Chapter Summaries

Nick Fury broke into Luke’s villa to recruit him for S.H.I.E.L.D., but Luke agreed only to consider the offer if it came with lucrative business contracts. As Fury prepared to leave, Luke had him arrested for trespassing.

• Luke returned to his villa and found Nick Fury being watched by Rudd after S.H.I.E.L.D. agents disabled the villa’s security systems.
• Nick Fury identified himself as S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Captain and explained that he wanted Luke for an elite team handling dangerous threats.
• Luke rejected Fury’s recruitment pitch until Fury offered major, profitable contracts for Hebron, which Luke agreed to consider.
• Luke told Fury to have S.H.I.E.L.D. contact Hebron’s Commercial Department, then stopped him from leaving.
• Captain George Stacy arrived and had officers cuff Nick Fury and take him away for breaking into Luke’s home.

Nick Fury left the police station after his awkward meeting with Luke Field and assigned Phil Coulson to contact Luke and Ina Sandra. At S.H.I.E.L.D.’s training base, Ina demonstrated Hebron Industries’ armored machines and quoted Coulson a steep price, while Luke focused on the machines.

• Nick Fury told Phil Coulson that Luke had accepted his proposal and assigned Coulson to handle contact with him.
• Coulson welcomed Luke Field and Ina Sandra to S.H.I.E.L.D.’s island training base and questioned Ina about Hebron Industries’ armor technology.
• Ina demonstrated two massive unarmed machines, which S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel tested while Coulson sent footage to Nick Fury.
• Coulson asked Ina for a price, and she quoted $540 million per base unit plus at least $30 million in annual maintenance.
• Ina defended the price by citing the machines’ material costs, while Luke stayed absorbed in watching them.

Ina Sandra negotiated with Phil Coulson over S.H.I.E.L.D.'s purchase of Hebron's Iron Titan armor, defending its price and refusing to provide its core control system. The negotiations stalled when Ina revealed that the armor ran on diesel, leaving Coulson dismayed.

• Ina Sandra explained that S.H.I.E.L.D.'s earlier titanium alloy order had earned it a discount, but insisted Hebron would not use inferior materials or compromise its reputation.
• Phil Coulson argued that Stark's Mark II armor cost less, but Ina said Hebron's Iron Titans used more than twice the materials and that their technology was priceless.
• Ina agreed that S.H.I.E.L.D. could use its own control system, but refused to sell Hebron's Intelligent System Code or reduce the price.
• Phil Coulson asked what powered the Iron Titans, and Ina confirmed that they used diesel.
• Luke Field recalled that he had developed the miniaturized diesel engine technology, while Ina explained that it could power the armor for several hours and was easy to refuel.

Nick Fury weighed the cost of buying Hebron’s Iron Titans and ordered an initial batch of ten, while Ross recruited Emil Blonsky for another attempt to capture the Hulk. The chapter left Blonsky facing a mysterious new piece of military equipment.

• Nick Fury questioned Coulson about the Iron Titans’ price, diesel power source, and security, then learned their technology could take years to crack.
• Nick Fury ordered ten Iron Titans and discussed trying to persuade Stark to compete with Hebron, but Coulson doubted Stark would agree.
• Emil Blonsky asked General Ross to include him in another mission to capture the man who had defeated his unit.
• Ross revealed that the man was a former Super Soldier project researcher who had become a monster after using experimental technology on himself.
• Ross led Blonsky to the equipment depot and uncovered an enormous object beneath a tarp.

General Ross assigned Emil Blonsky to control Iron Titan 005, while Luke authorized Hebron to collect Blonsky’s combat data. At Culver University, Blonsky used the Iron Titan to fight Hulk as Ross’s troops closed in on Bruce Banner.

• General Ross showed Blonsky the Iron Titan and chose him to control it against Hulk.
• Luke learned that Blonsky had become Iron Titan 005’s controller, granted authorization, and ordered White Queen to upload his combat data.
• General Ross surrounded Culver University and led his soldiers in searching for Bruce Banner.
• Blonsky charged Hulk in the Iron Titan, using its strength and his combat experience to knock Hulk off balance and attack him.
• Hulk struck the Iron Titan several times, while Blonsky received a series of warning alerts from its Intelligent System.

General Ross's forces restrained Hulk with cables, Sonic Cannons, and a Liquid Nitrogen Bomb, briefly freezing him. Hulk broke free and smashed the vehicles and Iron Titan, leaving Ross's latest capture attempt in ruins.

• General Ross ordered specialized cables deployed, and two vehicles wrapped them around Hulk's legs.
• Ross's forces used Sonic Cannons to weaken Hulk, and Blonsky hit him with a Liquid Nitrogen Bomb that froze him in a block of ice.
• Blonsky questioned whether the capture had succeeded, while Ross ordered a helicopter to prepare to transport Hulk.
• Betty Ross pleaded with her father to release Hulk, but General Ross had soldiers restrain her.
• Hulk shattered the ice, swung the cable-linked vehicles into the Sonic Cannon vehicles, and knocked Blonsky's Iron Titan to the ground.
• General Ross watched Hulk fight through the encirclement and admitted the operation had failed again.

Luke reviewed reports of the Iron Titan and Hulk battle and anticipated using the damaged Titan’s repair to gain leverage over Nick Fury. Elsewhere, Rocket explained his faith in the Maker to Groot, while Kree nobles grew concerned about the Supreme Intelligence’s rising energy use and computational load.

• The White Queen showed Luke news reports about the battle at Culver University, and Luke noted that he had the Iron Titan’s battle data and might soon receive it from S.H.I.E.L.D. for repairs.
• Luke planned to demand benefits from Nick Fury for violating Hebron’s service contract and reflected on the uncontrolled nature of scientific mutations like the Hulk.
• Rocket told Groot that a black, illusory seed had freed him from Half-World and made him smarter, and he called the being behind it the Maker.
• Groot asked how to pray to the Maker, and Rocket suggested money, energy, or knowledge might interest him before taking Groot to work on their spacecraft, the Hogarth.
• Kree nobles discussed the Supreme Intelligence’s increased computational load and energy consumption, but decided to observe it because they lacked authority over it.

Tony Stark visited General Thaddeus Ross after the Abomination’s rampage and learned that someone opposed Tony and Luke’s energy ventures. At a Washington hearing, Tony and Luke identified Roxxon Energy Corporation as the company secretly targeting their project, leaving them facing a powerful, far-reaching rival.

• Tony Stark found General Thaddeus Ross drinking after Emil Blonsky became the Abomination and the Hulk stopped his destruction.
• Tony told Ross that Nick Fury wanted to recruit Ross’s soldier for a new organization, and Ross warned Tony that powerful interests opposed his and Luke’s energy work.
• Tony, Luke, and Ina arrived at a Washington hearing, where Tony encouraged Luke and praised his plans for a space program.
• Tony and Luke independently identified Roxxon Energy Corporation as the company causing trouble for their Energy Project.
• Luke recognized Roxxon as a vast corporation involved in energy, weapons, advanced technology, and Super Soldier research.

Tony Stark turned the hearing into a public pitch for his and Luke’s space program, leaving Senator Stern’s effort to challenge the Iron Armor in disarray. In the aftermath, Luke and Tony each received an invitation from Roxxon Oil Company’s Dario Agger.

• Senator Stern demanded that Tony Stark hand over the Iron Armor, and Tony accused him of trying to seize private property.
• Tony redirected the hearing toward the Space Elevator, New Energy, and the future beyond Earth, crediting Luke and Hebron Industries with helping build that future.
• The audience and public turned their attention to Tony’s space program, and Senator Stern realized his planned challenge had lost its force.
• Tony left the hearing to cheers, while companies sought partnerships with Stark and Hebron and the government stopped raising the Iron Armor issue for the time being.
• Luke and Tony each received an invitation to a cocktail party from Dario Agger, head of Roxxon Oil Company.

Tony Stark and Luke Field attended a Roxxon reception, where Dario Agger tried to recruit them into a partnership for their energy technology. Tony took the lead in dealing with Agger, and the chapter ended with him asking how much of the business Agger wanted.

• Tony Stark told Luke Field about Roxxon and its mysterious head, Dario Agger, while showing off the portable Mark V armor he had brought along.
• Tony offered to handle Dario Agger at the reception, and Luke accepted his help.
• Dario Agger welcomed Tony, Luke, and their companions, then introduced them to powerful figures in energy, government, and business.
• Tony explained to Luke that Agger was using the reception to demonstrate Roxxon's influence, while Luke teased Tony about his lack of interest in company management.
• Dario Agger offered Roxxon's funding, connections, and power in exchange for a partnership, and Tony asked how much of a share Agger wanted.

After Dario Agger failed to convince Tony Stark and Luke Field to give Roxxon control of their new energy company, he hired Purple Man to steal their technology. Purple Man accepted the job, leaving Stark and Luke unaware of the threat.

• Tony Stark and Luke Field left their meeting with Dario Agger after rejecting his demand for sixty percent of their new energy company.
• Luke warned Tony that Agger might use unlawful methods and advised him to protect the people close to him.
• Dario Agger arranged for Purple Man to approach Tony or Luke and use his powers to make them surrender their energy technology.
• Purple Man reviewed photographs of Luke, Tony, Ina Sandra, and Pepper Potts, then negotiated with Roxxon for a billion and a half dollars and shares.
• Purple Man accepted the assignment and collected a sixty-million-dollar deposit from the cloaked Roxxon agent.

Purple Man used Roxxon’s intelligence and equipment to infiltrate Hebron Industries and target Luke, planning to control him into signing a Technology Transfer Agreement. He reached the entrance to Luke’s laboratory with his controlled guide and Jessica beside him, ready to proceed.

• Dario Agger assigned Purple Man to target Luke while keeping Roxxon’s dealings under Nick Fury’s scrutiny.
• Purple Man chose Luke over Ina Sandra, Pepper Potts, and Tony Stark because he believed Luke would be easier to control.
• Purple Man used Roxxon’s disguise equipment and hypnotized Hebron employees to gain access to the laboratory complex.
• Purple Man recalled that Dario Agger had resisted his ability and beaten him, making him more cautious about the mission.
• A controlled Hebron employee led Purple Man and Jessica to Luke’s laboratory, where Purple Man prepared to approach his target.

Luke and Hebron’s security team captured the Purple Man and Jessica Jones, then used the Drift System to uncover their memories. After the Purple Man offered his services, Luke proposed subjecting him to a Sublime Transformation.

• Lack turned the disguised Purple Man and Jessica away from the laboratory entrance, then led them inside after the Purple Man’s signal.
• Luke’s trap sealed the room and filled it with anesthetic fog, knocking the intruders unconscious.
• Luke ordered Snoke to prepare the Drift Equipment, and the Mechanical Security Squad subdued the intruders and fitted them with memory-reading helmets.
• Luke revealed the Purple Man’s identity as Zebediah Killgrave and confronted him with scenes from his memories.
• The Purple Man blamed Roxxon and Dario Agger, offered to use his power for Luke, and watched Jessica regain control after receiving an antidote.
• Luke acknowledged the Purple Man’s usefulness, then asked whether he would accept a Sublime Transformation.

Luke reviewed Purple Man’s memories of Roxxon and considered how to deal with Dario Agger, while Tony Stark survived an attack at the Monaco race. Nick Fury then learned that Roxxon had used an orbital weapon to destroy a S.H.I.E.L.D. military base.

• Luke saw evidence of Purple Man and Dario Agger’s crimes in Purple Man’s memories, and Jessica Jones reacted with hatred and pain.
• Luke kept Purple Man confined in White Queen’s laboratory and considered using the intelligence against Roxxon and Dario Agger.
• An attacker struck Tony Stark during the Monaco race, and Stark stood amid the wreckage holding a damaged Arc Reactor.
• Justin Hammer watched the attack’s aftermath and planned to get the assailant transferred to a prison he could control.
• Nick Fury received Agent Romanoff’s report about the attack on Tony Stark, then learned from Phil Coulson that Roxxon had struck a S.H.I.E.L.D. base with an orbital weapon.

Nick Fury learned that Roxxon had destroyed a S.H.I.E.L.D. base with an orbital satellite and ordered Phil Coulson and Hawkeye to seize nearby contraband. Dario Agger denied launching an armed satellite, then learned Nick Fury was coming and was warned to hide evidence at New York Harbor.

• Phil Coulson told Nick Fury that Roxxon had launched an orbital satellite that destroyed a S.H.I.E.L.D. base.
• Phil Coulson revealed that the base had stored Element Zero, Cosmic Cube Energy Crystals, and Gravitonium.
• Nick Fury ordered Phil Coulson to seize contraband near New York Harbor with Hawkeye and said he would confront Dario Agger.
• Dario Agger received an angry call from an associate who accused him of destroying their S.H.I.E.L.D. base and warned him not to reveal their existence.
• Dario Agger denied launching an armed satellite, and the caller warned him to remove evidence from New York Harbor before Nick Fury arrived.

Nick Fury arrested Dario Agger over Roxxon’s Orbital Satellite attack on a S.H.I.E.L.D. base, while Luke revealed that he had manipulated events to keep Dario occupied. Back at his laboratory, Luke met Jessica Jones and offered Snoke a new enhancement called Weaponized Meme.

• Nick Fury confronted Dario Agger at the airport and took him into S.H.I.E.L.D. custody despite Dario’s claims that someone had framed him.
• On the transport plane, Nick Fury told Agent Hill that Roxxon would pay for the lost base and its soldiers’ pensions, whether Dario went to prison or was later released.
• Luke confirmed that White Queen had implanted and concealed information linking Roxxon to the attack, and said Nick Fury could use it against Dario and Roxxon.
• Snoke brought Jessica Jones to Luke’s laboratory, where she said she wanted to join Hebron’s Security Department and demonstrated her strength by bending a metal rod.
• Luke offered Snoke an enhancement called Sci-Fi Particles—Weaponized Meme.

Luke showed Snoke and Jessica Jones a laboratory monkey altered by Azure Blue Light, which let it transform metal into weapons and its own body into metal. Snoke questioned whether Luke could also turn people into Mechanical Bodies, leaving him uneasy about the prospect of mechanization.

• Luke brought Snoke and Jessica Jones to observe a monkey in a sealed laboratory chamber.
• Jessica approached the glass, and the monkey lunged at her with metallic teeth.
• The monkey used Azure Blue Light to reshape a metal sphere into a pistol and then a cannon, whose laser was refracted by the specially made glass.
• The monkey transformed a metal sphere into various weapons and repeatedly attacked the glass wall.
• Snoke saw the monkey change from flesh and blood into a metal creature and asked Luke if it had always been mechanical.
• Luke explained that the monkey had been a living laboratory animal before he modified it, and Snoke expressed reservations about becoming mechanical himself.

Luke explained that his Sci-Fi Particles had created a semi-finished ability to transform the body and produce technological weapons, and he showed Snoke and Jessica Jones a Weaponized Meme that gave users stored weapon-making knowledge. He left them with the warning that transformations and weapons consumed energy, limiting their duration and strength.

• Luke described the monkey as the first artificially created creature able to switch between flesh and machinery, and explained that its Gene Fluid granted the power to create technological weapons.
• Luke said weapon creation depended on knowing a weapon's design and construction, making scientists ideal users.
• Luke revealed Weaponized Meme, an injection that let even animals instinctively use weapon templates stored inside it.
• Luke explained that Sci-Fi Particles were his developing Demon God Power and could realize logically grounded scientific creations.
• Snoke asked whether the injection changed a user's life form or mind, and Luke said it did not change their carbon-based nature but that transformations and weapons consumed energy.

Luke discovered that palladium poisoning from Tony Stark’s reactor was killing him and gave him a way to slow it. He also showed Tony a new energy device, leaving them to explore its technology together.

• Pepper Potts welcomed Ina Sandra, Luke, Snoke, Jessica, and James Rhodes to Stark’s chaotic party, where Tony Stark was DJing in his Iron Armor.
• Luke identified Tony’s reactor as the source of a fatal palladium poisoning and offered to speak with him privately.
• Luke gave Tony a formula for Lithium Dioxide to help neutralize the toxins in his body.
• Luke used J.A.R.V.I.S. to build an energy device powered by a new crystal-like energy core and offered Tony access to its technology.
• Tony agreed to share any technology developed from Luke’s discovery and offered access to Stark technology in return.

After Luke helped Tony Stark find hope of surviving, he and his companions were ambushed on the highway while returning to the California villa. Snoke fought back in his Terra Suit, Ina Sandra was sent toward safety in the Prototype, and Luke faced a mysterious sword-wielding attacker protected by Hexagonal Light Shields.

• Tony Stark became more hopeful after speaking with Luke, and Pepper Potts and James Rhodes showed Luke their gratitude.
• Snoke spotted vehicles blocking the highway and attackers opened fire on Luke's vehicle, while the Security Squad was notified.
• Luke ordered Terra to send Ina Sandra back to the villa, and Snoke activated his Terra Suit Meme to attack the assailants.
• Snoke's blast set vehicles and attackers ablaze, but some of the attackers survived and regenerated.
• A sword-wielding Old Antique attacked Luke, who blocked the strikes with Hexagonal Light Shields and ended surrounded by a honeycomb of shields.