Scott, Stark, Bruce, and Steve watched armored players hunt down and destroy a Leviathan Beast during the Chitauri invasion.
• A player teleported onto another Leviathan and destroyed it with a matter-antimatter beam, convincing Future Stark that they had landed in a radically different world.
• Stark investigated the timeline and identified the R-Star Platform and Merlin Shaw as the causes of its major deviations.
• The group learned that the platform had introduced games and technology that changed how humanity faced disasters and the Chitauri invasion.
• Stark envied his counterpart in this world, who had already begun establishing the Iron Legion, and wanted to meet Merlin.
• The group chose to stay in 2012 and search for the Space Stone and Time Stone.

Merlin and the military secured the Extraction Tower, but changing its target to Chitauri Star would take about 120 hours while Eagle’s forces fought the invasion. Two days into the stalemate, John, Punisher, Journey of the Saint, and Hellcat encountered a corpse transforming into Tar and a strange entity approaching the Chitauri.

• Merlin told Colonel Montagna that the Extraction Tower’s enemy had been killed and that redirecting the tower to Chitauri Star would take around 120 hours.
• Captain America split the time-traveling group, with Banner searching for the Time Stone and the others seeking the Space Stone.
• Players, police, and arriving international reinforcements fought the Chitauri across Eagle while nuclear missiles remained ready.
• After two days of fighting in Hell’s Kitchen, John agreed to lead Punisher and Journey of the Saint toward Gianna’s defensive line.
• A Chiral Crystal-covered corpse melted into Tar, and frog-like footprints rushed toward the Chitauri as John warned everyone to hold their breath.

John and Punisher escaped a BT-triggered Void Devourment by transferring their consciousness into Mechanical Spiders, but their vehicles and bodies were swallowed by the blast. After reviving, John learned that Void Devourments could erupt anywhere and set out to find Duke.

• BT devoured a Chitauri, triggering a massive Void Devourment that annihilated the surrounding Chitauri.
• Journey of the Saint and Hellcat raced from the blast, and their passengers transferred their consciousness into Mechanical Spiders before the aftershock engulfed them.
• John and Punisher revived at Macken Hospital, where Gianna learned that BT had caused the Void Devourment.
• John and Punisher found their Mechanical Spider backups intact, and John gave Hellcat's backup to Gianna for safekeeping.
• Despite Gianna warning him about the danger outside the defensive line, John left to find Duke.

John and Punisher returned to the ruined park to find Duke, who had survived the explosion but was trapped under fire from the Chitauri. After the Planner and Gianna sent reinforcements, the three escaped by vehicle, with only five minutes to withdraw before more Chitauri arrived.

• John and Punisher left the hospital to search for Duke, while Gianna promised to safeguard their Transformers.
• At the ruined park, John scanned the rubble for Duke as a Chitauri squad arrived to investigate the explosion.
• Duke emerged from the debris and ran toward John, but the Chitauri attacked him and pinned John and Punisher under heavy fire.
• Punisher offered to draw the Chitauri away so John could escape with Duke, and John agreed.
• The Planner warned John and Frank to withdraw within five minutes as fighter jets arrived to engage the Chitauri.
• John, Punisher, and Duke boarded a vehicle sent by Gianna's team and drove away.

John, Punisher, and Duke escaped the Chitauri encirclement and returned to Hell’s Kitchen’s defensive line as the invasion continued. In Brooklyn, gang leaders argued over cooperation while the district’s defenses and Respawn Point remained at risk.

• Bena and the other players recklessly attacked the Chitauri, using their ability to revive and fighting without fear of death.
• The driver brought Decepticon to a residential complex, then drew the Chitauri away while John, Punisher, and Duke used an Electromagnetic Zipline to return inside the defensive line.
• John learned that Brooklyn’s defensive line was close to collapse and that losing its Respawn Point would endanger the district’s defenders.
• Flor Fisher urged the gang leaders gathered at Barclays Center to cooperate, while Park Ji-yi and the Black gang representatives traded threats and insults.

Void Devourments devastated Brooklyn as Ghost BTs emerged and the Chitauri curtailed their assault. Stark shifted the priority from finding Loki to containing the BTs and returned to Stark Industries to pursue a new research approach.

• A chain of Void Devourments reduced Brooklyn to a cratered wasteland, killing many Chitauri and swallowing players.
• The platform announced that dead players had become BTs and explained how to detect and eliminate several BT types.
• The Chitauri began flying higher to evade BT attacks, slowing their offensive.
• Stark, Captain America, and Thor agreed to clear BTs in the city, and Stark arranged Kairol Weapons and detectors for them.
• Stark realized BTs’ Antimatter might offer a new research approach, then returned to Stark Industries and told J.A.R.V.I.S. to deliver weapons to Captain America, the others, and Hulk.

Loki discovered that rain formed from Strand Material aged everything it touched, then tried to control Hulk and was beaten before using the Mind Stone to stir Hulk’s rage. Meanwhile, an Anti-BT Squad infiltrated an underground mall to hunt BTs, leaving just as they prepared to cut a BT’s umbilical cord.

• The Chitauri offensive slowed as BTs appeared, and players bought Kairol Weapons to form Anti-BT Squads and clear BT Phantoms.
• Loki surveyed the ruined Apple City, used the Mind Stone to reveal and disperse a BT Phantom, and wondered who was behind the platform.
• Loki realized that rain formed from Strand Material was accelerating time and aging his body and helmet.
• Hulk burst into the building to escape the rain, grabbed Loki, and smashed him around before Loki used the Mind Stone to provoke Hulk’s anger.
• An Anti-BT Squad entered an underground mall near the defensive line and prepared to cut a BT’s umbilical cord within one minute.

The captain led a squad into the shopping mall to clear BTs, and the team earned Likes by severing their Umbilical Cords. In the underground garage, a giant Shark BT trapped them; Horn shot the captain before the BT could devour him and vanished.

• The captain used Stark’s Antimatter detector to locate BTs, and the squad cleared the mall while earning Likes toward gaining DOOMS Ability.
• The squad entered the underground parking garage, where the captain sensed danger as his teammates discussed hunting more BTs for Likes.
• A huge Shark BT appeared and sent tentacles after the squad, while ghostly fiends dragged the members toward its Tar Pit.
• The squad members shot themselves to avoid being devoured, but the captain fell into the Tar Pit and was dragged toward the Shark BT.
• Horn shot the captain, gave the roaring Shark BT the middle finger, and vanished from the garage.

Thor endured the Timefall to grow stronger and rushed to the damaged defensive line after a powerful Void Devourment struck it. When Hulk arrived in a savage rage and attacked him, Thor fought back and challenged him as the rain continued to increase his divine power.

• Shark BT caught a Tar-covered human after Horn vanished and wrapped him in its tentacles.
• Thor let the Timefall accelerate his aging because his divine power was growing, then flew toward the defensive line after a powerful Void Devourment erupted nearby.
• Thor found much of the defensive line destroyed, the Holy Light Tribunal's Helicarrier grounded, and players rescuing civilians and rebuilding.
• Hulk charged into the defensive line and began smashing the surroundings, so Thor struck him with Mjolnir.
• Hulk's strength overwhelmed Thor and sent him crashing through walls, but Thor dodged Hulk's next attack and struck him with lightning.
• Thor felt his divine power rising in the rain, taunted Hulk, and prepared to continue their fight.

Thor and Hulk continued their battle under Timefall while Void Devourment and temporal decay spread across Eagle. At the Sanctum, Merlin met future Bruce and agreed to help him retrieve the Stones by going with him.

• Thor used Mjolnir and lightning to outmaneuver Hulk, whose rage grew as signs of decay appeared on his body.
• Void Devourment and Timefall devastated cities across Eagle, leaving the Chitauri, Thanos, and Ronan bewildered.
• Future Bruce entered the Sanctum and found Merlin waiting on the Rooftop.
• Bruce asked Merlin to lend him the Time Stone so he could save his future world, then tried to take it by force.
• Merlin restrained Bruce, heard his explanation, and agreed to give him the Stones on the condition that he would accompany him.

Merlin gave Bruce the Time Stone and marked him with a coordinate so he could reach Bruce’s future reality, while Thor awakened Hulk after their fight. The group followed Hulk to Loki’s former hideout, hoping to find Loki and his Scepter before the Extraction Tower activated at dawn.

• Merlin gave Bruce the Time Stone, explained that their realities were parallel universes, and left a coordinate on him before disappearing.
• Bruce returned to the future with the Time Stone and warned Stark and the others about Merlin’s help.
• Thor defeated Hulk in Manhattan and explained that he had fought him to break Loki’s control; Stark and the others learned Loki was involved.
• Stark persuaded Hulk to lead the group to the building where he had encountered Loki.
• Natasha and Stark discussed the Extraction Tower’s expected activation at dawn, the coming battle, and the need to negotiate for its resources.

Thor captured Loki as the final Chitauri assault overwhelmed Earth’s defenses, while Stark and the others waited for Merlin to activate the Extraction Tower. Merlin fired the tower’s beam, which destroyed Chitauri Star and began drawing its Star Core energy toward Earth, leaving the wormhole crisis unresolved.

• Thor struck down Loki and captured him, while Stark recovered the Scepter and the team escorted Loki to Stark Industries Rooftop.
• The Chitauri launched a desperate final attack, and Thor and the players fought to defend Earth while Stark waited for Merlin to activate the Extraction Tower.
• Natasha asked Stark how long Merlin would need, and Stark said they had to hold on for ten more minutes.
• Merlin activated the Extraction Tower in Egypt, sending a blue Energy Beam toward the Wormhole above Eagle.
• The beam pierced Chitauri Star, which exploded, and then drew the Star Core energy back toward the Extraction Tower.

Stark destroyed the Wormhole Device after Chitauri Star was destroyed, ending the invasion and bringing victory to Eagle. As people celebrated, a new multiverse-level mission revealed that Futurists had stolen the Tesseract and Time Stone to revive the dead in their future.

• Stark inserted the Mind Scepter into the Wormhole Device, destroying it and causing the Wormhole to close.
• Stark and Thor discovered that the Mind Scepter and Tesseract had vanished.
• The system declared the Chitauri Invasion Mission complete, and people across Eagle celebrated their victory.
• The Mechanical Spiders issued a new multiverse-level mission called Future War.
• The mission announcement said a group of Futurists from 2023 had traveled to their world and taken the Tesseract and Time Stone.

Players received an optional mission to travel to 2023 and seize the Infinity Gauntlet, while Merlin arrived at the Avengers Alliance Base to help the Avengers revive the people Thanos had killed. After Stark and Rocket assembled the Gauntlet, the group still had to choose who would use it.

• Players received a voluntary Future War mission with the Infinity Gauntlet as its objective, and Stark recruited Thor using an Invitation Code and a Mechanical Spider.
• Merlin traveled through a portal to the 2023 Avengers Alliance Base and found the world desolate after half of all life had vanished.
• The Avengers thanked Merlin for lending them the Time Stone, and Rocket discussed how time travel had brought them to a parallel world.
• The Avengers agreed to use the Stones to revive Thanos' victims, while mourning Natasha, who had sacrificed herself for the Soul Stone.
• Stark and Rocket finished building the Infinity Gauntlet with all six Infinity Stones, leaving the Avengers to decide who would snap their fingers.

Bruce snapped the Infinity Gauntlet and restored the vanished life, but Thanos’s warship then attacked the Avengers Alliance base. Thor, Stark, and Captain America fought Thanos and were badly wounded before his vast army arrived, leaving the battle poised to worsen.

• Thor volunteered to use the Infinity Gauntlet, but the others rejected him and chose Bruce instead.
• Bruce snapped the Gauntlet, and Stark received a call from Wasp as life returned to Earth.
• Thanos’s warship appeared and bombarded the Avengers Alliance base, scattering the Avengers and leaving the facility in ruins.
• Merlin watched as Thor, Captain America, and Stark confronted Thanos, who declared that he would destroy the universe and create a new one with the Stones.
• Thor, Captain America, and Stark fought Thanos but were badly wounded and outmatched.
• Thanos deployed thousands of alien soldiers, tanks, and warships, including forces from the Black Order, Ronan’s Necro Army, and the Chitauri Mechanical Legion.

Merlin activated a game instance linking the 2012 battlefield to the world of 2023, just as the Avengers and their allies assembled to face Thanos' Army. Players poured through the portals into the future battlefield, where their arrival threw both sides into chaos.

• Portals opened across the battlefield, bringing Captain America's allies from Wakanda, Asgard, the Sanctum, and other factions to stand against Thanos' Army.
• Captain America called the assembled forces to attack, but a Wormhole appeared above them, revealing cities from the future.
• Merlin placed his Fae Android game avatar among the players and activated the Future War instance linking 2012 to 2023.
• Players rushed through the teleportation pillars, and Stark and his companions carried an Asset Printer into the future battlefield.
• Teleportation beams filled the 2023 battlefield as players appeared in random locations among humans and enemies, causing confusion on both sides.

The past Avengers arrived in the future battlefield and learned what had happened to their future selves, including that Natasha was gone and Thor had become a potbellied wreck. When the Infinity Gauntlet appeared, the battle for it began, with both armies charging into combat.

• Middle-aged Thor mistook Captain America holding Mjolnir for a sign that his future self had died, then met the potbellied Future Thor.
• Natasha's arrival stirred the Future Avengers, but Past Stark urged everyone to avoid getting too involved with their other selves.
• Past Stark asked where the Infinity Gauntlet was as players fought through Thanos' Army, and Thanos recognized them as people from the past.
• The Infinity Gauntlet appeared at the battlefield's center, and Peter Parker tried to grab it with webbing before Ebony Maw seized it with a stone hand.
• Mjolnir smashed Ebony Maw's stone hand, and the Avengers Alliance and Thanos' forces charged into battle as Valkyrie and others rushed toward the Gauntlet.

In the 2023 battle, the returning Avengers and newly arrived players fought Thanos’s forces as Merlin unlocked Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare and received its initial technology rewards. Merlin considered accelerating the players’ equipment upgrades, then vanished as the Time Stone in Little Spider’s gauntlet flickered.

• Thor unleashed a massive storm of lightning that destroyed enemies across the battlefield, while Rocket and Future Thor watched before joining the charge.
• Future Hawkeye and Natasha reunited and fought together, with Natasha teasing him about his age and stiff movements.
• In 2012, players revived after dying in the instance, complained about their losses, bought new tickets and equipment, and teleported back to the 2023 battlefield.
• A player recognized Thanos and insulted him, but Scarlet Witch confronted Thanos before he could pursue the player and attacked him with Chaos Power.
• Merlin received Individual Tactical Suit rewards after the Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare game world unlocked, then considered whether to speed up the players’ equipment upgrades.
• Merlin vanished from the battlefield, and the Time Stone embedded in the Infinity Gauntlet held by Little Spider flickered.

Hulk fought Corvus Glaive while Gwen helped the two Thors battle Cull Obsidian, as the battle against Thanos’s army settled into a costly stalemate. With players increasingly making up the Human Camp but lacking top-tier firepower, the system announced an update to the R Star Store.

• Hulk repeatedly attacked Corvus Glaive, whose Soul Blade let him recover from his wounds, and their fight cleared an area of the battlefield.
• Gwen blocked Cull Obsidian’s attack on the middle-aged Thor while Future Thor returned to support him with Stormbreaker.
• The middle-aged Thor and Future Thor exchanged Stormbreaker and Mjolnir after the weapons flew between them during the fight.
• Thanos’s 2014 army kept teleporting in while the 2023 forces dwindled, and players repeatedly revived and returned to battle.
• The system announced that the R Star Store had been updated.