Recaps

He-El learned that the Civilization Party had nominated him for president, and Vivian’s calculations showed that taking office would reduce the trouble he faced. Nick Fury persuaded him to help stop Loki, and He-El agreed, claiming he could win every vote as the meeting turned to a box T'Challa was about to open.

• Vivian told He-El that her policies would reduce his trouble by at least 1,760% over the next four years if he became president.
• He-El explained that the Civilization Party he had established in Congress had put him forward as a candidate, shocking Tony Stark and the others.
• Nick Fury reminded the group that S.H.I.E.L.D. was trying to prevent a third world war and said they needed He-El against Loki.
• He-El agreed to become president and told everyone to prepare to clean up the mess, saying he expected to win 100% of the vote.
• Nick Fury asked whether He-El had a way to counter Loki’s control of the Electoral College, and He-El told T'Challa to open the box.

He-El revealed Mind Disruptors that could free people from Loki’s control, giving the group a way to stop him from using nuclear weapons and triggering the Third World War. Steve called for the devices to be used first on the officials controlling the military, and Nick Fury was asked whether his people were ready.

• T'Challa opened the briefcase and showed the group the metal devices inside.
• He-El explained that the Mind Disruptors could counter Loki’s mental-wave control when applied to the skin, though freed victims would suffer severe dizziness and nausea.
• Tony Stark and Thor tested the devices on each other, and the group confirmed that none of them were under Loki’s control.
• Steve Rogers urged the team to use the devices on generals, the defense secretary, and other officials controlling nuclear weapons and armed forces.
• Steve asked Nick Fury whether his people were ready.

S.H.I.E.L.D. realized Loki could use invisibility and duplicates to control far more people than they could protect, potentially reaching the military and nuclear launch systems. Tony Stark unveiled his Mind Detector, which revealed the Triskelion was nearly covered in signs of Loki’s control, with one red dot even inside the conference room.

• Hawkeye warned Nick Fury that Loki could control nuclear launch personnel and the Electoral College without being detected, making their precautions ineffective.
• Thor argued that Loki’s pride would keep him from personally controlling every military site, and He-El reasoned that Loki wanted to defeat them through schemes and gradual pressure.
• Nick Fury said their thousand Mind Disruptors were insufficient to identify and restore all the potentially controlled officials and military personnel.
• Tony Stark introduced his Mind Detector, built to detect Loki’s mindwave spectrum using data from He-El’s Mind Disruptor.
• Tony’s detector showed the Triskelion densely covered with red dots, and he noticed one red dot inside the otherwise green conference room.

Tony Stark’s Mind Detector revealed that nearly everyone in the Triskelion Building was a red dot, suggesting S.H.I.E.L.D. had been compromised and Hill was the lone infiltrator in the conference room. As S.H.I.E.L.D. launched its aircraft and Helicarriers to attack the building, Hill struck Tony, and the others moved to confront her.

• S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel launched aircraft and raised two Helicarriers, ordering them to target the Triskelion Building’s thirty-seventh-floor conference room.
• Tony Stark’s Mind Detector showed red dots throughout the Triskelion Building except for the conference room, where Hill was the sole red dot among nine green ones.
• Tony Stark realized Hill had not touched He-El’s Mind Disruptor and turned to look at her.
• Hill kicked Tony Stark into the waiting Zero Gravity Type II Armor, which closed around him.
• Steve Rogers charged at Hill with his shield while Hawkeye and Natasha moved in to attack her.

Loki had taken control of S.H.I.E.L.D., and He-El disrupted Hill’s mind control just long enough for her to warn the others. Natasha opened the blinds, revealing S.H.I.E.L.D.’s aircraft and enormous armed craft surrounding the conference room.

• Nick Fury realized Loki had seized control of S.H.I.E.L.D. and suspected Loki was waiting for He-El.
• Thor, T'Challa, and Tony Stark reacted to Hill’s attack while Bruce Banner retreated from the fight.
• He-El struck Hill with a Mind Disruptor, and Tony Stark deployed a magnetic barrier around the conference room.
• Hill broke through Loki’s control long enough to tell Nick Fury to run.
• Natasha opened the blinds and revealed fighter jets, armed helicopters, and two enormous gun-covered craft outside.

S.H.I.E.L.D. encircled the Triskelion Building with aircraft and Helicarrier cannons, forcing the Avengers to shelter behind Tony Stark’s defensive barrier as the building was torn apart. He-El directed Nick Fury and Tony to give him access to stop the automated firing, just as the Helicarrier began shooting.

• More than fifty aircraft cannons opened fire on the conference room, shattering the glass and tearing through the Triskelion Building around Tony Stark’s barrier.
• Natasha recoiled as the barrage began, while Tony’s repulsor field deflected the bullets and the conference room shook and tilted.
• Thor prepared to attack the aircraft, but Tony warned him not to break the defensive barrier; Steve Rogers and the others urged the group to strike back.
• Tony said the barrier had only forty-eight seconds of power left, and Nick Fury asked He-El for a way to stop S.H.I.E.L.D.’s fire without harming personnel.
• He-El ordered Nick to provide his director iris authorization so he could infiltrate the Helicarrier, and told Tony to let Vivian control his Zero Gravity II armor.
• Nick exposed his clouded eye for the scan, and Tony authorized Vivian’s connection as the Helicarrier’s cannons began firing.

Vivian strengthened Tony Stark’s barrier and infiltrated the Helicarriers, stopping their weapons as they destroyed the Triskelion Building. With Loki’s forces closing in and missiles approaching, Nick Fury and the others prepared to fight.

• Vivian connected to Tony Stark’s Zero Gravity II armor, increased the barrier’s strength by 746%, and began infiltrating the Helicarriers and aircraft.
• The Helicarriers and aircraft bombarded the protected conference room, driving it through the Triskelion Building as Tony Stark and the others were thrown around.
• Vivian disabled the aircraft’s intelligent weapon controls, halting their cannon fire and missile attacks.
• S.H.I.E.L.D. agents controlled by Loki switched to manual controls and launched missiles toward the Triskelion Building’s foundation.
• An electromagnetic-pulse bomb erupted from the ruins, and Captain America Steve Rogers, Hawkeye, Natasha, Thor, Iron Man Tony Stark, T'Challa, He-El, and Nick Fury prepared to fight.

Tony Stark and Thor destroyed the incoming missiles while He-El organized the team to rescue mind-controlled S.H.I.E.L.D. agents with Mind Disruptors. The heroes began restoring the agents to their senses, and Nick Fury demanded to know how Loki had controlled them.

• Tony Stark and Thor destroyed the missiles with miniature tracking missiles and lightning after Vivian's pulse bombs disabled the aircraft electronics.
• He-El gave Tony Stark and Thor Mind Disruptors to rescue the pilots, while Steve Rogers, Natasha, and Hawkeye prepared to free agents on the ground.
• He-El stopped Bruce Banner from transforming and sent T'Challa with the black briefcase to restore the controlled agents.
• T'Challa raised the undamaged Wakandan spacecraft and reunited with the Wakandan Warriors, who emerged unharmed from beneath the ruins.
• T'Challa and the Wakandan Warriors distributed Mind Disruptors and pressed them onto attacking S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, incapacitating them.
• Nick Fury asked He-El how Loki had controlled the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.

Loki used a virus-like form of Mind Suggestion to infect S.H.I.E.L.D. and potentially spread his influence across humanity. As the heroes fought back against the controlled agents, He-El remained confident that Loki would not get the upper hand against him.

• Nick Fury and Bruce Banner surveyed the devastation at the Triskelion as S.H.I.E.L.D. agents under Loki's control attacked their own people.
• Tony Stark, Thor, Steve Rogers, Natasha, Hawkeye, T'Challa, and the Wakandan warriors rescued pilots and fought the controlled agents, turning the battle in their favor.
• He-El explained that Loki had developed an infectious form of Mind Suggestion through the Mind Scepter and had avoided confronting them directly.
• Nick Fury realized Loki had used Evans to infect S.H.I.E.L.D., but He-El warned that every infected person could spread the suggestion and become a new source.
• Nick Fury and Bruce Banner feared Washington and possibly the world had fallen under Loki's influence, while He-El dismissed their despair and asserted Loki had never held the upper hand against him.

He-El explained that Loki’s Viral Mind Suggestion Contagion depended on triggers rather than fully controlling people, giving him a possible way to resolve the threat. As the battle around the ruined Triskelion wound down, Nick Fury accepted the danger and asked He-El to kill him if Loki ever controlled him.

• Nick Fury and Bruce Banner despaired over how to remove Loki’s contagion from everyone on Earth, since even one infected person could restart its spread.
• He-El sent Thor and Tony Stark to finish their contest at the two Helicarriers while Captain America Steve Rogers, Hawkeye, Natasha, and Wakanda Warriors subdued the remaining S.H.I.E.L.D. forces.
• He-El explained that Loki’s Viral Mind Suggestion Contagion required a trigger to make people act, unlike complete mind control.
• Nick Fury told He-El the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents had chosen to risk their lives for humanity and asked him to kill him if Loki ever controlled him.

After the battle at the S.H.I.E.L.D. Triskelion, He-El explained how the Mind Disruptor freed people from Loki’s Mind Suggestions, leaving Maria Hill to face the deaths caused by her actions. Nick Fury comforted Hill and vowed that Loki would pay.

• Nick Fury said that sacrificing over a thousand S.H.I.E.L.D. agents had been necessary to prevent Loki from driving humanity into madness, and Bruce Banner understood his role as an Avenger.
• He-El explained that the Mind Disruptor destroyed Loki’s implanted suggestions and restored the controlled people without aftereffects.
• Maria Hill regained consciousness, remembered ordering the attack, and broke down over the deaths of the Triskelion’s staff.
• The Avengers, Thor, Tony Stark, and T’Challa’s warriors returned from the battlefield in grief as the fighting ended.
• Nick Fury embraced Hill, promised that Loki would pay, and rendered her unconscious.

He-El promised to create a worldwide countermeasure to Loki’s Viral Mind Suggestion Contagion, while Nick Fury focused on a more urgent concern beneath the Triskelion ruins. The chapter ended with Nick revealing he had made two fake Cosmic Cubes and jumping into a hidden chamber.

• He-El explained that he would create sounds and images to disrupt Loki’s Mind Suggestion, and Tony Stark proposed broadcasting the sound worldwide as infrasound.
• He-El said Vivian was collecting data and that the countermeasure would be ready in about half an hour, though the satellites needed modifications.
• Nick Fury assigned Barton and Natasha to help the lucid agents and injured, then led the others away from the ruins.
• Nick Fury asked Tony Stark to cut through the ground above a buried chamber, and Tony used the Zero Gravity II Armor to open a passage.
• Nick Fury said he had made two fake Cosmic Cubes and jumped into the hole.

Nick Fury led the group through the damaged Triskelion Building to the concealed sublevel ten, where they discovered the Cosmic Cube was only a projection. Loki had already taken the real Cube and mocked them as he revealed his escape.

• Tony Stark illuminated the warehouse while Nick Fury explained that both Cosmic Cubes on the upper levels were decoys.
• Steve Rogers cleared S.H.I.E.L.D. ambushes in the underground corridors, and Nick Fury admitted he was unsure whether Hill had discovered the location of the real Cube.
• Nick Fury led the group through a hidden entrance beneath sublevel nine to the concealed sublevel ten.
• Nick Fury unlocked the superconductor, but his hand passed through the Cube, revealing it was an illusion.
• Loki appeared in the projected fireworks, announced that he had the real Cosmic Cube, and laughed at the group.

After discovering Loki had stolen the Cosmic Cube, the team found a way to use He-El’s countermeasure against Mind Suggestion to narrow down where Loki was hiding. Nick Fury organized the response, while He-El was asked to prepare a powerful weapon against Loki.

• Bruce Banner urged the team to stop sitting silently, and Nick Fury said the Cosmic Cube’s energy could not be detected.
• He-El announced that Vivian had finished the audio and images that could counter Mind Suggestion, and told the team to restore people close to them first.
• He-El proposed using satellites to broadcast infrasonic waves that would make affected people dizzy and sick, while Tony Stark suggested identifying anyone unaffected as a likely Loki.
• Tony argued that Loki was probably in or near Washington and that restoring key officials would narrow the search to a few thousand people.
• Nick Fury assigned the team to restore and protect generals with nuclear launch authority, then asked He-El to prepare the most powerful weapon against Loki.

He-El and the Avengers planned to expose Loki’s Mind-Controlled followers and assigned mercenaries to help monitor politicians. He-El warned Tony that Loki might use a Stark Industries reactor to open a wormhole, and Tony agreed to watch the reactors and employees.

• The Avengers planned to use infrasound and Mind Disruptors to identify and free Mind-Controlled people, while He-El promised more devices and twenty thousand mercenaries.
• Nick Fury approved He-El’s personnel support despite the risks of sending mercenaries into the capital.
• He-El told Tony that Loki might use the Cosmic Cube to open a wormhole and bring aliens to Earth.
• Tony realized Loki could target Stark Industries’ reactors because they were powerful and ready to use.
• He-El gave Tony Mind Disruptor buttons, and Tony promised to keep a close watch on his reactors and employees.

Tony Stark returned home after the attack on the Triskelion and worried that Loki would target Stark Industries' reactors. After hearing Peter Parker's message and warning him to wait for S.H.I.E.L.D.'s orders, Tony again asked whether Peter was the only one who had contacted him.

• Tony Stark considered the reactors Loki might target and concluded that Stark Industries' reactors were the only remaining option.
• Tony returned to his Malibu home and asked JARVIS whether he had any messages.
• JARVIS played Peter Parker's voicemail, in which Peter asked about the destroyed Triskelion and offered to help.
• Tony realized Peter had been spared Mind Suggestion because he had not been at the Triskelion, and he left Peter a message telling him to act freely for now.
• Peter called back while heading toward Washington, and Tony told him to wait for S.H.I.E.L.D.'s orders and avoid acting on his own.
• After ending the call, Tony again asked JARVIS whether Peter had really been the only one to leave a message.

Tony Stark worried that Loki might target Pepper Potts to use Stark Industries’ reactors, so he went to Stark Tower to check on her. After confirming Pepper was at work and appearing safe, he left with a Mind Disruptor and suddenly grew alarmed by a realization.

• Tony Stark asked JARVIS about Pepper Potts and reviewed Stark Industries’ plans, finding nothing unusual.
• Tony Stark ordered drones to stand by and flew to Stark Tower in Zero Gravity II Armor.
• Tony Stark found Pepper Potts working in her office and tried to invite her to dinner, but she declined because of her workload.
• Tony Stark hugged Pepper Potts and secretly pressed a small New York trinket against her neck before leaving.
• Tony Stark walked back toward the landing pad with the Mind Disruptor button, then grew tense as a sudden realization darkened his mood.

On the Helicarrier, He-El and Nick Fury prepared to confront Loki’s Mind Suggestion as He-El’s mercenaries gathered to join them. Tony Stark brought James Rhodes up to speed, and the two flew to the Helicarrier, while a helicopter arrived in Manhattan.

• He-El told Nick Fury that his mercenaries had neutralized the Mind Suggestion among their soldiers and were heading to the Helicarrier.
• He-El reassured Nick Fury that Loki’s psychic ability was no match for him, and Nick ordered preparations to receive twenty thousand mercenaries.
• Tony Stark summoned James Rhodes to Malibu and showed him footage that awakened him from Loki’s Mind Suggestion.
• Tony Stark and James Rhodes set off for the Helicarrier to gather people and help solve the crisis.
• A helicopter arrived in Manhattan.

Hawkeye recruited Spider-Man after using a Mind Disruptor to free him from the mental suggestion that had turned people against He-El. They went to a Manhattan hotel to find Frank Castle, where armed men surrounded them, and Hawkeye asked them to let him meet their leader in He-El’s name.

• Hawkeye shot three gangsters with arrows as they aimed RPG launchers at his helicopter, then called Spider-Man aboard.
• Hawkeye pressed a Mind Disruptor to Peter Parker’s forehead, and Peter quickly recovered his memories of the mental suggestion against He-El.
• Peter learned that 1,300 people had died in the disaster at the Triskelion Building and asked Hawkeye about his losses.
• Hawkeye told Peter about Frank Castle and flew them to a Manhattan hotel to find him.
• Armed men in black suits surrounded Hawkeye and Spider-Man on the hotel rooftop, and Hawkeye asked them to let him meet their leader for He-El’s sake.

Hawkeye and Spider-Man used an infrasonic device to free Kingpin’s men from Loki’s Mind Suggestion, which had turned their thoughts against He-El. They entered Kingpin’s room to recruit Bullseye for He-El’s operation, leaving Kingpin surprised that only Bullseye was needed.

• Loki’s Mind Suggestion made Kingpin’s men resent He-El, and their leader threatened to shoot him.
• Hawkeye activated an infrasonic device, making the men dizzy until the Mind Suggestion lifted and they regretted insulting He-El.
• After receiving an order over the walkie-talkie, the leader escorted Hawkeye and Spider-Man downstairs to Kingpin.
• Hawkeye recruited Bullseye for He-El’s operation, and Bullseye agreed to go with them.
• Kingpin asked whether He-El needed more help after realizing Hawkeye only wanted Bullseye.

Hawkeye assembled Spider-Man, Bullseye, Kingpin, and Frank Castle to help He-El, who was in trouble amid a worldwide Mind Suggestion. The group flew toward the Helicarrier, with He-El’s reputation persuading even Frank to join.

• Hawkeye explained to Kingpin that humanity had been affected by Mind Suggestion and that its effects could return, so Kingpin volunteered to help He-El.
• Kingpin joined Hawkeye, Spider-Man, and Bullseye, and Frank Castle emerged from a ventilation duct to join them as well.
• Frank threatened Kingpin with explosives beneath the hotel, but deactivated them after Hawkeye demanded they stop arguing.
• Frank said he was willing to help He-El because the Medical Rebirth Project had restored his comrades, and Hawkeye led the group to a helicopter.
• Hawkeye, Spider-Man Peter Parker, Bullseye, Kingpin, and Frank flew toward the Helicarrier in Washington.

Natasha recruited Steve Rogers to help fight Loki and explained that He-El would command the operation. After meeting Steve’s friend Sam Wilson, she accepted him into the team as Falcon, and they prepared to head out to sea.

• Natasha met Steve at the Veterans Affairs Office and told him they were picking up his comrade to assist in battle.
• Steve asked whether Nick Fury would command the operation, and Natasha said He-El would lead because he was Loki’s nemesis.
• Sam Wilson stopped Steve and Natasha, offered to help, and showed them records of his work in the classified EXO-7 Falcon program.
• Natasha welcomed Sam aboard as Falcon and said they needed to head out to sea at once.

Natasha took Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson to an offshore prison aboard the invisible Sky Manta Ray and used her agent skills to reach Bucky's cell. Steve reunited with Bucky and called out to him, surprised that he had gotten fat.

• Natasha explained that Peter would not be sent to the front lines unless everyone else was dead, and Sam Wilson decided he wanted to learn more before joining the war.
• Natasha led Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson aboard the invisible Sky Manta Ray, which He-El had built with a Gravitational Magnetic Levitation System.
• Natasha obtained the underwater prison's layout from He-El, cut off the warden's communications, and diverted the guards by imitating the warden's orders.
• Natasha knocked out the warden, used an Electrostatic Disguise Veil to disguise Steve Rogers as him, and led the group to Bucky's cell.
• Steve Rogers called out to Bucky and exclaimed that his old comrade had gotten fat.

He-El transferred twenty thousand mercenaries from his Helicarrier to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Helicarrier to support the fight against Loki. The gathered heroes and criminals argued over whether they could work together, and He-El began calling people to join him.

• Nick Fury raised S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Helicarrier and ordered it to dock with He-El's arriving carrier.
• Twenty thousand mercenaries crossed into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Helicarrier, and He-El's ship departed into the clouds.
• Nick Fury sent He-El and the assembled forces to defeat Loki, while He-El insisted Loki was no match for him.
• Tony Stark questioned whether the group was large enough, and Peter Parker accidentally revealed his identity by removing his mask.
• James Rhodes challenged Bucky's presence because of his criminal past, but Steve Rogers said Bucky would return to The Jail after the crisis.
• After the mercenaries and their equipment reached the hangar, He-El called for the people whose names he would announce to come with him.

He-El recruited twenty-one people to kidnap and protect the nation’s top military leaders, who were under complete Mind Control and could launch a nuclear war. He set the operation for 02:00, leaving the teams to prepare for a mission He-El said would save the world.

• He-El summoned twenty-one named recruits and divided more than ten thousand mercenaries into coordinated teams.
• He-El told the recruits that a crisis threatened humanity, then had Arno distribute watches and earpieces with each person’s target and movements.
• Peter Parker and the others discovered that their targets included powerful generals, while He-El explained that the nation’s leaders were under complete Mind Control.
• He-El ordered the teams to begin their missions at 02:00 and promised Mind Disruptors, aircraft, logistics teams, and emergency support.
• Bucky accepted the mission, Sam Wilson went to get equipment, James Rhodes struggled to believe the nation had fallen, and Peter Parker excitedly urged everyone to save the world.