Chapter Summaries

Mystique infiltrated Duva’s Xenomorph group and discovered that Ikaris might be a Deviant, prompting Magneto to investigate Alaska as the possible origin of mutants. Destiny confirmed that Deviants were there but warned that mutants’ fate remained extinction, leaving Magneto determined to pursue his own path for his people.

• Mystique, disguised as a Xenomorph, secretly reported to Magneto that Duva and S.H.I.E.L.D. suspected Ikaris was a Deviant.
• Magneto resolved to travel to Alaska and seek the Deviants, believing they could unite mutants and separate them from humanity.
• Magneto summoned Destiny and asked whether the Deviants’ appearance could change the future of mutants.
• Destiny confirmed that a group of Deviants was in Alaska but said mutants were still destined to disappear, though their extinction would take another form.
• Magneto decided to lead mutants toward becoming Deviants and flew toward Alaska.

In Alaska, Magneto confronted Ikaris, mistook him for a Deviant, and attacked after learning he was an Eternal. As Magneto’s Mutants arrived, Ikaris turned toward the shattered frozen lake and threatened to unleash what lay beneath it.

• Ikaris watched the frozen lake where Deviants slept and recalled his encounter with the Xenomorph.
• Magneto and Red Devil arrived with Mutants, and Magneto called Ikaris “Flyman” and questioned whether he was a Deviant.
• Ikaris identified himself as an Eternal and argued that Eternals had protected humanity from Deviants.
• Magneto attacked Ikaris with magnetic fields and metal, and the two began a destructive battle.
• As more Mutants closed in, Ikaris refused to flee and looked toward the shattered lake, challenging his pursuers to see who would run.

Duva watched rumors spread about Magneto’s defeat and confronted Elektra and the captured Mystique Raven, who had helped lead the Brotherhood into an ambush. Magneto contacted Duva and offered information about the real Deviants in exchange for his help against the creatures that attacked the Brotherhood.

• Duva concluded that the Eternals and Deviants had likely joined forces against Magneto and the Brotherhood.
• Duva told Elektra to remain by his side and said he planned to wipe out the Hand, whose master he knew was a being from beyond Earth.
• Elektra instinctively protected Duva when Mystique Raven, disguised as a Xenomorph, tried to attack him.
• Duva revealed that he had recognized Raven and blamed her for choosing to believe false information and turning against her own people.
• Magneto called Duva and offered to tell him about the real Deviants in return for help against the creatures that had ambushed the Brotherhood.

Duva negotiated with Magneto over the Deviants and Eternals that attacked the Brotherhood, explaining that many kinds of both species existed. He learned that a Deviant Leader had taken Juggernaut and warned that the Brotherhood might be in serious danger if Juggernaut was the being Duva suspected.

• Duva told Magneto that the attacking Deviants were not the only kind and that Earth’s other Deviants had gone extinct twenty thousand years ago.
• Duva explained that many kinds of Deviants and Eternals existed, while Magneto suspected him of hiding information and considered using force to learn the truth.
• Duva offered Magneto captured Deviants in exchange for answers, and Magneto said none of them was the Deviant Leader who had taken Juggernaut.
• Duva reacted with alarm to the news about Juggernaut and warned Magneto and Raven that the Brotherhood could be in serious trouble if Juggernaut was the mutant Duva suspected.

Duva warned Magneto that the Deviant who captured Juggernaut could become an unimaginably powerful threat, then traded limited information about the Eternals and Deviants. After implanting Raven with a Xenomorph, Duva planned to expand his forces by using vampires as hosts.

• Duva explained that Juggernaut's power usually came from Cyttorak and warned Magneto that the Deviant Leader who captured him might become dangerously powerful.
• Magneto asked what the Eternals and Deviants had fought over twenty thousand years ago, and Duva said they had fought for control of Earth before demanding a down payment for more information.
• Duva released Raven but implanted a Xenomorph in her, preventing her from escaping or removing it.
• Duva considered how to grow his Xenomorph army and settled on vampires as the most cost-effective hosts.

Duva’s Xenomorphs attacked vampire hideouts across New York, prompting S.H.I.E.L.D. to assess their growth and plan surveillance. Fury learned that a T0 Level dangerous individual had arrived near New York with several iron boxes.

• Elektra led Xenomorphs in raiding vampire hideouts, capturing many vampires while killing few.
• Observers studied the Xenomorphs’ abilities, and the Permanent Five praised Fury for identifying Duva as a threat.
• Fury rejected Dum Dum Dugan’s claims about infiltrating Kamar-Taj and demanded useful intelligence on Duva.
• Dum Dum Dugan estimated that Duva’s force numbered no more than twenty and that the Xenomorphs produced at most five new members per day.
• Fury ordered surveillance on vampires Duva might target and prepared S.H.I.E.L.D. to intervene if his forces grew.
• Dum Dum Dugan reported a new problem, and Fury revealed that a T0 Level dangerous individual had arrived near New York carrying several iron boxes.

Duva bargained with Magneto for captured Deviants, revealed that their ancestors had been wiped out by their Creator, and began turning the captives into soldiers. Meanwhile, the vampires sought help from Kaecilius to kill Duva.

• Magneto attacked Duva, but Duva's Xenomorphs coordinated to repel the metal barrage, and Magneto recognized their strength and Duva's potential.
• Duva offered information in exchange for Magneto's captured Deviants, while Professor X observed through Elektra and warned Magneto against fighting there.
• Duva's Xenomorphs breached the Iron Cages and subdued the Deviants, and Duva began implanting them underground.
• Duva told Magneto that the Deviants' Creator had judged them and wiped them from Earth, and Magneto agreed to trade ten Deviants for the information about ancient gods.
• Magneto departed to investigate the gods, and Professor X suggested Duva might possess a mutant ability to create and control genetic organisms.
• The vampires, alarmed that Magneto had sought Duva, asked Kaecilius to help them kill him.

Kaecilius agreed to help the vampires kill Duva, but he instead tried to sacrifice them to Dormammu when Blade and Duva attacked. As the battle unfolded, Duva implanted a facehugger in a Black Magic User to test what would happen.

• Kaecilius told the vampires he would send one Black Magic User after Duva, while insisting that the vampires were mere sacrifices for Dormammu.
• Blade and Duva attacked the vampire gathering, and Blade confronted Kaecilius while Duva targeted the other Black Magic Users.
• Kaecilius unleashed black mist that devoured several vampires and declared that he intended to sacrifice them all.
• Duva sent Xenomorphs after the Black Magic Users, whose fighter-heavy tactics left them vulnerable to close combat.
• Duva had a captured Black Magic User implanted with a facehugger, triggering a powerful magical fluctuation and spreading black matter across the victim.

Duva tested whether Xenomorphs could inherit a Black Magic User’s magic by parasitizing him while Blade and Kaecilius fought. Dormammu sensed that something was stealing his power without paying its price.

• Duva watched a Deviant Xenomorph regenerate and considered whether Xenomorphs could inherit magic from their hosts.
• Blade killed the Reapers, then charged Kaecilius and was sent through a portal to Antarctica.
• Kaecilius refused to save a Black Magic User as a Deviant Xenomorph absorbed him.
• Duva observed that the Xenomorph gained little from the Black Magic User’s magic, which surged when it burst from his chest before fading.
• Dormammu sensed someone stealing his power and compared the intruder to the Ancient One.

Dormammu discovered that Xenomorphs could inherit magical power and ordered Kaecilius to seize them. Duva recognized that Dormammu had blocked the Xenomorphs from accessing Black Magic and launched an attack on Kaecilius before he could use Mirror Dimension Magic.

• Dormammu traced the Xenomorph stealing Black Magic and became interested in its ability to inherit power.
• Dormammu blocked the Xenomorph's access to Black Magic and ordered that Xenomorphs be seized at all costs.
• Kaecilius told Duva that Dormammu had issued a new order and demanded that he surrender the Xenomorphs.
• Duva concluded that Dormammu had denied the Xenomorphs access to Black Magic and attacked Kaecilius before he could cast Mirror Dimension Magic.
• Duva and the Xenomorphs fought Kaecilius, using acid blood, brute force, and energy absorption to break through his magical whips.

Duva and his Xenomorphs fought Kaecilius, who tried to cast Faltine Mouth before fleeing through a portal. Duva tore off Kaecilius’s shoulders at the cost of losing both arms, then met Wong as he arrived.

• Duva coordinated the Xenomorphs’ sacrifices to corrode Kaecilius’s Energy Whips and open a path through them.
• Kaecilius began casting Faltine Mouth with Dormammu’s Black Magic while using the whips to hold Duva and the Xenomorphs back.
• Kaecilius sensed danger and fled through a portal, but the Abomination Xenomorph rammed Duva forward so he could reach him.
• Duva forced both arms through the closing portal and tore off Kaecilius’s shoulders, leaving his arms behind as the portal shut.
• Wong arrived too late to stop Kaecilius’s escape, and Duva greeted him while his wounds healed.

Duva survived his battle with Kaecilius and left after Wong warned him about Black Magic. Ancient One discussed threats to history with Wong and Mordo, then ordered a new plan involving Dum Dum Dugan as Thor’s exile to Earth approached.

• Duva reassured Wong that his wounds and severed arms would heal, then admitted he had researched magic and encountered Black Magic.
• Wong warned Duva about Black Magic, but Duva departed with his surviving Xenomorphs after asking Wong to give his regards to the Sorcerer Supreme.
• Wong reported Duva to Ancient One, who said Duva could return only with her permission and could potentially expose his Xenomorphs to White Magic.
• Ancient One told Wong and Mordo that Odin planned to exile Thor to Earth and that Thor would die there, but said they should focus on stabilizing Odin.
• Ancient One ordered Wong and Mordo to watch Kaecilius and told them to bring Dum Dum Dugan in to arrange more candidates for the selection of the Ascetics.

Duva abandoned the attempt to steal Black Magic and focused on raising the Xenomorphs into a cosmic-capable species. After deciding that his army needed more powerful fighters, he set out to act on a new plan in New Mexico.

• Duva concluded that he could not rely on magic and resolved to improve the Xenomorphs through their own evolution.
• Duva counted forty-seven Xenomorphs, including the Abomination Xenomorph and fifteen Deviant Xenomorphs, while sixty more eggs remained unhatched.
• Duva considered acting around Thor's arrival in New Mexico but ruled out parasitizing Thor or Odin for now.
• Raven urged Duva to stay and keep expanding the army, hoping to recruit him for the Brotherhood.
• Duva ignored Raven's suggestion and set out with his army.

Duva took his Xenomorphs to New Mexico while Tony warned that people were targeting Duva’s base and the Super Soldier Program sought his help. In Asgard, Thor’s quarrel with Odin escalated into an insult, prompting Odin to make a decision about his son.

• Fury ordered Coulson to find Duva and negotiate, then prepared to use military force if Duva refused to cooperate.
• Duva flew to New Mexico with more than forty Xenomorphs, including the Abomination Xenomorph, while Tony worried about helping him and warned that others might attack his base.
• Tony told Duva that powerful people wanted to involve his Xenomorphs in the Super Soldier Program, and Duva trusted the forces he had left behind, including the hidden Queen.
• Thor argued with Odin about holding back against the Frost Giants and accused him of paying more attention to Midgard and the Eternals than to his son.
• Odin explained that he was monitoring the Eternals because they represented the Celestials, then condemned Thor after Thor called him a cowardly old man.
• Odin decided to act after concluding that Thor had become a fool who relied on brute force.

Odin stripped Thor of his divine power and exiled him to Midgard, warning Loki that the Eternals’ renewed activity might put Thor in danger. Thor arrived in New Mexico as a mortal and set out to find food and Mjolnir, while a crowd—and the Deviants Leader—gathered around the hammer.

• Odin stripped Thor of his armor and powers, enchanted Mjolnir so whoever lifted it would gain the Thunder God's power, and cast Thor and the hammer into the Bifrost.
• Odin told Loki that Thor might not survive in Midgard and explained that the Eternals' renewed activity concerned him.
• Thor landed in New Mexico without meeting Jane Foster, called in vain for Heimdall, and realized he had become mortal.
• Thor walked along the highway for a day, believing that recovering Mjolnir would restore his divine power.
• A crowd gathered around Mjolnir in a nearby town, and the Deviants Leader changed course and headed there.

Thor fought his way through S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to reach Mjolnir, while a powerful Deviant stormed the camp and headed straight for him. The Deviant confronted Thor just before he could reach the hammer, leaving their clash about to begin.

• S.H.I.E.L.D. cleared the area around Mjolnir as Coulson arrived and learned that Thor was breaking through their defenses.
• Hawkeye aimed at Thor while Coulson considered what to do, but agents reported that a powerful Deviant had entered the camp.
• The Deviant absorbed agents in its path and charged toward Thor, prompting Coulson to call Fury for backup.
• Fury warned Coulson that S.H.I.E.L.D. could not send help in time and that Thor would likely be killed first.
• Thor joyfully rushed toward Mjolnir, but the Deviant tore through the barrier and blocked his way.

Thor was nearly killed by the Deviants Leader after losing his divine power, but Duva arrived with an Abomination Xenomorph to rescue him. While the monsters fought, Duva tried and failed to lift Mjolnir, leaving Thor still unable to reclaim his hammer.

• The Deviants Leader crushed Thor's hand and prepared to absorb him as Thor stubbornly refused to give up.
• Duva arrived and sent his Abomination Xenomorph to fight the Deviants Leader, then spoke casually with the injured Thor.
• Thor staggered toward Mjolnir, but Duva reached it first and touched it while Thor and the watching agents reacted in disbelief.
• The Abomination Xenomorph intercepted the Deviants Leader as it charged toward Duva and Thor, and the two monsters resumed their fierce battle.
• Duva tried to lift Mjolnir but could not move it, then dismissed the hammer after concluding that it did not consider him worthy.

Duva’s Xenomorphs battled the Deviants while Thor discovered he could no longer lift Mjolnir. Duva offered Thor a chance to gain power, leaving him to decide whether to accept.

• The Deviants Leader adapted to the Abomination Xenomorph’s attacks, so Duva ordered several powerful Xenomorphs to help overwhelm it.
• The Deviants and Xenomorphs fought across the wilderness, while Duva used their psychic link to direct the Xenomorphs and protect his position.
• Thor admired the Xenomorphs and urged Duva to destroy their enemies, then tried and failed to lift Mjolnir.
• Thor realized Odin had stripped him of his divine power, and Duva asked if he wanted power.

Duva forced the Deviants Leader to spend its power strengthening its subordinates while Xenomorphs kept it under pressure, then joined the battle himself. Loki watched from hiding, spared Duva because he had saved Thor, and prepared to act against the Deviants Leader and the Abomination Xenomorph.

• Duva told Thor that Odin had denied him the right to wield Mjolnir and offered him a different kind of power if he agreed to obey.
• Duva taunted the Deviants Leader as Xenomorphs overwhelmed it, then let several Deviants slip into the camp to make the leader strengthen its subordinates.
• Coulson ordered Hawkeye and the agents to attack the Deviants, but two broke through to the Deviants Leader and received a surge of power.
• Duva evaded a strengthened Deviant, gouged out its eyes, and entered the fight himself.
• Loki watched from hiding, decided to spare Duva for saving Thor, and eyed the Deviants Leader and the Abomination Xenomorph with a wicked smile.

Loki left the camp after confirming Thor was safe, then encountered Kaecilius and fought him over their competing claims to be the world's second-ranked magician. Their magical battle was captured by satellites, leaving Coulson wondering whether the strange Asgardian's arrival had anything to do with Duva.

• Loki considered how to keep Thor on Earth, spotted a Xenomorph, and settled down to watch the battle from afar.
• Kaecilius emerged from a Golden Portal, and he and Loki realized they were both interested in the Xenomorphs.
• Loki and Kaecilius argued over Thor and the power of gods, then began a close-quarters fight in which each tried to trick the other.
• Loki used his superior physique to drive Kaecilius back, but Kaecilius challenged him to a contest of magic.
• The two magicians unleashed powerful spells that satellites captured, and Coulson wondered whether Duva was responsible for the new arrival.