Chapter Summaries

Jude brought Deadpool to his underground laboratory to examine his unusual biology, using restraints and painful procedures when Deadpool would not stop joking. As Deadpool’s regenerative body healed from the tests, Jude prepared to investigate his brain and the source of his Fourth Wall awareness.

• Jude escorted Deadpool through a basement filled with cloned infants and revealed that the clones were all himself.
• Jude scanned Deadpool and found no obvious abnormalities, then restrained him after Deadpool offered his hemorrhoids as samples.
• Jude shocked Deadpool unconscious, cut open his chest, and analyzed tissue while Deadpool’s body rapidly regenerated.
• Deadpool woke and joked about his chest injury, so Jude froze his mouth shut and continued examining him without anesthetic.
• Jude found nothing useful inside Deadpool’s neck and prepared to drill into his skull and extract brain matter to investigate his Fourth Wall awareness.

Jude found an X-gene in Deadpool and preserved it for future experiments, then spent the evening drinking with Peter Parker after Peter struggled to assemble armor parts. Peter passed out drunk, so Jude drove him home after Aunt May called.

• Jude identified an unusual gene chain in Deadpool as the X-gene and saved it for future experiments.
• Jude continued experimenting on Deadpool, then left him immobilized in the basement with only his head thawed so he could speak.
• Jude found Peter working late on the armor and reassured him after Peter apologized for assembling only its limbs.
• Jude and Peter drank together and joked about Peter's relationships with Mary Jane and Harry until Peter passed out.
• Aunt May called looking for Peter, and Jude took him home after getting her address.

Jude took the drunken Peter home and accidentally revealed to Aunt May and Gwen that Peter was Spider-Man before trying to explain it away. He returned to the hotel and spent the night with Ivy, leaving tomorrow’s plan to beat Tony up still ahead.

• Jude carried the unconscious Peter into his home, where Gwen and Aunt May welcomed him and thanked him for supporting Peter.
• Jude praised Peter’s character and accidentally told Aunt May and Gwen that Peter was Spider-Man.
• When Gwen and Aunt May questioned him, Jude claimed they had imagined the connection, then hurried away in his Bugatti.
• Jude returned to the hotel, where Ivy used her hormone ability to arouse him and they tore off each other’s clothes.
• Jude ended the night planning to beat Tony up the next day.

Jude visited the research institute, where he tried to use Deadpool’s fear of loneliness to make him contact the writers, then examined his memories. He encouraged Peter to be honest with his family and finished assembling an imposing suit of armor he named Cowboy 1.

• Jude visited Deadpool in the basement, where Deadpool begged to be released after spending nearly a day immobilized and bored.
• Jude told Deadpool that he had kept him conscious and immobile to see whether loneliness would let him perceive or contact the writers.
• Jude triggered a machine that extracted Deadpool’s memories, then left the basement for the research institute.
• Peter thanked Jude for helping him tell Aunt May and Gwen about being Spider-Man, and described swinging through New York with Gwen and stopping a robbery.
• Jude praised Peter’s honesty and personally guided him at the institute.
• Jude completed a powerful suit of armor and named it Cowboy 1.

Jude tested Deadpool for two days without discovering how his Fourth Wall-breaking ability worked, then prepared to fight Tony Stark. Their upgraded armors clashed in the sky, where Jude’s Cowboy 1 disrupted Tony’s missiles and the battle continued.

• Jude tortured Deadpool through numerous experiments but made no progress, then promised to pay him ten million dollars if he found no answers within three days.
• Tony Stark arrived in his Mark 10 armor and challenged Jude to a rematch, while Jude warned that Tony might not have found every backdoor he had left behind.
• Jude summoned Cowboy 1, which assembled around him through separation technology and linked his consciousness to its systems.
• Jude and Tony flew eastward away from populated areas as Tony prepared Mark 10’s weapons and defenses for battle.
• Tony fired four tracking missiles, but Jude activated Cowboy 1’s ATZ Particle Disruptor, causing the missiles to lose control and collide.

Jude used Cowboy 1 to overwhelm Tony in Mark 10, disrupting his missiles and repeatedly battering him in the air. Tony launched a desperate laser barrage, and Jude activated Cowboy 1’s Particle Deflection Field as the fight reached its next stage.

• Tony asked Jarvis to investigate when a missile malfunctioned, but Jarvis found no guidance-system fault.
• Jude taunted Tony by shaping the clouds into the words “A room temperature IQ!” and dodged the salvo of twenty-four missiles.
• Jude struck Mark 10 repeatedly, leaving Tony dizzy and the armor battered until Jarvis took control and fled.
• Cowboy 1 pursued Mark 10 at extreme speed, and Tony returned to control after Jarvis assessed their chances of winning at 17.2%.
• After a laser damaged Mark 10’s left-hand Arc Cannon and Propulsion Device, Tony used reverse thrust and a sweeping laser barrage to attack Jude.
• Jude activated Cowboy 1’s Particle Deflection Field as Tony prepared to settle the fight.

Nick Fury considered forming the Avengers while reviewing Dr. Simmons’s inconclusive tests of Ivy Pepper’s blood. The chapter ended when Fitz reported that Iron Man Tony Stark was fighting another Power Armor in midair.

• Nick Fury weighed the Avengers Initiative and recalled that Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Arrow, and Flash had refused, while Wally West and Wolverine had expressed conditional interest.
• Dr. Simmons reported that Ivy Pepper’s blood contained more than 2,100 plant genes fused harmoniously with human genes, but that experiments on people would almost certainly be fatal.
• Nick Fury told Dr. Simmons to continue researching Ivy’s blood.
• Fitz and an agent rushed in and reported that Iron Man Tony Stark was fighting another Power Armor in midair.

Nick Fury ordered S.H.I.E.L.D. Quinjets and military fighters to intercept the unidentified armored flier, while Jude defeated Tony in their aerial sparring match. Jude flew toward the incoming aircraft, whose missiles were redirected back at the Quinjets, leaving their fate unclear.

• Nick Fury watched Tony flee from Jude and agreed to help the military intercept the unidentified flier, deploying two Quinjets and requesting four F-series fighters.
• Jude used Cowboy 1's Particle Deflection Field to deflect Tony's lasers, and Tony surrendered after his armor was damaged.
• Jude accepted Tony's offer of drinks and a party, then noticed six flying objects approaching and accelerated toward them.
• The Quinjets fired Hellfire missiles at Jude, but the missiles turned around and struck the Quinjets.

Jude Herbert attacked the military jets that had been sent to intercept him, destroying five while S.H.I.E.L.D. struggled to understand what was happening. Tony Stark finally answered Pepper Potts’s call and hurried to find Jude before he could destroy the last fighter jet.

• Jude Herbert destroyed two Quinjets with their own missiles, then blew apart an F-series fighter jet as S.H.I.E.L.D. and military personnel watched in confusion.
• Jude destroyed another fighter jet, prompting the military colonel to order the remaining pilots to retreat.
• The last two pilots split up, but Jude pursued them at extreme speed, and one pilot sent a farewell message to his family.
• Nick Fury learned that Tony Stark was rejecting his calls and ordered his agents to save the last pilot.
• Pepper Potts reached Tony and told him Jude had destroyed five jets; Tony asked Jarvis to locate the remaining fighter jet.

Tony tried to save the last F-series pilot, but Jude destroyed the fighter jet in front of him and won their confrontation. Back at Stark Tower, Jude taunted Tony and warned that Earth would face more advanced civilizations, while Tony dismissed his claims as drunken nonsense.

• Tony caught up with the last F-series fighter jet and tried to convince Jude not to attack it.
• Jude fired Cowboy 1's high-energy weapon and destroyed the fighter jet despite Tony's protests.
• Tony and Jude returned to Stark Tower, where Jude turned Tony's party into a victory celebration.
• Tony asked how Jude had defeated his weapons, and Jude claimed that the gap came from stronger cheats and warned of future threats from advanced civilizations.
• Tony ordered Happy to throw Jude out, but Pepper Potts burst in and ordered everyone to leave.

Jude left Stark Tower after warning Tony Stark and the models that aliens would soon invade Earth. Meanwhile, Nick Fury, Amanda Waller, and military officials discussed how to obtain Bond Heissem’s advanced armor, with Fury proposing a peaceful approach.

• Pepper Potts ordered Jude to leave Stark Tower, and Jude flew away after warning the models about an impending alien invasion.
• Nick Fury arrived at a military base and found Amanda Waller attending a meeting by presidential order.
• Amanda Waller offered A.R.G.U.S.’s research rights to the monster that had attacked the Hilton Hotel.
• A military officer presented an analysis of Cowboy 1’s extreme speed, durability, and missile-jamming technology, then argued the government should take its technology.
• Amanda Waller and the Three-Star Lieutenant General supported forcing Bond Heissem to surrender his armor technology, while Nick Fury asked to try a peaceful approach.

Nick Fury and Coulson visited Jude Herbert to recruit him for S.H.I.E.L.D.'s superpowered organization after learning he had piloted the armor that fought Tony Stark and shot down fighter jets. Jude rejected the invitation, saying he did not trust official organizations.

• Nick Fury brought Coulson to Heissem Technology Company and pushed his way into Jude's laboratory despite a manager's warning.
• Nick Fury startled Jude, who mistook him for a horror movie actor and insulted him, prompting Coulson to calm his furious director.
• Jude challenged Nick Fury's right to enter his premises and joked with Coulson about working under a Black director.
• Nick Fury identified Jude as the pilot of Cowboy 1 and warned that the military and A.R.G.U.S. had set their sights on him.
• Nick Fury invited Jude to join S.H.I.E.L.D.'s superpowered organization and promised to protect him, but Jude refused because he distrusted official organizations.

Jude refused Coulson and Nick Fury’s offer to join the Avengers, then warned Little Spider against trusting political organizations and made him memorize a strange phrase. Little Spider sobered up and returned home, unaware of why he felt that something was wrong.

• Jude rejected S.H.I.E.L.D. and A.R.G.U.S. and refused to hear Coulson’s Avengers proposal after listening to two sentences.
• Nick Fury and Coulson left after Nick warned Jude that he would regret his decision.
• Jude reassured Little Spider that official organizations would manipulate him and urged him to keep control of his own abilities.
• Jude made Little Spider drink rum and told him to shout “Marvel Magic Rules!” if he ever faced danger.
• Little Spider sobered up, left Jude’s laboratory, and web-swung home after texting Aunt May that he had to work late.

Jude warned Ivy about S.H.I.E.L.D. and gave her a safety code, while William Stryker ordered plans to capture Wolverine and Wade Wilson for his Mutant experiments. Nick Fury joined forces with other powerful figures to target Jude and his companions, leaving the three groups preparing to move against them.

• Jude told Ivy that S.H.I.E.L.D. had tried to recruit him and gave her a code phrase to use if she was in danger.
• William Stryker’s sixty-eighth Mutant fusion specimen died after its genes failed to fuse successfully.
• Francis suggested using Wade Wilson’s regenerative abilities, and Stryker ordered him to find Wade while sending others after Wolverine.
• Nick Fury revealed Jude’s identity and his ties to Bruce Wayne as he joined the effort to capture Jude.
• Amanda Waller took responsibility for Spider-Man, Nick Fury assigned S.H.I.E.L.D. to handle Ivy Pepper, and the three parties agreed to pursue Jude together.

Ivy Pepper was lured to a fake Ministry of Culture meeting, where S.H.I.E.L.D. agents revealed they planned to use her to get Jude’s armor technology. Trapped in a room without plants, Ivy brought out a tiny piece of Wen Xin Grass and prepared to fight.

• Ivy received a Ministry of Culture notice and went to its building with her secretary for questioning.
• A S.H.I.E.L.D. agent stopped Ivy’s secretary from entering the conference room and then sealed Ivy inside.
• Ivy recognized Phil Coulson and learned that the supposed Ministry officials were John Garrett, Rumlow, Hawkeye, and other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.
• John Garrett admitted nothing but threatened Ivy, while Rumlow and Coulson urged her to surrender and Hawkeye announced her arrest.
• Ivy rejected their demands, tore off her necklace, and threw its crystal shell to the floor, revealing a tiny piece of Wen Xin Grass.

Little Spider left to stop Vulture after the villain kidnapped a hostage, while Jude grew suspicious of Ivy's disappearance and went to investigate. Instead, Jude encountered a military force led by Captain America, which demanded his armor technology and tried to arrest him without evidence.

• Little Spider learned that Vulture had taken a hostage to the Held Building and, encouraged by Aunt May and Gwen Stacy, left to confront him.
• Vulture revealed that the hostage was bait meant to draw Little Spider out.
• Peter called Jude to ask for leave, and Jude became suspicious when he could not reach Ivy or her secretary.
• Jude left Deadpool in the laboratory and fired his supervisor after discovering that the supervisor had brought a military group to meet him.
• A colonel demanded Jude's armor technology and ordered his arrest, while Steve argued that Jude should redeem himself by cooperating.
• Jude challenged the charges and demanded a reasonable explanation for the rape accusation.

Little Spider rescued a hostage and discovered that Vulture’s real target was him, as A.R.G.U.S. had tasked Vulture with luring him out. Doctor Octopus assembled the Sinister Six to capture Little Spider, who was forced to fight when Alyosha threatened civilians and managed to knock Vulture and Doctor Octopus out of the sky.

• Little Spider kicked Vulture away, rescued the hostage, and urged him to return to prison.
• Vulture revealed that A.R.G.U.S. had assigned him to lure out Little Spider, and said he had companions.
• Rhino joined Vulture, followed by Swarm, Alyosha, Sandman, and Doctor Octopus, who named their group the Sinister Six.
• Little Spider tried to escape, but Alyosha threatened the civilians below, forcing him to stay and fight.
• The Sinister Six attacked Little Spider, who swung to another building and webbed Vulture’s eyes before yanking him down and sending Doctor Octopus falling.

Little Spider was overwhelmed by the Sinister Six, who planned to hand him over to Amanda Waller and uncover his identity. As Doctor Octopus reached for his mask, Little Spider remembered Jude’s instructions and shouted, “God! Marvel is the best!”

• The Sinister Six cornered Little Spider on a rooftop, and Doctor Octopus ordered the others to attack despite Little Spider’s plea for him to stop.
• Sandman, Swarm, and Alyosha battered Little Spider, with Alyosha accusing him of causing his father Kraven’s suicide.
• Sandman trapped Little Spider in quicksand, battered him with a sandstorm, and struck him with a sand giant until he collapsed.
• Doctor Octopus stopped Sandman from killing Little Spider and restrained Alyosha and Swarm when they argued over who should finish him.
• The Sinister Six revealed that A.R.G.U.S. had arranged the capture so they could deliver Little Spider to Amanda Waller, and Doctor Octopus prepared to remove his mask.
• Little Spider recalled Jude’s instructions and shouted, “God! Marvel is the best!”

Little Spider activated a hidden Spider Armor and blasted the Sinister Six, while Ivy fought S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and escaped after taking control of Rumlow. Black Widow and Melinda May confronted Ivy in the hallway.

• Little Spider shouted the activation phrase again, and a Spider Armor with eight spider legs emerged and sent the Sinister Six flying.
• Ivy attacked John Garrett and the others with her plants, but Hawkeye wounded her shoulder and Rumlow captured her.
• Ivy manipulated Rumlow with her powers, making him attack Coulson, Garrett, and Hawkeye before she ordered him to kill them.
• Ivy divided the conference room with plants and fled into the hallway, where she trapped the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who tried to stop her.
• Black Widow and Melinda May emerged ahead of Ivy and prepared to deal with her.

Jude implanted an armor chip in Little Spider, who used the Spider Armor to defeat the Sinister Six during their fight. Amanda Waller ordered A.R.G.U.S. to prepare a fallback plan, while S.H.I.E.L.D. warned Grant Ward to prepare for an emergency; Little Spider ended the battle by drilling through Sandman.

• Jude implanted an armor chip in Little Spider and equipped it with an AI voiced like Gwen Stacy.
• Little Spider activated the Spider Armor, knocked out Alyosha, and drove Rhino and Vulture through a building until both passed out.
• Little Spider shredded Swarm’s wasps, set him on fire, and urged Doctor Octopus and Sandman to surrender.
• Sandman grew into a giant and collapsed the building, while Amanda Waller ordered A.R.G.U.S. to prepare its fallback plan and Nick Fury and Maria Hill told Grant Ward to prepare for an emergency.
• Little Spider disabled Doctor Octopus’s mechanical tentacles and electrocuted him unconscious, then drilled through Sandman until his giant body exploded.