Recaps

Henry explained to Katharine Hepburn how he killed the Arden couple after discovering they were vampires who murdered young people, and how the family blamed him when its fortune was stolen. He reassured her that he was monitoring the investigation and had brought Aether home safely, though he worried about her state of mind.

• Katharine Hepburn questioned Henry about the Mellon family ball and the Arden Family, and Henry first gave her a false account of the Arden couple's disappearance.
• Henry admitted that the Arden couple were vampires who had murdered at least thirty people, and that he killed them after finding evidence in their mansion.
• Henry told Katharine that lawyers and other Old Money families stole the Arden fortune, then tried to make him the scapegoat when the younger Ardens blamed him.
• Katharine worried that the police might not believe Henry and asked how Aether was doing, while Henry said he was monitoring the investigation and had brought Aether home safely.
• Katharine reflected that Aether's attempt to enter the wealthy social circle had exposed her to danger.

Henry spent the summer in Central Park with Katharine Hepburn and the two girls, while Gwen prepared to leave Empire State University and explore other universities. The chapter left Gwen working with Professor Betty Ross at Culver University, as Henry and Katharine discussed whether Gwen had hoped he would persuade her to stay in New York.

• Henry watched Skye and Lorna play with Kitty while Katharine Hepburn spent the summer vacation with the girls in Central Park.
• Katharine Hepburn teased Henry about his romantic life and asked why Gwen had not visited during her university break.
• Henry explained that Gwen was researching transfers and scholarships after Professor Curt Connors's departure and was helping Professor Betty Ross at Culver University over the summer.
• Katharine Hepburn wondered whether Gwen had asked Henry for help because she wanted him to persuade her to stay, but Henry said he would not hold back her future.

Henry visited Wanda Maximoff’s Emporium after Lorna passed along Wanda’s request for a favor, while he tried to deflect teasing about Gwen and the girls. He entered the shop smoothly, but Wanda had not yet revealed what she wanted.

• Henry told Katharine Hepburn he would not pursue Gwen because he thought she might regret it, and Kate teased him about waiting for Skye or Lorna to grow up.
• Kitty charged into Henry and sat on him, while Skye and Lorna denied boosting the Frisbee to get back at him for his remark about their appearance.
• Lorna told Henry that Wanda had asked him to visit the Emporium when he had time, and Henry agreed to stop by while replenishing his incense.
• Henry took Katharine Hepburn and the two girls home, then drove to Tribeca and entered Wanda’s Emporium.

Wanda asked Henry to accompany her as her guardian to a witch’s gathering, where she would witness a young witch’s coming-of-age ceremony. Henry examined the magical invitation and learned it was written in the same undecipherable script as the Voynich manuscript.

• Henry arrived at Wanda’s shop, and a persistent customer left after Wanda greeted Henry.
• Wanda asked Henry to accompany her to a witches’ gathering because Pietro was unavailable.
• Wanda darkened the view beyond the shop’s windows, stopping Henry from leaving before he agreed to hear her explanation.
• Wanda explained that she would witness Winnie Spellman’s choice between the paths of light and darkness and ensure the ceremony was voluntary and followed the rules.
• Henry recognized the invitation’s script as resembling the Voynich manuscript, and Wanda said it was a magical cipher that only people with magical power could read.

Henry learned how Wanda’s magic translated the invitation and why young witches had to choose whether to bind themselves to their power. He agreed to accompany her to a ceremony in Jericho, Vermont, and Wanda left him with an unexpected offer.

• Wanda explained that some young witches had to make a contract to retain their powers, while others could choose to give them up.
• Henry asked what being Wanda’s Guardian entailed, and she said he would act as muscle without being bound like a familiar.
• Wanda told Henry that tarot cards had pointed her to him and that the ceremony would take place on July seventeenth in Jericho, Vermont, for one night.
• Henry agreed to go with Wanda and offered to use his armor to make the trip quickly.
• Wanda tried to kiss Henry and offered him payment, but he declined and said he would help her for free.

Henry was captivated by Wanda Maximinoff’s ceremonial outfit and carried her through the air to Vermont for her coming-of-age ceremony. With Wanda’s magical arrow guiding him, he found Naraka Academy, hidden by magic.

• Wanda arrived dressed in her Scarlet Witch regalia, and Henry admired her shifting Nebula Cloak.
• Wanda asked Henry to call her Wanda or the Scarlet Witch, then offered to travel on his back or in his arms.
• Henry carried Wanda into the sky, protecting them both with his Biological Force Field.
• Wanda conjured a fiery arrow that guided Henry toward Naraka Academy, which he spotted as a hazy cluster of castle-like buildings.

Henry accompanied Wanda to Naraka Academy to witness Winnie Spellman’s coming-of-age rite, where the academy’s unusual customs and social ranks became apparent. As the group entered a moonless wood and gathered around a stone altar, Wanda told Henry to watch and said he would know when to act as Winnie’s guardian.

• Henry and Wanda entered Naraka Academy after Wanda’s invitation opened its chained gates.
• Larissa Wince welcomed Wanda, while the academy’s attendees greeted her according to their standing.
• Winnie Spellman introduced herself to Wanda, who asked whether Winnie had chosen her path.
• Wanda explained that Naraka Academy accepted some children from ordinary families, unlike the stricter Academy of the Invisible Arts in Connecticut.
• The group followed lamp-bearing attendants into the woods, where they gathered around a stone altar for Winnie’s rite.
• Wanda led Henry to the edge of the gathering and told him to watch until he knew when to fulfill his duty as Winnie’s guardian.

Henry watched a baptism ritual for a girl falter as she resisted signing away her soul, and the ritual summoned a Goat-Headed Demon that noticed him. When Henry claimed to be Wanda’s Guardian, Wanda denied it and explained that Quicksilver was her only Guardian, leaving Henry to ask the demon for time to resolve the misunderstanding.

• The Father of Magic began the girl’s baptism, but she hesitated to sign the massive book as the Coven kept Wanda, Henry, and Larissa Wince from interfering.
• The Black Goat transformed into a towering Goat-Headed Demon as the ritual site warped with colorful mists and strange beings, while the area around Wanda remained clear.
• The entities at the ritual site turned their attention to Henry and asked who he was.
• Henry claimed he was Wanda’s Guardian, but the Goat-Headed Demon and Wanda both rejected his claim.
• Wanda explained that Guardians had to be close relatives or spouses and said Quicksilver had always been her only Guardian.
• Henry asked the Goat-Headed Demon for an hour to take care of something off to the side.

Henry learned from Wanda that strength, rather than magical custom, determined who made the rules, and he attacked the Goat-Headed Demon. After Henry tore off the demon’s limbs, it revealed itself as Asmodeus, opened a passage to Hell, and urged the trapped mortals to sacrifice Henry.

• Wanda told Henry that the strong could ignore others’ rules and make their own.
• Henry punched the Goat-Headed Demon and stopped its claw with one hand, reasoning that its physical form still obeyed the laws of physics.
• Henry struck the demon hundreds of thousands of times until its limbs were torn from its body.
• The demon identified itself as Asmodeus and cursed Henry, causing the ground to collapse into an Abyss.
• Asmodeus drew strength from the Abyss and offered the trapped mortals rewards if they sacrificed Henry.

Henry tested the Goat-Headed Demon’s manifested body, using controlled blows to reduce it to a tiny crystal of unusual energy. After the demon vanished and could not reopen the Gate of Hell, Henry headed toward Hell to find Mephisto.

• The Goat-Headed Demon opened the Gate of Hell and tried to turn his followers against Henry, but Wanda remained unmoved.
• Henry examined the gate and asked Wanda about the barrier between Earth and Hell.
• Henry struck the Goat-Headed Demon at immense speed while containing the resulting shock waves and energy.
• Henry’s blows broke down the demon’s body and produced a tiny crystal of lightlike energy before the demon vanished.
• Henry asked the demon to open the gate again, but it said it could not; Henry then leaped toward Hell.

Henry discovered that the crystals formed by pulverizing demons were pure Psionic Energy, which Wanda identified as a prize demons and dimensional gods sought. He stored the energy in Wanda’s magical ring and wondered whether it could help explain how Celestials used human souls to mature.

• Henry crushed the remaining demons’ incarnations and found that the resulting crystals shared a structure and merged when brought together.
• Henry questioned whether the Psionic Energy extracted from souls could fuel a Celestial’s growth or relate to Cosmic Energy.
• When someone at the coming-of-age ritual began chanting, Henry sewed the mouths of the suspected spellcasters shut and warned the priest to respect his rules.
• Wanda identified the crystal as pure Psionic Energy and showed Henry how to place it in her white gemstone ring for storage.
• Henry left the ritual, dismissing the girl’s meaningful looks and resolving to make better use of any future offerings from Mephisto.

Henry helped end the danger at a witch’s coming-of-age ceremony and obtained a black gemstone ring that might hold energy useful for his suit. He left with Wanda and Larissa Wince, while the young witch’s apparent bargain remained set to exact a price someday.

• Larissa Wince explained that the demonic barrier still prevented everyone from leaving, and Wanda Maximoff agreed to help.
• Wince summoned a fire serpent that swallowed the blue flames, while Wanda broke the masterless barrier and the young witch completed her signing.
• Henry took a psychic crystal from the demonic avatars, and Wince asked him to preserve the power in her grandmother’s black ring as a vessel.
• Wince warned that the young witch would eventually pay the price of her bargain, then left with Henry and Wanda.
• Henry carried Wanda and Wince back to Manhattan, where Wince asked him not to lose her grandmother’s ring.

Henry discovered that sub-cosmic energy could manifest small pieces of Eternals' Armor and began planning experiments toward a portable energy armor suit. He left his research with new questions about whether souls and demonic avatars could be used directly in armor or other devices.

• Henry found that the pure psionic energy from demons degraded outside Wanda's Black Gem Ring, then named it sub-cosmic energy after confirming it could replace cosmic energy.
• Henry tested the energy on an Eternals' Armor Rune Stone and manifested a small finger sheath, estimating that he would need another thousand to fifteen hundred Goat-Headed Demons for a full suit.
• Henry decided to study Energy-Manifested Armor as a portable alternative to Mecha and Nanotech Armor, while planning to design a suit tailored to his needs, including protection against kryptonite.
• Henry considered whether souls and demonic avatars could serve as building blocks or energy for armor, and wondered what else he could make from them.

Skye showed Henry her learner’s permit and persuaded him to take her and Lorna out to practice driving. Henry brought them to his heavily modified Chrysler Pacifica, whose armor and advanced systems made it nearly a wheeled armored vehicle.

• Skye asked Henry for the car keys, and he teased her about failing her permit test before agreeing to supervise her driving practice.
• Skye and Lorna argued over their past driving mishaps until Henry carried them both out and told them to behave.
• Henry told Katharine Hepburn to use her emergency bracelet if anything happened, and she wished them a safe trip.
• Henry prepared the Chrysler Pacifica, which had a powerful hybrid drivetrain, adjustable suspension, emergency tire repairs, and armor capable of resisting heavy gunfire.

Henry taught Skye to drive the Chrysler while Lorna’s constant warnings sparked an argument between them. Little Red landed on the car and showed Henry a video of Gwen Stacy and Betty Ross amid gunfire and warnings about monsters.

• Henry secretly tested the Chrysler’s spacecraft Inertial Damper and taught Skye to drive while Lorna called out hazards from the back seat.
• Skye stopped the car and scolded Lorna for distracting her, and the two girls fell into an uneasy silence.
• Little Red’s Spider-Mech dropped onto the Chrysler’s hood, climbed inside, and connected itself to the car’s USB port.
• Little Red played a video showing Gwen Stacy and Betty Ross amid gunfire and a warning that monsters were coming.

Henry recognized the creatures in footage from Raccoon City as possible zombies and learned Gwen Stacy and Betty Ross were there on assignment. He decided to investigate the T-virus threat himself while ordering Skye and Lorna to remain in New York and prepare for a possible evacuation.

• Henry watched footage of humanoid monsters attacking soldiers near Gwen Stacy and Betty Ross in Raccoon City, Colorado.
• Henry called Gwen and learned she and Betty were safe for the moment, though they were working in the city.
• Henry concluded that the suspected T-virus could become a worldwide catastrophe and decided he had to intervene because Gwen and Betty would not abandon the crisis.
• Henry told Skye and Lorna to stay in New York, have Skye access Raccoon City's municipal systems, and evacuate Kate and Kitty if he sent a warning.
• Henry made Skye and Lorna promise not to drive to Colorado themselves, warning that a worsening outbreak could leave them no time to get there.

Henry learned that Gwen was in danger in Raccoon City and recruited help to contain a zombie outbreak caused by a leaked Umbrella Corporation virus. He planned to secure a research base, find an antidote, and distribute it, while the Eternals agreed to help because Gwen was there.

• Henry told Katharine Hepburn that Gwen was in trouble and promised to bring her home safely.
• Henry showed Cassandra, Gilgamesh, and Thena footage of zombies in Raccoon City and explained his suspicions about the Umbrella Corporation virus.
• Henry said he would contact Alexei and Spider-Man, then use the impounded Canary Device to spread an antidote once they developed it.
• Thena questioned why Henry cared about the outbreak, and Henry admitted that Gwen was in Raccoon City.
• Cassandra, Gilgamesh, and Thena agreed to help Henry because Gwen was there.

Henry organized a trip to Raccoon City to seek an antidote for the zombie outbreak, assigning the Eternals to gather help and equipment. Green Arrow Duck recruited Spider-Man and headed to borrow the X-Men’s Blackbird Jet.

• Henry planned to find Alexei and Spider-Man, move equipment from the Peace Clinic, and ask the X-Men for transport and help.
• Gilgamesh agreed to speak with Alexei and help pack equipment, while Henry set out to recruit Spider-Man; Corvin and Selene would stay behind.
• Green Arrow Duck located Spider-Man and showed him footage of the zombie outbreak in Raccoon City, asking him to help develop an antidote.
• Spider-Man agreed to come along and asked how the group would travel, so Green Arrow Duck said he would try to borrow the X-Men’s Blackbird Jet.
• Green Arrow Duck used super catapult acceleration to leave for the Blackbird Jet.

Henry Brown visited Xavier's School to ask Professor X for the X-Jet so he could secretly investigate the outbreak in Raccoon City and search for a cure. Professor X had not agreed when Jean Grey argued that the disease should be easy for the military to contain.

• Henry Brown arrived at Xavier's School in the Duck Leopard armor, where Storm escorted him to Professor X.
• Henry used Molecular Phasing to step out of the armor and revealed himself to Professor X, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Storm, and Wolverine.
• Henry showed Professor X footage of infected people in Raccoon City and asked to borrow the X-Jet to transport his team and equipment.
• Henry explained that he wanted to keep the operation and its equipment out of the authorities' attention because he distrusted the government's response.
• Jean Grey assessed the outbreak as relatively easy to identify and contain, given the military's capabilities.

Henry warned Jean Grey and the X-Men that the disease could spread through air and water, with an estimated reproduction number of 20 and the potential to cause human extinction within months. Jean persuaded Professor X that they needed to intervene, and Henry went with the X-Men to verify the outbreak in Raccoon City while hoping to ask them for help obtaining a transport aircraft.

• Henry showed Jean Grey surveillance footage and calculations suggesting the disease had a reproduction number of 20.
• Jean Grey explained that the disease could be deadlier than measles, might be incurable after symptoms appeared, and also infected animals.
• Henry warned that unchecked infection could kill everyone within months, prompting Jean to urge Professor X to intervene.
• Professor X decided to verify the danger and invited Henry to accompany the X-Men to investigate Raccoon City.
• Henry joined Professor X and the others, intending to ask the X-Men for help with a transport aircraft.

Henry waited outside the Cerebral Wave Amplification Chamber while Professor X assessed the Raccoon City outbreak and agreed to help. The X-Men prepared to join Henry’s mission, leaving its field command to Cyclops and its departure arrangements to a tablet.

• Henry stayed outside the Cerebral Wave Amplification Chamber and warned Colossus to keep quiet about recognizing him.
• Jean Grey emerged and told Colossus that Henry was more dangerous than the young X-Men realized.
• Professor X told Henry that the Raccoon City situation was worse than reported and agreed to provide the Blackbird Jet and X-Men assistance.
• Henry declined to take command of the X-Men, and Professor X named Cyclops as the field team’s commander.
• Henry left a tablet with Jean Grey for the X-Men to receive their rendezvous details and urged them to prepare to leave within an hour or two.

Police Commissioner George Stacy discovered that the Canary Device had vanished from the evidence room, even though surveillance showed it still in place. A newspaper-clipping note promised to return it in three days, and Stacy ordered the theft kept secret until then.

• George Stacy went to the evidence room after an old colleague reported a serious problem.
• The officers showed Stacy that the Canary Device appeared on surveillance but was physically missing.
• Stacy confirmed that the device had disappeared that day, despite the evidence room’s security and guarded entrance.
• The veteran evidence officer showed Stacy a note assembled from newspaper headlines that read, “Borrowing this for three days.”
• George Stacy recognized the note’s old-fashioned method and gave the thief three days to return the device before calling in forensics.

Spider-Man joined the X-Men and Green Arrow Duck aboard the Blackbird Jet as they transported laboratory equipment, peppering everyone with questions and fastening the standing mechas to the cabin walls with webbing. The jet took off for Colorado with Spider-Man buckled into his seat, still talking.

• Green Arrow Duck and the X-Men loaded equipment from the Peace Clinic rooftop onto the Blackbird Jet while Spider-Man peppered the X-Men with questions.
• Green Arrow Duck arrived with the Canary Device, and Spider-Man asked him about the animal-armored team and how to contact Pighead Armor.
• Spider-Man shot webbing to secure Green Arrow Duck, Bonnie, Bullhead, and the Ursa Major Mecha inside the Blackbird Jet.
• Colossus pressed Spider-Man into his seat and buckled his seat belt before takeoff.
• The Blackbird Jet took off for Colorado as Spider-Man continued talking, and Bullhead joked about trailing him behind the plane like a kite.

The X-Men's Blackbird Jet reached Raccoon City, where U.S. soldiers were fighting zombies and Gwen Stacy and Betty Ross were in danger. Cyclops led the first wave of reinforcements out of the plane, and Spider-Man and the Mecha suits followed without parachutes.

• The Blackbird Jet flew toward Raccoon City at high speed while Henry defended Spider-Man to the Mecha pilots.
• The Green Arrow Duck's occupant spotted soldiers firing at zombies and Gwen Stacy and Betty Ross among the troops.
• Cyclops opened the rear hatch and announced that he, Storm, Jean Grey, and Wolverine would reinforce the soldiers first.
• The Green Arrow Duck's occupant broke free of the spider silk and jumped after them, followed by the other Mecha suits and Cassandra.
• Spider-Man asked whether any of the people who had jumped from the plane had parachutes.

The X-Men and their allies landed in Raccoon City and quickly destroyed the zombie horde with mutant powers and Mecha weapons. Cyclops introduced the group to Army Lieutenant Colonel Kathleen Spall, who welcomed their help but questioned the strange figures and machines accompanying them.

• Storm glided down on the wind, Jean Grey slowed her fall with telekinesis, Cyclops used an Optic Blast to land, and Wolverine crashed into the ground before healing and climbing out.
• Green Arrow Duck, Bonnie, Bullhead, Cassandra, and Alexei used their Mecha gravity systems to slow their descents and protect their machines.
• Cyclops and Storm attacked the zombie horde, while Green Arrow Duck identified the zombies' hot brain stems and spines as weak points through infrared scans.
• The Mecha linked systems and used Railguns to eliminate the remaining zombies.
• Cyclops approached the U.S. soldiers and identified the group as the X-Men, then Army Lieutenant Colonel Kathleen Spall thanked them and asked whether their strange companions were X-Men too.