Chapter Summaries

Chen Mo returned to Tony Stark’s villa and reunited with Peggy Carter, who explained that Steve Rogers had gone to pick Sharon up from school. The chapter showed how Steve and Carter had settled into family life with Sharon and Tony, while Natasha Romanoff continued reporting on the household to Nick Fury.

• Tony Stark explained that Steve Rogers and Peggy Carter lived in his villa because Sharon was still in school and he did not want her to move away.
• Chen Mo went upstairs with Tony and Dr. Ethan and reunited with Peggy Carter in the kitchen.
• Peggy told Chen Mo that Steve had gone to pick Sharon up from school.
• The narration described Steve and Carter’s efforts to make up for lost time with Sharon by taking her to school and cooking for the household.
• Nick Fury kept Natasha Romanoff undercover in the villa, unaware that she served Chen Mo and that Steve and Carter were her superiors.

After returning to the villa, Chen Mo reunited with Sharon Rogers, who had grown into a young woman and greeted him with affection. The family’s peaceful life continued, while Tony Stark’s jealousy flared as he watched Sharon cling to Chen Mo.

• Natasha Romanoff and Peggy Carter spent their days together at the villa while Natasha secretly remained on Nick Fury’s payroll as Tony Stark’s observer.
• Tony Stark kept his palladium poisoning secret, and Chen Mo’s proposal for a new element had since relieved his fears.
• Chen Mo returned to the villa and was warmly welcomed by Carter and Natasha Romanoff.
• Sharon Rogers arrived home from school, recognized Chen Mo, and leaped into his arms.
• Chen Mo praised Sharon for growing taller, while Tony Stark and Steve watched with jealousy and Peggy Carter felt guilty about having left Sharon behind.
• Tony Stark grew jealous as Sharon cuddled with Chen Mo and began running his mouth.

Sharon teased Tony about being weaker than the other heroes in the villa while she stayed close to Chen Mo, who encouraged her. The family banter ended when Peggy and Natasha rushed back to the kitchen to rescue dinner.

• Tony teased Steve that Chen Mo was stealing Sharon, and Sharon told Tony to call Steve Uncle.
• Tony argued that Steve was his generation and that he was a great Super Hero, but Sharon pointed out that her family and Captain America were stronger than him.
• Chen Mo praised Sharon and said she would become stronger than Tony, while Sharon gloated and nestled back into his arms.
• Tony resented Chen Mo favoring Sharon and briefly thought about whether his biological father Howard would have taken his side.
• Peggy and Natasha smelled the food burning and hurried to the kitchen to save dinner.

Chen Mo discovered that the five doses of Super Soldier Serum he had left for Tony Stark and the others remained unused, confirming that plot inertia had kept them from finding it. He confronted Howard at S.H.I.E.L.D. about Tony's self-destructive work, and Howard admitted he was letting Tony suffer so he would mature before intervening.

• After dinner, Chen Mo found the five labeled vials of Super Soldier Serum untouched in his room and concluded that plot inertia had kept the others from discovering them.
• The next morning, Tony Stark pulled Dr. Ethan into the laboratory to research a new element while the others went to work, school, or shopping.
• Chen Mo flew in disguise to S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters and threatened to replace Howard as director over his handling of Tony's situation.
• Howard insisted that Tony was his biological son and said he was allowing him to struggle so he would grow up before Howard stepped in.

Chen Mo confronted Howard over his failed Desperate Training Plan and learned that Howard had not finished developing the new element needed to replace the palladium in Tony Stark’s reactor. The chapter left Howard focused on completing the research, since the Super Soldier Serum could only delay Tony’s poisoning rather than cure it.

• Howard claimed his Desperate Training Plan would make Tony grow, but admitted Tony had become even more reckless and unreliable.
• Chen Mo demanded that Howard hand over the new element, and Howard confessed that he had not finished creating it.
• Howard explained that Tony had ignored the blueprints and research materials he had left him, so Howard had resumed the work himself.
• Chen Mo warned that Tony’s weakened condition made the Super Soldier Serum risky and that it would not remove the palladium poisoning.
• Howard revealed that he had spent most of his recent time researching the new element because it was the only way to save Tony.

Chen Mo obtained Howard’s research materials for the New Element and told Tony that Howard had left him a project to complete. Tony struggled to believe his father had trusted him, and the chapter left him confronting memories of Howard’s emotional distance.

• Howard resisted giving Chen Mo his research materials because he feared Tony would discover he was alive, but he handed over a flash drive after Chen Mo reminded him that Tony might die from palladium poisoning.
• Howard offered to make Chen Mo director of S.H.I.E.L.D., but Chen Mo refused and left Howard in charge.
• Chen Mo returned to the villa and found Tony Stark and Dr. Ethan making no progress on the New Element.
• Chen Mo told Tony that Howard had left behind research showing the Arc Reactor was only a step toward a powerful new energy source.
• Chen Mo said Howard believed Tony alone could finish the project, but Tony doubted his father had trusted him and recalled Howard as cold and distant.

Chen Mo told Tony Stark that Howard had helped found S.H.I.E.L.D. and had devoted himself to protecting the world, not just to Stark Industries. He urged Tony to look at what Howard had left him, and Tony found a dusty box bearing his father's name.

• Tony Stark questioned Chen Mo's claim that Howard had believed Tony would shape the future.
• Chen Mo revealed that Howard had been one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s founders and had worked for the world's protection.
• Chen Mo told Tony that Howard had loved him and pointed him toward the things Howard had left behind.
• Tony remembered that Howard's belongings were in the villa's lowest storage room and hurried there.
• Tony searched the cluttered room, found Howard's dusty box, and uncovered his father's name on it.

Tony Stark watched the old film Howard had left behind and learned how deeply his father had loved him and believed in him. The revelation left Tony rethinking their relationship and the legacy Howard had entrusted to him.

• Tony Stark opened Howard's box and found Arc Reactor plans, research notebooks, documents, and old film reels.
• Tony Stark watched footage of his childhood and remembered how strict Howard had seemed as a father.
• Tony Stark saw a private recording in which Howard said he had built the city model for him and believed he would change the world.
• Howard called Tony his greatest creation, and Tony realized he had wrongly believed his father saw him as a burden.
• Tony Stark sat stunned after the film ended, reflecting on Howard's love and the unfinished work he had left behind.

Tony Stark discovered that Howard had hidden clues to his unfinished new-element research in the future-city model, and began analyzing it in his laboratory. He left with renewed hope of solving his palladium poisoning, while still postponing a reconciliation with Pepper.

• Tony Stark realized Howard had left the new-element research hidden in the city model he had pointed to in the recording.
• Tony drove to Stark Industries, retrieved the model, and chose not to visit Pepper because he feared she would reject him.
• Tony reassembled the model at his villa and asked J.A.R.V.I.S. to create an interactive projection.
• Tony recognized that the city’s layout resembled an atom and identified the central globe as its likely nucleus.
• Tony instructed J.A.R.V.I.S. to remove the roads and landscaping so he could rediscover the new element Howard had found.

Tony Stark deciphered the new element hidden in Howard’s model and learned that it could replace the palladium poisoning his body. Chen Mo gave him Howard’s research on manufacturing it, leaving Tony confident enough to begin building the equipment he needed.

• Tony Stark used the virtual buildings to reveal the new element’s atomic structure and learned from J.A.R.V.I.S. that it could replace palladium.
• Tony Stark worried that he might not have time to manufacture the element before his poisoning worsened.
• Chen Mo gave Tony Stark a USB drive containing Howard’s research and experiments on making the new element.
• Tony Stark reviewed the materials and became confident that he could create the element in time.
• Tony Stark told Chen Mo and Dr. Ethan to prepare for a laboratory renovation to make room for a particle accelerator.

Tony Stark and Chen Mo built a particle accelerator, and Tony used it to create a new element from Howard’s research materials. The new element powered a more compact Arc Reactor, which began glowing brighter than the Third-generation model.

• Chen Mo used his King's Sword and telekinesis to help renovate the villa and assemble Tony Stark's particle accelerator.
• Tony Stark asked Chen Mo about telekinesis, and Chen Mo agreed to teach him after Tony saved his own life.
• Tony Stark said Howard's research materials would help him create the New Element in less than a week.
• Three days later, Tony Stark used the particle accelerator to irradiate a triangular metal ring, and J.A.R.V.I.S. confirmed it was a new element.
• Tony Stark placed the new element into a compact Arc Reactor, which began glowing more brightly than the Third-generation reactor.

Tony Stark and the others tested the upgraded Fourth Generation Arc Reactor, which proved vastly more powerful and long-lasting than its predecessor. Reviewing Howard Stark’s research materials more carefully, Tony discovered evidence that his father might still be alive, and Chen Mo confirmed it.

• J.A.R.V.I.S. tested the upgraded reactor and reported five times the output and an estimated energy capacity at least one hundred times greater than the Third-generation Arc Reactor.
• Further testing showed the reactor’s energy capacity exceeded three hundred times that of the previous generation, and Tony Stark installed it in his chest.
• Tony Stark reviewed Howard Stark’s research materials again after noticing something he had missed, while Dr. Ethan asked Chen Mo what was wrong.
• Tony Stark asked Chen Mo whether Howard was still alive, and Chen Mo confirmed that he was.

Tony Stark realized Howard had continued researching the New Element to save him and learned that both his parents were still alive. He was thrilled by Maria’s survival, though the chapter ended as he remembered another question for Chen Mo.

• Tony Stark noticed Howard's research used modern technology, leading him to suspect Howard was still alive.
• Tony Stark understood that Howard had resumed his New Element research after Tony's palladium poisoning began and became less angry about the deception.
• Tony Stark asked Chen Mo whether his mother was alive, and Chen Mo confirmed that Maria was alive too.
• Tony Stark became overwhelmed with joy at the news about Maria and then remembered something else he wanted to ask Chen Mo.

Tony Stark learned that his father, Howard, had become S.H.I.E.L.D.'s director through Chen Mo's rotating-leadership arrangement. Chen Mo explained that Tony's new Arc Reactor had only stopped his palladium poisoning from worsening and hinted that he would address the poisoning and Tony's wish for telekinesis.

• Tony Stark asked whether Howard had been a Super Hero, and Chen Mo explained that Howard and Tony's mother had received the Super Soldier Serum and could undergo cryogenic freezing.
• Chen Mo revealed that Howard was now S.H.I.E.L.D.'s director and said he had proposed that Howard, Steve, Carter, Colonel Phillips, and Dr. Erskine take turns leading the organization.
• Tony Stark asked Chen Mo to take him to see S.H.I.E.L.D., but Chen Mo said they would deal with Tony's problem first.
• Chen Mo explained that the Fourth Generation Arc Reactor had stopped Tony's palladium poisoning from worsening, but the palladium already in his body still weakened him and could threaten him in battle.
• Chen Mo tapped Tony's Arc Reactor and asked whether he planned to wear it forever, then reminded him of his wish for telekinesis.
• Tony Stark excitedly asked whether Chen Mo would teach him telekinesis or empower him, and Chen Mo slapped him on the head.

Chen Mo demonstrated his telekinesis by removing the shrapnel from Tony Stark’s body. The chapter ended with Dr. Ethan confirming the fragments were out and Tony realizing he was safe.

• Chen Mo lifted Tony Stark with telekinesis and pinned him to an experimental chair.
• Chen Mo used telekinesis to gather the tiny shrapnel fragments near Tony Stark’s heart and draw them out through his arm.
• Chen Mo removed Tony Stark’s Arc Reactor, electromagnet, and other chest devices, frightening Tony as he cried for help.
• Dr. Ethan examined the fragments and told Tony Stark they were the pieces left inside his body.
• Tony Stark stopped screaming and cautiously checked whether he still felt pain.

Chen Mo cured Tony Stark’s palladium-weakened body and healed the hole in his chest with an X-Gene Serum, then offered him a serum that would grant telekinesis. Tony eagerly accepted it, and Dr. Ethan was ready to administer the injection.

• Chen Mo asked whether Tony Stark still wanted telekinesis, and Tony eagerly changed his answer to yes.
• Chen Mo injected Tony with a regenerative X-Gene Serum, and Tony asked him to take the chest wound to a hospital.
• Tony felt the serum restore his vitality as the flesh and bones around the wound grew back and completely healed.
• Chen Mo explained regenerative abilities and gave Tony a Telekinesis Gene Serum.
• Tony caught the serum excitedly, and Dr. Ethan prepared to inject it because Tony did not know how to give himself an intravenous shot.

Chen Mo gave Dr. Ethan X-Gene Serums that granted regeneration and telekinesis, then taught him and Tony Stark how to use their new abilities. That evening, Sharon returned to find the villa in disarray and asked what they had been doing.

• Dr. Ethan injected Tony Stark with an X-Gene Serum, and Tony demonstrated his new telekinesis.
• Chen Mo offered Dr. Ethan two serums and persuaded him to accept them as family.
• Chen Mo explained regeneration and telekinesis, guiding Dr. Ethan and Tony as they learned mental communication, consciousness reading, and basic telekinetic control.
• Dr. Ethan and Tony accepted that regeneration gave them eternal life and practiced their abilities through the afternoon.
• Sharon returned with Steve and questioned Chen Mo, Tony, and Dr. Ethan about the damaged villa and their experiments.

Sharon Rogers and the others discovered that Tony Stark’s Arc Reactor was gone, along with the hole in his chest. Tony explained that Chen Mo had helped him create a New Element to cure his palladium poisoning, and Pepper learned why he had kept his condition secret.

• Sharon Rogers saw Tony Stark’s unlit chest and urgently warned him that his battery was dead.
• Pepper Potts rushed to replace Tony’s reactor, but she found that it was missing and could not locate an opening in his chest.
• Sharon Rogers lifted Tony’s shirt and everyone saw that his chest was whole and normal where the reactor had been.
• Tony Stark told Pepper Potts that he had been poisoned and that Chen Mo had helped him create a New Element to replace the toxic palladium.
• Pepper Potts punched Tony Stark and asked why he had not told her, then understood that he had been preparing for his possible death.

Tony Stark and Pepper Potts finally confessed their feelings with a kiss, then Tony explained his new Arc Reactor and the abilities Chen Mo had given him. Chen Mo promised Sharon Rogers any birthday gift she wanted, leaving everyone curious about her choice.

• Tony Stark comforted Pepper Potts, and they kissed until Chen Mo interrupted them because Sharon Rogers was watching.
• Sharon Rogers asked Tony about his new element and the hole in his chest, and Tony corrected her by explaining that he had a Fourth Generation Arc Reactor.
• Tony told everyone that Chen Mo had given him X-Gene Serum, granting him self-healing and telekinesis.
• Sharon complained that Chen Mo had enhanced Tony but not her, and Chen Mo promised he had only tested the serum on Tony first.
• Chen Mo offered Sharon any gift she wanted to make up for missing her birthday, and she eagerly asked whether it could be anything.

Chen Mo offered Sharon Rogers a birthday gift, including an Iron Man suit and a choice of superpowers, while Tony Stark tried unsuccessfully to get a gift for himself. Sharon chose to become Captain Sharon, like her parents, and Chen Mo approved her choice.

• Chen Mo agreed to make Sharon Rogers an Iron Man suit, which upset Tony Stark because he expected to build it himself.
• Chen Mo listed several superpowers Sharon could choose, and Tony Stark tried to claim a belated birthday gift before Chen Mo told him to get lost.
• Sharon Rogers considered her parents’ wartime heroism and decided she wanted to become Captain Sharon.
• Steve Rogers, Peggy Carter, and Chen Mo smiled at Sharon’s choice, and Chen Mo reflected that their abilities and equipment surpassed Tony’s Iron Man suit.