Chapter Summaries

Lake completed his massive gacha haul, gaining a divine battle robe, Lightning Divine Authority, and a full set of Zodiac Gold Cloths while the system entered its upgrade period. As he opened another prize, he heard a familiar-sounding voice threaten that everyone would die there.

• Lake endured 1,447 gacha rolls until the system finished and began upgrading for more than twenty-four hours.
• Lake stored the God's Battle Robe after his Sixth Sense warned him that wearing it would kill him.
• Lake obtained the Thunder seed, swallowed it, and gained the Lightning Divine Authority.
• Skye found Lake admiring himself in her mirror, and Lake lectured her before sending her out of his study.
• Lake collected the complete twelve-piece Zodiac Gold Cloth set and a Cosmo Cultivation Technique from the golden chests.
• Lake opened another golden prize and heard a cold, slightly cute voice say, "You will all die here!"

Lake returned from Belgium with Eevee, whose cuteness captivated the women in his household and distracted Karen from asking about Katherine. While discussing the destruction of San Lorenzo with General Ross, Lake received a photograph of eleven lookalikes and a masked swordsman identified as the V-Force Avenger.

• Lake arrived in Washington with Skye and Eevee, and Betty and Karen took turns admiring the Pokémon.
• Lake reflected on his lottery haul, including the Red Queen, and welcomed Rachel and Josie, who also joined the women around Eevee.
• Lake and General Ross discussed Lake killing Daniel Whitehalls in Belgium and the Security Council’s Hellfire bombing of San Lorenzo.
• General Ross showed Lake a photograph of eleven identical Lakes and a masked, dual-blade fighter called the V-Force Avenger.

Lake and Ross discussed a supposed secret organization and S.H.I.E.L.D. before Karen announced she was becoming ambassador to Paris. Karen arranged for Betty to accompany her, separating her from Bruce, while Lake and Ross later revealed the family’s plan was prompted by Banner’s inability to control his transformations.

• Lake invented a history for the V-Force Avengers and explained it to Ross, who considered whether the group could exist.
• Ross told Lake that Kelly planned to use overlapping investigative authority to push S.H.I.E.L.D. out of the Federation.
• Karen announced that she would become the new ambassador to Paris and told Betty she would come with her.
• Lake offered to accompany Karen as her bodyguard, Rachel supported his plan, and Ross said he would seek a European posting, prompting Betty to agree to go to Paris.
• Rachel asked Lake about the family’s apparent scheme against Betty and Bruce, and Lake explained that Karen was concerned about Banner’s poor control over his transformations.
• Lake told Rachel that Quantico had tried to help Banner control his emotions, but Hulk had transformed in the middle of the night for no apparent reason.

Lake returned to New York and helped the NYPD investigate an explosion at an unlicensed dental clinic, initially treating it as their case rather than Homeland Security’s. The discovery of several bodies hidden in the walls, including the missing estate lawyer, left the investigation with a grisly mystery.

• Karen held a press conference announcing her appointment as ambassador to Paris, then traveled there with Betty and General Ross while Lake returned to New York.
• Red Queen told Lake she could sense Jarvis but had not found Dr. Zola.
• Lake joined George and Joe at an exploded building in Queens and arranged for Homeland Security to provide technical support while the NYPD led the investigation.
• Lake learned the building had been an unlicensed dental clinic, and Tiffany reported that its deceased landlord’s estate lawyer had gone missing.
• Officers found at least three sets of bones in the walls, along with the lawyer’s bright-red, badly mutilated corpse.

Lake and Rachel welcomed their daughter Helen, and friends gathered at Starlight Tower to celebrate her birth. Later, Katherine arrived unexpectedly, met her new sister, and asked Lake whether he had any other biological daughters before flying back to Forks Town.

• Lake and Skye waited at New York-Presbyterian Hospital while Rachel gave birth to Helen Edwin just before April second.
• Five days later, Lake brought Helen home to Starlight Tower, where friends and neighbors gathered for a meal.
• Katherine arrived at the nursery after sensing Helen's birth and told Lake she had flown all the way from Forks Town.
• Katherine asked Lake if he had any other biological daughters, and he insisted that she was his eldest daughter.
• Katherine left for Forks Town on her flying magic carpet after reminding Lake to visit her during summer vacation.

Rachel left New York to return to Washington, while Lake agreed to accompany her and then met with Secretary Kelly about creating a federal bureau to handle supernatural activity. Kelly appointed Lake as its first director and gave him a two-year budget, but Lake insisted that its headquarters remain in New York and said the funding would not cover the costs.

• Rachel decided to return to Washington, and Lake offered Mia a paid nanny job while arranging for Brian O'Conner to be reinstated at the FBI.
• Lake traveled with Rachel to Washington and met Secretary Kelly at the Department of Homeland Security.
• Kelly showed Lake a plan to create the Bureau of Supernatural Activity Monitoring and Action, and Lake noted that existing agencies already handled similar work.
• Kelly said the president had approved the bureau's creation and named Lake its first director.
• Lake insisted that the bureau's headquarters stay in New York, and Kelly offered a ten-billion-dollar budget for its first two years.
• Lake objected that the budget would not cover suitable New York land and construction costs.

Lake began planning the Supervisory Bureau with David Bass, choosing Gardiners Island for its headquarters and intending to negotiate with Tony Stark. Their plans were interrupted when Lake received a subpoena ordering him to attend a closed mediation session.

• Secretary Kelly gave Lake two years and a ten-billion-dollar budget to establish the Supervisory Bureau, and Lake chose David Bass as his deputy instead of Maria Hill.
• After spending most of the year away, Lake returned to New York on February 1, 2006, and recruited Bass to help establish the bureau.
• Lake and Bass chose Gardiners Island for the headquarters, and Lake said he would approach Tony Stark about the island.
• Tiffany gave Lake a subpoena from the Manhattan Family Court, which required him to attend a closed mediation session the next day.

Lake Edwin learned that a fourteen-year-old Sokovian girl named Hebe had sued him for child support, and a DNA comparison confirmed she was his daughter. He tracked her to a house in an upscale neighborhood, where a neighbor called him Hebe’s father and referred to her mother as Mrs. Edwin.

• Lake went to Manhattan Family Court, where Judge Delia told him Hebe had filed a lawsuit demanding fourteen years of child support and parental support.
• Delia showed Lake a DNA comparison that confirmed Hebe was his daughter, though Lake insisted he had never abandoned a child and did not know how this could have happened.
• Lake learned Hebe was a Sokovian immigrant who had entered New York the previous month, but she failed to arrive for her appointment.
• Lake asked Red Queen to find Hebe’s registered address and drove there at high speed using a police beacon.
• Lake questioned Hebe’s neighbor Agnes, who said Hebe was kind and referred to Hebe’s mother as Mrs. Edwin before recognizing Lake as Hebe’s father.

Lake discovered evidence that he had a wife named Wanda and a thirteen-year-old daughter, Hebe, despite having no memory of either of them. After investigating their home and surveillance footage, he concluded that Wanda may have traveled back from the future, but the mystery remained unresolved.

• Lake questioned Agnes about Mrs. Edwin, then entered the spotless house and found Lightning Bourbon, cryptic notes, and photographs of Wanda and Hebe.
• Lake examined Hebe’s growth album, and touching one photograph filled his mind with vivid memories of her childhood; he also found a photograph of himself sleeping in an unfamiliar place.
• Red Queen found almost no records of Hebe, but accessed the house’s computer using the password “Wanda” and retrieved neighborhood surveillance footage.
• Lake watched footage showing Wanda appear beside Hebe, who said she wanted to see her daddy at the courthouse, before Wanda grounded her and the pair vanished.
• Lake theorized that Wanda had traveled back from the future to explain their family and his missing memories, then received a call from Pepper Potts.

Lake took control of the burned Stark estate after Tony Stark was gravely injured and warned him not to let anyone enter. While Red Queen restored Jarvis and killed Dr. Zola’s program, Lake reviewed the final footage and heard Tony say, “You’re not...” before the explosion cut him off.

• Lake found Tony Stark badly injured at the estate, and Tony warned him not to let anyone go inside before losing consciousness.
• Lake placed the estate under Department of Homeland Security control, and Jack’s agents barred firefighters and others from entering.
• Red Queen finished restoring Jarvis and said she had destroyed Dr. Zola’s core program.
• Jarvis told Lake that Tony had isolated his underground laboratory from the internet and showed him footage of a black figure attacking Tony after an explosion.
• Lake reviewed the footage and heard Tony say, “You’re not...” before the recording ended.

Lake explained that Tony Stark had been attacked by a demon and that the revived Howard Stark and Maria Stark were Parasitic Demons, not his parents. Tony insisted that he had never believed the cloned pair were his parents, leaving Lake confused about what Tony meant.

• Lake destroyed the equipment from the underground base and searched for information about Da Vinci while Red Queen monitored Wanda's house.
• Lake visited Tony at his Long Island estate and found him recovering with a chest device and coal-black skin after a demon attack.
• Lake told Tony and Pepper that Pepper's Vatican pendant had driven the demon away and arranged for the Warrens to bring holy water.
• Lake explained that the cloned Howard and Maria were Parasitic Demons, but Tony said they were not his parents, leaving Lake puzzled.

Lake brought the Warrens to Stark Estate to exorcise the demonic energy afflicting Tony Stark, while the mystery of whether Howard and Maria Stark were truly dead remained unresolved. The exorcism forced black smoke from Tony, leaving him alive but exhausted.

• Tony told Lake that the people buried in Howard and Maria Stark's coffins, including the brains he had preserved, were not his parents, and Lake questioned where the real couple could be.
• Pepper said Jarvis had invited experts to help Tony with the fragments in his chest, and Lake left the estate.
• Three days later, Lake brought the Warrens to Stark Estate, where they identified a demon's attack on Tony and traced the triggered holy aura to Pepper's necklace.
• The Warrens put Tony in a wooden tub of holy water and recited the Bible as black smoke poured from his body.
• Tony emerged from the now-black holy water white again, pale and trembling, and Happy helped him out of the tub.

After learning that the skeletons were not Howard and Maria Stark, Lake sought Hermione’s help to find out whether their souls were in Hell, but she could not contact the sealed dimension. He also asked about the missing Parasitic Demons, and the chapter ended with Hermione biting his arm after he welcomed her to do it.

• Lake gave Mr. and Mrs. Warren S.M.B. identification cards before they left to handle an evil spirit in Michigan, and Mr. Warren said he sensed that a demon was still nearby.
• Dr. Tempri Braina told Lake that the skeletons were not Howard and Maria Stark, despite their close match.
• Lake summoned Hermione with Floo Powder and asked whether the Starks’ souls were in the Hell Dimension.
• Hermione explained that the Hell Dimension was sealed and suggested finding a genuine medium who could communicate with the dead.
• Lake told Hermione that Tony Stark had used a cloning resurrection device and asked whether the Parasitic Demons had been captured; Hermione said she did not know.
• Hermione returned after leaving, called Lake a bastard, and bit his arm when he invited her to do so.

Skye returned home to find Lake’s house wrecked after his encounter with Hermione, then learned he might have five to eight adoptive mothers. The next morning, Lake received a letter from Hermione naming real psychics, while Skye remained unconvinced by his claim that they were both superheroes.

• Skye found Lake in the trashed living room and learned that Hermione had been there, though Lake denied Skye’s suspicions about his relationships.
• Lake had the damaged furniture and carpet replaced, then told Skye she had gained another adoptive mother.
• Lake listed Seifer, Rachel, Hermione, Emilia, Mandy, Anna, and possibly Wanda as the women involved, and explained that he had a daughter connected to Wanda despite not remembering her.
• A letter appeared in the fireplace, which Lake revealed was a Teleportation Array, but Skye dismissed his claim that they were superheroes.
• Lake read Hermione’s letter listing several real psychics on federal soil and understood her closing remark as a reference to their encounter.

Lake found Pepper Potts shot at Tony Stark’s manor, revived her, and learned that Obadiah Stane had kidnapped Tony after Tony uncovered his weapons deals and clone-resurrection research. With Obadiah’s plane gone and an alert already issued, Lake planned to use look-alikes to keep the kidnapping from destabilizing Stark Industries.

• Lake found Pepper Potts wounded in the basement, healed her with a red potion, and learned that Obadiah Stane had taken Tony Stark.
• Jarvis told Lake that Tony had discovered Obadiah’s secret weapons sales and his copied clone-resurrection data.
• Lake ordered an all-territories alert, then left the manor with Pepper to search for Tony.
• Pepper told Lake that Obadiah wanted clone-resurrection data to bring back his wife and child, who had died in the 2001 September 11 attacks.
• Tiffany reported that Obadiah’s Stark Industries plane had left the country and gone silent after takeoff.
• Pepper warned that news of the kidnapping could damage Stark Industries, and Lake proposed using disguise experts as stand-ins.

Lake disguised himself as Tony Stark and held a press conference to calm concerns about Stark Industries while the real Tony was missing and Obadiah Stane was under investigation. After dealing with two shareholders connected to Obadiah, Lake left Pepper in charge of Stark Industries and waited for his informant to find the next clue.

• Pepper announced a press conference, and Lake used a clone and a transformation item to disguise himself as Tony Stark and answer reporters’ questions.
• Lake searched Obadiah Stane’s office, then ordered Jarvis to restrict access to his office and confronted two shareholders who had arrived there.
• Jack arrested Edward Stark on suspicion of leaking national secrets, and Lake forced both shareholders to sign agreements selling their Stark Industries shares before they were taken away as corpses.
• Lake told Pepper that the two men would be found at the airport with identities and tickets to Iraq, and that he had handed the search for clues to his informant.
• Lake told Pepper she was now Stark Industries’ new chief executive officer and said he would stay while they waited for news.

Lake sent his Gemini clone, Saga, to Afghanistan to search for Tony Stark, who had been missing for seven days. As Tony completed an escape suit in a mountain cave, an unidentified object launched from the Dalbengdin Mountains toward Saga.

• Saga met James Rhodes in Afghanistan, learned that Tony's private jet had been found wrecked, and set out alone to search the Dalbengdin Mountains.
• Rhodey called Lake in New York to ask whether Saga was reliable, while Lake continued investigating Obadiah Stane and reassuring Pepper Potts that Tony would survive.
• Lake revealed that Saga had comprehended Gemini, mastered the Fifth Sense, and was nearing the Sixth Sense.
• Tony recalled how Obadiah Stane had demanded a cloning formula, shot Pepper, and arranged Tony's kidnapping before Tony finished building an escape suit in his cave.
• After driving toward the mountains for two hours, Saga saw an unidentified object launch from the Dalbengdin Mountains and fly toward him.

Lake sent his Saga clone to rescue Tony Stark from the desert, where Saga destroyed the Ten Rings pursuers with a single Cosmo-powered attack. Tony returned safely, while Lake stayed home as Pepper went to meet him.

• Saga pulled Tony Stark from the buried Mark I armor and offered him water after Tony escaped from captivity earlier than expected.
• Saga refused to flee from the approaching Ten Rings forces and used Galaxy Explosion to reduce more than fifty pursuers to ashes, leaving a vast glass plain in the desert.
• Saga vanished in a burst of golden starlight, and Tony and Rhodey discovered Gemini-shaped points of light trapped beneath the glass.
• Pepper told Lake that Tony had been found, and the next day she waited with Happy at the airport for Tony's return while Lake stayed home with Skye.
• A New York TV emergency news bulletin interrupted the television around ten in the morning.

Tony Stark dissolved Stark Industries’ weapons division and began planning a private armor project, while Lake encouraged Skye to choose her own university and asked Tony to consult a medium about his parents. The chapter left Tony preparing to build the Mark II and Lake waiting for news about the medium.

• Tony Stark announced the dissolution of Stark Industries’ weapons research division and appointed Pepper Potts, while reporters watched him recover from captivity.
• Skye chose to pursue New York University, where she hoped to earn a scholarship and study electronic information and history, and Lake supported her decision.
• Lake gave Tony a medium’s contact information and asked him to find out whether Howard Stark and Maria Stark’s souls were in Hell.
• Tony thanked Lake, then said he would visit the medium when he could; Lake asked Tony to tell him as soon as he learned anything.
• After Lake left, Tony began a secret Mark II project, restricting access to the files while allowing Pepper to view them.

Lake kept the Homeland Security threat assessment at low risk while quietly investigating Obadiah Stane’s cloning operation. Tony Stark tracked Obadiah’s satellite signal to New Jersey, leaving him poised to pursue it.

• Lake’s security briefing identified a mysterious overseas organization attacked by a flying Iron Man Armor, but the meeting kept the federal threat level at low risk.
• Lake and David Bass agreed not to disclose Obadiah Stane’s cloning technology while they searched for his whereabouts and considered likely locations for his clone base.
• Lake reviewed photographs of Iron Man and reflected on his progress toward awakening the Sixth Sense and completing Gemini’s Gold Cloth.
• Pepper told Tony that a psychic would arrive in New York to help him contact his deceased parents, and Tony asked whether Lake had been born in Colorado.
• Tony learned that Obadiah’s satellite signal had appeared and tracked its transmission location to New Jersey.