Chapter Summaries

Lake and Hill identified Max Dillon as the superhuman Electro and linked him to a string of deaths connected to Osborn Bio-Energy Research Center. Iron Man confronted Electro in Times Square, where his suit absorbed the electrical attack and blasted Max backward.

• Tony and Lake argued over whether Tony could defeat Natasha, and Natasha warned that her Phoenix abilities made her especially dangerous.
• An alarm reported a superhuman in Times Square, so Tony headed for his Iron Man Suit while Natasha and the others took the Kwon Fighter Jet.
• Lake and Hill watched Times Square footage and identified the glowing, electricity-covered figure as Max Dillon, an electrician at Osborn Bio-Industry.
• Hill connected Max and two victims to the Osborn Bio-Energy Research Center and ordered Adam to capture Max alive.
• Iron Man arrived in Times Square, absorbed Max's electrical attack, and blasted him backward.

Electro, Max Dillon, attacked Iron Man in Times Square, but Natasha used the Phoenix Cloth to defeat and capture him. The agents left the wrecked scene with Max in custody, while New York faced millions of dollars in damages.

• Max Dillon blasted into a phone booth, and the resulting shockwave overturned police cars as George Stacy led people to safety.
• Max destroyed Tony Stark’s Iron Man Suit with an electrical blast, but Natasha shielded Tony with the Phoenix Cloth.
• Max refused Natasha’s order to surrender and accused the agents of bullying him.
• Natasha dodged Max’s lightning whips and defeated him with a rapid series of punches that exhausted his electrical barrier.
• Adam and the agents restrained Max with reinforced handcuffs, then left Times Square aboard the Kwon Fighter Jet with Natasha and Tony.

Lake heard that Peter Parker had been framed for Harry Osborn’s murder, but he told Skye and Gwen that Olivia’s memories and the Osborn board’s motive were not admissible evidence. The investigation turned toward Harry’s missing assistant, Felicia Hardy, whom the FBI had not seen.

• Lake learned from Hill that Times Square’s losses were covered by insurance, then met Skye and Gwen outside the Operations Center.
• Skye and Gwen told Lake that Clayton Matthew and several Osborn executives had murdered Harry and framed Peter, but Lake stressed that they lacked usable evidence.
• Lake reviewed Olivia’s fragmentary memories and an FBI report, which suggested Harry had angered the Osborn board by promoting Felicia Hardy and alienating senior figures.
• Gwen asked Lake to reopen the case, and Lake noticed Felicia Hardy’s name in the documents and called the FBI.
• Debbie told Lake the FBI’s inspection of Osborn Industry had found excellent results and that agents had not seen Felicia Hardy.

Lake brought Electro to the Supervisory Bureau, where Natasha and Adam later reported that Max Dillon had gained his powers through deliberate human experimentation at a secret Bio-Energy Center laboratory. The chapter left Lake reviewing the disturbing account and considering Osborn Bio-Industry’s genetic research.

• Lake ordered the medical team to take Electro to the magic-suppression room after they revived him.
• Natasha told Lake that her first battle had felt easy, prompting Tony to enter seclusion and vow not to return until he had developed a fifth-generation suit.
• Lake and Rachel discussed Tony’s retreat, military weapons contracts, and the decision to pause promotion of Rachel’s Spider-Man film until Peter Parker’s court verdict.
• Lake drove Helen to school, returned to Gardiners Island, and received Natasha and Adam’s interrogation report on Electro.
• Lake read Max Dillon’s account that Bio-Energy Center staff had captured and experimented on him, then considered how Osborn Bio-Industry’s genetic research might help people with disabilities.

Lake learned that Max Dillon’s transformation involved a Fantastic Beast gene and sent Veronica, Adam, and Natasha to investigate Osborn Bio. Meanwhile, Detective Kraut arrived on Gardiners Island to arrest Gwen Stacy, prompting Lake to order an investigation into Kraut and anyone backing him.

• Lake found that Max Dillon’s body contained an organ from a tyrant electric eel and summoned Veronica to join the investigation of Osborn Bio’s research center.
• A Federal Court search warrant arrived, and Veronica, Adam, and Natasha flew to Osborn Bio’s energy base in Jersey City.
• Detective Kraut and NYPD officers demanded that the Supervisory Bureau hand over Gwen Stacy, but the agents allowed only Kraut onto Gardiners Island.
• Olivia told Gwen and Skye that Kraut had come to arrest Gwen, and Lake ordered them to remain on the island.
• Lake ordered Tiffany to investigate Kraut and his connections, then received the written report Kraut had used to apply for the arrest warrant.

Lake investigated the Osborn Bio morgue incident and kept an NYPD detective in custody while the Supervisory Bureau launched a search of Osborn Bio Energy Base. Natasha joined Adam’s team at the base, where she confronted a humanoid Metal Rhino and pursued it into the sky.

• Lake received a report linking Gwen Stacy to the damaged surveillance equipment and Harry Osborn’s injured brain, then ordered that the visiting NYPD detective be held.
• Hill told Lake that vans had left Osborn Bio Energy Base, and Homeland Security agents were sent to intercept them.
• Natasha, Adam, and the Supervisory Bureau team arrived at the base with a federal search warrant and entered after the guards opened the gate.
• Adam’s team blasted open Factory One, but a humanoid Metal Rhino emerged and knocked the first agents back.
• Natasha used her Phoenix Constellation armor to strike the Metal Rhino, sending it into the factory, then chased it upward through the roof.
• Adam reprimanded a team member who joked that Natasha had looked down on him and ordered the team to train harder.

Natasha defeated Rhino Man with the Phoenix Phantom Demon Fist and uncovered evidence linking Osborn Industry to Detective Trout and his family. Lake ordered an investigation and arrests at Osborn while his team moved into the underground base.

• Natasha knocked Rhino Man into a crater, then faced his charge after ordering Adam and the others to stand back.
• Natasha struck Rhino Man with the Phoenix Phantom Demon Fist, exposing his memories and leaving him incapacitated in the crater.
• Natasha sent Adam and the others into the underground base, where they opened the way and transmitted its interior to Lake.
• Lake ordered the Department of Homeland Security to seal Osborn Industrial Building and arrest its executives.
• Tiffany told Lake that Detective Trout's wife, sister, and brother-in-law worked at Osborn Industry and showed him evidence of Trout's calls and an overseas bank account.

Lake uncovered an illegal cloning and human-experimentation operation at the Osborn Bio Energy Base, where Felicia Hardy had been transformed with parts from a Stealth Black Cat. After Veronica took Felicia to seek a magical remedy, Chief Porter agreed that the NYPD would cooperate with the Department of Homeland Security.

• Lake ordered Detective Kraut arrested and had Red Queen review the detective’s cases while summoning the mayor’s wife and NYPD Chief Porter to the Osborn base.
• Lake showed the mayor’s wife and Chief Porter the base’s clones and its arrested researchers, revealing the secret facility beneath the site.
• Natasha and Veronica showed Lake Felicia Hardy’s horrific transformation, including the Stealth Black Cat parts transplanted into her body.
• Veronica offered to try a forbidden form of magic to help Felicia and took her to the magical world to seek Supreme Merlin’s permission.
• Lake asked Chief Porter whether the NYPD would take over the case, and Porter said the department would cooperate with Homeland Security.

Lake secured Homeland Security’s lead in the Osborn case and oversaw a wave of arrests tied to Osborn Bio-Industry and Jersey City. General Ross then asked Lake to release several people on Rockefeller’s behalf, and Lake reviewed the long list of names.

• Chief Porter agreed that Homeland Security would lead the case while the NYPD provided support, and Lake threatened to involve animal-rights activists if the mayor’s wife continued to interfere.
• The next day, Lake arrived at Homeland Building as agents arrested numerous suspects, while politicians and officials called to seek favors for people connected to Osborn.
• Lake told General Ross that Osborn Bio-Industry’s illegal cloning and human experiments would be prosecuted as a federal case, and he rejected the claim that only Norman and Harry Osborn were responsible.
• Lake said he had evidence that Osborn shareholders had killed Harry and planned to use a digital informant to trace altered records and expose those involved.
• General Ross revealed that Rockefeller wanted several people released, then sent Lake a list; Lake reacted with surprise at how many names it contained.

After two months in prison, Peter Parker was released when the charges against him were withdrawn, but the scandal surrounding Osborn Industry kept him from entering college. He returned to his family and friends, who planned for him to spend another year at Midtown High School, while Skye hinted that more bad news awaited him.

• Tiffany told Lake that more than a thousand people had been arrested in the Osborn case, and Lake ordered uninvolved suspects released while the case awaited federal officials.
• Two months later, the district attorney's office withdrew the charges, and Peter Parker walked out of New York Prison.
• Gwen, Aunt May, and Skye greeted Peter, and Skye told him that he had missed another chance to attend college because New York University was wary of the scandal.
• Gwen and Aunt May suggested that Peter return to Midtown High School for another year, while Peter lamented that he would spend three years in twelfth grade.
• Skye told Peter that Beyond Media's Spider-Man: Origin would begin its promotional campaign the next day and hinted that she and Gwen had other bad news for him.

Peter Parker learned that inheriting Harry Osborn’s estate also made him responsible for Osborn Industry’s debts and lawsuits, leaving him nearly bankrupt. Although he could challenge the inheritance, Peter refused, and Lake later explained that the estate lawyer had legally warned him about the risks.

• Gwen and Skye told Peter that he had inherited Osborn Industry’s debts along with Harry’s estate, and that the company’s creditors could pursue him.
• Skye explained that Peter could not renounce the inheritance because Harry had already paid the estate tax, and that selling the assets would still leave him short by two or three hundred million.
• Peter learned that Jersey City planned to sue him over the Jersey Massacre, and Gwen said he could try to relinquish the inheritance by proving the estate lawyer had misled him.
• Peter refused to challenge the inheritance after Gwen offered that option.
• Skye told Lake that Peter had consulted a lawyer and that the estate lawyer had legally explained the risks, though he had described them in simplified terms.
• Lake sympathized with Peter, and Skye reminded him that he had mentioned another way to help.

Skye asked Lake how Peter Parker could avoid bankruptcy, and Lake suggested finding whoever most needed Osborn’s patents and could afford them. Lake then went to the magical world, where Felicia Hardy was struggling to survive a dangerous transformation into a Stealth Black Cat.

• Skye asked Lake for advice on keeping Peter Parker from being saddled with Osborn’s debts, and Lake explained that Osborn’s patents held most of its value.
• Lake told Skye to consider who needed Osborn’s patents most and could afford to acquire them, prompting her to think of the magical world and Hogwarts.
• Lake traveled to the magical world and met Hermione, who took him to the Magical Science Research Department.
• Lake and Hermione saw Felicia Hardy struggle to control her transformation between human and black-cat forms.
• Hermione explained that Felicia’s dark-magic transformation could kill her if she failed to overcome the Stealth Black Cat’s spirit.
• Lake decided to intervene rather than let Felicia die.

Lake revived Felicia Hardy’s will to live by telling her about the Osborn family, then discussed with Hermione her plan to negotiate with the Giant Demons. Hermione urged him to use the negotiations to strengthen his claim as King of Midgard, and Lake wondered why she would encourage him to challenge the Aesir.

• Lake told the exhausted Felicia Hardy that she was Felicia Osborn, Norman Osborn’s illegitimate daughter, and her will to live flared back to life.
• Lake explained to Hermione that Norman Osborn had known about Felicia but had not acknowledged her, and that he had found sealed records confirming her identity.
• Hermione told Lake she planned to negotiate with the Giant Demons in Scotland, and Lake questioned why she was involving him.
• Hermione argued that winning the Giant Demons’ friendship would help legitimize Lake’s title as King of Midgard.
• Lake realized Hermione was urging him toward the throne and was surprised that she would support a path that could lead to the Aesir’s destruction.

Lake agreed to negotiate with the Hungry Giant Mottos, hoping to gain the giants’ support for his plans to establish Midgard. He and Hermione arrived at Ben Nevis, where Lake confronted Mottos after fighting off giants who attacked them.

• Hermione explained that she, Emilia, and Seifer had agreed to sacrifice the Scotland region to contain the giants and stabilize Earth.
• Lake weighed the danger of allying with the evil giants against the power they could bring to his Chaos Universe, then agreed to meet them in three days.
• Lake and Hermione arrived at Ben Nevis, where allied forces kept the giants contained by dropping off food every day.
• Hermione told Lake that the Demon Giants were descended from Mottos, a Hungry Giant whose appetite had once consumed Hell’s resources.
• A giant tried to grab Lake, but he knocked it into the mountainside and faced the others as they attacked.
• Lake rose above the valley and announced himself to Mottos, the Hungry Giant who had once lived in Midgard.

Lake met the Hungry Giant Mottos, proved his friendship by hosting an enormous feast, and secured Mottos’s promise that the giants would serve him. The giants left the battlefield to celebrate, while Hermione returned to the allied command post and told Sharon Carter that what had happened was a good thing.

• Mottos recognized Lake as the King of Midgard and demanded proof that they were friends, remembering the former king who had once fed him.
• Lake promised Mottos a banquet, enlarged the Gourmet's Tablecloth across a platform at Mount Ben Nevis, and conjured an enormous spread of food and drink.
• Mottos accepted Lake as his friend, blamed Odin for destroying Midgard, and promised that his giant children would serve Lake.
• Lake drank with Mottos while the giants gathered for a feast, and the giants abandoned their positions in the valley.
• Hermione returned to the allied command post, where Sharon Carter asked what had happened, and Hermione said it was a good thing.

Hermione visited Peggy Carter to discuss the giants in Scotland and learned that Steve Rogers had fathered the current Princess of Atlantis. Peggy explained that the princess was conceived before Steve disappeared, leaving Hermione wondering how the age discrepancy had been resolved.

• Hermione told Sharon Carter that she would warn Peggy not to let the military enter Scotland and disturb the giants.
• Hermione visited Peggy, who said Steve’s revival was progressing well and explained that Atlantis’s queen had given him the Deep Cold Ice Essence that preserved him.
• Peggy told Hermione that Steve had fathered the current Princess of Atlantis after rescuing the former Daughter of the Sea during the war.
• Hermione questioned the princess’s age, and Peggy said the current King of Atlantis had exploded with rage over the mismatch.

Lake befriended the Hungry Giant Mottos and forged a blood oath with him, gaining the Giant race as an ally against the Aesir. The Law of Hunger then accelerated the growth of Lake’s Force Tree and Chaos Universe.

• Hermione learned that Atlantis had uncovered the connection between the Hungry Giant and Midgard, while the Scotland region’s death toll continued to rise.
• Lake sparred and feasted with Mottos, who gave him his severed arm to shield him from Odin’s gaze and urged him to meet the giant Elder of the Ocean.
• Mottos offered Lake a blood oath, and Lake swore not to betray the Giant race so long as it did not betray him.
• Lake and Mottos drank their blood-infused wine as Lake’s Lightning Divine Authority ignited it, sealing their alliance.
• The Force Tree absorbed the Law of Hunger, rapidly growing and expanding the Chaos Universe.

After forming an alliance with the Hungry Giant Mottos, Lake learned that finding the ocean goddess Nereus in Atlantis could help restore his universe. He returned to New York, where Red Queen began briefing him on Atlantis.

• Lake learned from Mottos that Nereus slept beneath the Pacific Ocean and that her daughter ruled Atlantis, and he promised to seek her out.
• Lake and Mottos ended their three-month feast, agreeing that the giants would remain in Scotland and that displaced Scots could return if they did not attack first.
• Lake told Hermione that Seifer would bring the Food Tablecloth to Mottos when the giant awoke six months later, and he left an avatar behind before returning to New York.
• Lake offered Red Queen a cloned body, but she declined in favor of building one from machinery.
• Red Queen displayed her collected records about Atlantis, and Lake asked her to explain them aloud.

Lake investigated Atlantis while seeking Elder of the Ocean Nereus, whose elemental power could strengthen his Chaos Universe. Red Queen uncovered records about vanished civilizations, and Lake ordered a secret search for the Mayans as he prepared to pursue Nereus.

• Lake listened as Red Queen summarized information about Atlantis and asked her to find its exact coordinates.
• Red Queen showed Lake a damaged Mayan record describing four eras: giants, gods, Atlantis, and humanity.
• Lake concluded that Atlantis might have been founded by surviving Midgardians and that Odin could have destroyed them repeatedly.
• Lake decided to find out the truth when he reached Atlantis, where he intended to obtain Nereus by subjugation or destruction if necessary.
• Lake told Red Queen to search for the vanished Mayans and have Hill investigate them in secret.

Lake took Helen and Rachel to the premiere of The Amazing Spider-Man: Origins, which looked poised to become a major hit thanks to Peter Parker’s popularity. He learned that Peter had rejected Pepper’s offer to buy all of Osborn Industry because he wanted to preserve Harry’s family business, leaving Skye frustrated and the company’s future uncertain.

• Lake watched the premiere with Helen and Rachel, and Rachel estimated that the film could earn up to one and a half billion dollars worldwide.
• Rachel explained that Peter Parker’s reputation as New Yorkers’ good neighbor had fueled the film’s popularity and that fans were buying extra tickets and Spider-Man merchandise.
• Rachel told Lake that Osborn had regained attention after Peter announced he would protect the company entrusted to him by Harry.
• Lake learned that Pepper had offered to buy all of Osborn Industry, but Peter had rejected the offer twice to preserve Harry’s family business.
• Skye urged Lake to hold another press conference and deny that Peter was his illegitimate son.