Chapter Summaries

Heisenberg experimented with expanding his Bio-field, then left the Nightclub to confront a march of gang members protesting his rule over New York. He ordered Bullseye to mobilize forces against the city’s gangs and summoned their leaders to his Nightclub the next afternoon.

• Heisenberg used his Bio-field to redirect raindrops, accidentally shattering the villa’s glass skylight, and decided to practice in the suburbs.
• Heisenberg visited the Nightclub, where Barbara complained that S.H.I.E.L.D. had left her without contact or useful assignments.
• Heisenberg sensed trouble, went to the rooftop, and saw more than eight hundred people marching against him and his control of New York.
• Heisenberg called Bullseye, ordered him to coordinate with Rumlow and prepare forces to eliminate every New York gang the following night.
• Heisenberg told Bullseye to summon every remaining gang leader to the Nightclub at three the next afternoon and threatened to scatter their ashes into the Pacific Ocean.

Heisenberg attacked the protesters outside his building, but Iron Man saved them, prompting Heisenberg to seize and berate Tony Stark. He left Tony unharmed and invited him and Pepper to sit down for a drink, explaining that his anger was aimed at the protest organizers, not them.

• Heisenberg threw his phone at the protesters, then sent a massive sheet of ice crashing toward the crowd.
• Iron Man destroyed the falling ice with missiles, saving the protesters and strengthening their resolve.
• Heisenberg flew at Tony, crushed Iron Man’s armor, and accused him of protecting criminals and encouraging the people opposing his peacekeeping efforts.
• Heisenberg carried Tony through several buildings and pinned him against a wall, while protecting him from injury with his Biological Field.
• Pepper rushed to Tony’s aid and pleaded with Heisenberg, who released Tony and reassured her that he had not hurt him.
• Heisenberg poured drinks for himself, Tony, and Pepper, and told them that he was angry at the protesters and their organizers rather than at them.

Heisenberg decided to prevent Tony from becoming a future threat by removing the Curse of Knowledge and changing Tony’s subconscious to prioritize family. Tony’s feelings changed that night, and he proposed to Pepper while expressing how much he missed his father.

• Heisenberg argued with Tony about his treatment of the protesters, apologized to Pepper, and warned Tony that he neglected family for heroism.
• Heisenberg sent Jessica to follow the protest leaders and break their legs, then used Origin Matter to remove Tony’s Curse of Knowledge and make family his highest priority.
• Tony left his laboratory feeling confused and inadequate, and Pepper comforted him.
• Tony proposed to Pepper, told her he loved her and their future children, and said he missed his father.
• Heisenberg watched Stark Tower and said goodbye to the future Iron Man.

Heisenberg gathered New York’s gang bosses under the pretense of a meeting, then had Bullseye’s men kill them all and ordered his crew to take control of the city’s underworld. Meanwhile, Bruce Banner discovered that the Cosmic Cube was behaving abnormally, prompting Maria Hill to rush toward Pegasus Base and prepare for a possible evacuation.

• Heisenberg woke from his nap, ate lunch, and told Billy to summon him when the gang bosses arrived.
• Heisenberg confirmed that every New York gang boss was present, then left as Bullseye and his men opened fire and killed them.
• Heisenberg ordered Bullseye to join Rumlow’s forces in taking over New York’s underworld and told Jessica and Billy to handle cleanup and their work.
• Bruce Banner settled into his research role at Project Pegasus and received a call from Professor Selvig about abnormal Cosmic Cube readings.
• Banner found the Cube increasingly active and requested an evacuation of Pegasus Base after a small energy surge.
• Maria Hill ordered Banner not to touch the Cube, then redirected the Helicarrier to Pegasus Base and prepared to abandon the research.

Heisenberg consolidated his control over New York as the police and S.H.I.E.L.D. accepted that they could not oppose him. Meanwhile, Project Pegasus studied the Cosmic Cube, and Thor continued asking Heimdall about Loki while seeking a way to travel to Midgard.

• Director George Stacy learned that Heisenberg’s forces had destroyed the Cannon Gang and killed leaders from seventeen New York gangs, then left for City Hall to confront the mayor.
• Barbara reported to Hill that Heisenberg’s forces were absorbing Kingpin’s and Hydra’s remnants, led by Rumlow and including Sitwell, and guessed that Alexander Pierce had died.
• Heisenberg concluded that the government would tolerate his rule over New York until it developed a weapon against him, and considered weakening its public credibility to expand his influence.
• At Pegasus Base, Dr. Banner, Professor Selvig, Jane Foster, and Daisy Louise discussed energy leaking from the Cosmic Cube.
• Thor pressed Heimdall for news of Loki and asked to go to Midgard, while Heimdall suspected Loki’s absence from his sight was connected to an Infinity Stone.

Heisenberg gathered his followers at his new theater headquarters to strengthen their unity and explain how they would rule New York’s underworld. He announced that he was forming the Justice League, naming its first members and assigning Bullseye and Crossbones leadership roles.

• Odin and Frigga disagreed over whether Thor or Loki needed more attention, and Odin reflected on who might have inherited his position.
• Heisenberg arrived at the renovated opera house, where his growing following and the public’s praise underscored his influence in New York.
• Heisenberg addressed more than two thousand subordinates, urging them to treat one another as comrades and extend their organization beyond ruling New York’s night.
• Heisenberg named Bullseye his successor in leading the Nuke Gang and told him to protect citizens in exchange for their support.
• Heisenberg appointed Crossbones chief instructor and announced the Justice League, comprising himself, Crossbones, Bullseye, Jessica, Eliza, and Daredevil.

Heisenberg announced the Justice League and laid out his plan to impose his own laws, while preparing to use an alien threat to unite New York and weaken the United States. Later, Peter Parker watched the news report that Heisenberg had moved to Manhattan and eagerly looked forward to seeing him again.

• Heisenberg declared that the Justice League would make justice its own, and the crowd named the groups and insults used against them.
• Heisenberg ordered Night Devil to distribute laws and form an inspection team, assigned reports to Bullseye and Rumlow, and raised wages and benefits.
• Heisenberg reasoned that gangsters and Hydra would accept his rule first, then planned to exploit the coming arrival of Loki and other aliens to manage public chaos.
• Peter watched a report announcing Heisenberg's move to Columbus Circle Theater and lamented that visiting him would now cost more.
• Peter told Uncle Ben he had kept the watch Heisenberg gave him, and Uncle Ben encouraged him to call Heisenberg Mister when they met again.

Heisenberg’s public image improved as New York’s media praised his crime-fighting, while Loki offered Thanos the Space Stone’s location in exchange for an army and the right to rule Midgard. Thanos gave Loki the Mind Stone and Chitauri warriors, sending him to reclaim what Thanos considered his.

• J. Jonah Jameson praised Heisenberg on television and claimed New York’s crime rate had fallen by eighty percent since his arrival.
• Heisenberg turned off the television, satisfied with the publicity and public opinion, and went to sleep.
• Loki presented Thanos with footage showing the Space Stone at Project Pegasus and offered its location in exchange for an army and the right to rule Midgard.
• Thanos agreed to give Loki an army and the Mind Stone, and recalled that Odin had once defeated him and later abandoned the Infinity Stones.
• Loki accepted Ebony Maw’s Mind Stone scepter and learned that Thanos would send the Chitauri warriors intended for the attack on the Kree Nova to serve him.
• Loki resolved to defeat Odin and prove his worth or die alone in the universe, believing he had no way back.

Loki received the Mind Stone, command of the Chitauri, and a teleportation array from Thanos’s forces, then began learning to use the Space Stone to reach Earth. At Pegasus Base, Hill evacuated the staff while Banner and Selvig argued over whether to trigger the Cosmic Cube’s dangerous energy surge.

• Loki thanked Thanos for the Mind Stone, and Thanos ordered Ebony Maw to take him to the Chitauri fleet.
• Ebony Maw uploaded Loki’s genetic information to the Chitauri leader and showed him a teleportation array that could briefly influence the Space Stone.
• Loki stepped onto the array, sensed the Space Stone’s energy, and briefly became enveloped in blue light before the effect vanished.
• At Pegasus Base, Hill told Banner and Professor Selvig that she had evacuated the personnel and suspended Project Pegasus research.
• Selvig proposed triggering a wormhole and collapsing it before it became a black hole, while Banner objected and asked whether Selvig was dissatisfied with him.

Hill rejected Selvig’s proposal to deliberately trigger the Cosmic Cube, and Banner sealed it for study after its activity subsided. Heisenberg learned that Tony Stark had invited him to his wedding, leaving him stunned.

• Banner argued that the Cosmic Cube should be sealed, while Selvig urged Hill to trigger its danger early; Hill chose Banner’s plan because S.H.I.E.L.D. could not risk another scandal.
• Selvig’s hidden relief revealed that he had been influenced by Loki, who had planted him as a pawn in Project Pegasus.
• Loki struggled aboard the Chitauri flagship to communicate with the Space Stone as its activity steadily weakened.
• Banner removed the Cosmic Cube from the centrifuge and sealed it, estimating that it would take at least forty years to reach its critical point again.
• Heisenberg told Billy to wait until his forces had crushed New York’s police system before taking over its funding and income.
• Billy reported that Tony Stark had invited Heisenberg to his wedding the following week, and Heisenberg reacted with disbelief.

Heisenberg accepted Tony Stark’s wedding invitation, then struggled to shave until the system trimmed his beard and hair. Two days later, he attended a New York charity dinner, where his presence drew every eye.

• Heisenberg eagerly agreed to attend Tony’s wedding, while Billy mistook his excitement for anger and feared he had displeased his boss.
• Heisenberg discovered his beard had grown long, melted a mirror while testing his Heat Vision, and used the system to trim his beard, nails, and hair.
• Jessica rushed into the bathroom, praised Heisenberg’s new look, and celebrated with him.
• Billy returned from his time off with four maids to serve Heisenberg, who accepted their treatment before sunbathing through the day.
• Jessica drove Heisenberg to the charity dinner at Eilenburg Restaurant, where New York’s elite lowered their eyes as he entered.

Heisenberg exchanged teasing insults with Tony Stark and Pepper at a dinner, while Loki used the Mind Stone to reach Midgard. Heimdall discovered Loki’s arrival and told Thor, who hurried to Odin to request passage to Earth so he could find both his brother and Jane Foster.

• Heisenberg bantered with Tony Stark and Pepper, and the two men jokingly agreed to be friends before sitting down together.
• Loki used the Mind Stone to amplify his power, connect with the weakening Space Stone, and teleport from the Chitauri flagship to Midgard.
• Heimdall sensed Loki’s arrival on Midgard and went to tell Thor, who was drinking with Sif.
• Thor misunderstood Heimdall’s news as an opportunity to go to Earth, then eagerly asked Odin to send him there.
• Heimdall realized Thor had not known Loki was on Midgard and had only been thinking about seeing Jane Foster.

Thor learned that Loki was on Earth and set off to retrieve him, while Odin used the Bifrost to send him there. At S.H.I.E.L.D., Banner discovered the Cosmic Cube was forming a portal, leaving everyone to wonder how anyone could emerge from its sealed chamber three thousand meters underground.

• Thor told Odin that Loki was on Midgard, and Odin sent him to reassure Frigga before meeting at the Bifrost.
• Frigga told Thor to protect Loki, and Thor promised to respect Earth's people before rushing to Odin.
• Odin used Gungnir and Dark Magic to send Thor through the Bifrost to Midgard.
• Banner traced the Cosmic Cube's rising energy to a stable portal opened by someone on the other side.
• Hill revealed the Cube was sealed inside a concrete-filled chamber three thousand meters underground, raising the question of how the visitor could get out.

Loki arrived on Earth through the Cosmic Cube, exhausted himself removing the Mind Stone’s corruption from his hand, and slept in the sealed vault. When S.H.I.E.L.D. workers woke him while digging up the Cube, he defeated Captain America and took control of Natasha, then learned that New York was home to a powerful life-form known as Earth’s true God.

• Loki emerged from the Cosmic Cube’s energy surge in a sealed underground room, where he used Vanir Dark Magic to remove the Mind Stone’s corrosive power from his hand.
• Loki slept for over an hour, while Banner, Captain Rogers, and Natasha brought S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel to excavate the buried Cosmic Cube.
• Woken by the construction work, Loki teleported beside the S.H.I.E.L.D. team and used an illusion to ambush Captain America and Natasha.
• Loki caught Captain America’s shield, threw him back, and revealed that he was Thor’s younger brother and the Prince of Asgard.
• Loki used the Mind Stone to control Natasha and asked which city to conquer; Natasha warned him that New York was home to an incredibly powerful life-form, whom she called Earth’s true God.

Loki dismissed the Midgardians’ God on Earth and teleported to a New York charity dinner to challenge him. Heisenberg neutralized the Mind Stone’s control, protected the guests from Loki’s attack, and left Loki pinned beneath his foot in a crater.

• Loki learned from Natasha that Heisenberg was a Kryptonian leader with strength comparable to Superman’s, then used the Mind Stone and Space Stone to teleport to him.
• At the charity dinner, Heisenberg sensed Loki’s arrival and spent 89,611 cubic units of Origin Matter to gain immunity to Mind Stone control.
• Loki announced that he was the people of Midgard’s god, but the guests mistook his entrance for a performance and praised Heisenberg.
• Loki attacked the guests with his scepter, while Heisenberg remained unharmed and kept those around him safe.
• Heisenberg struck Loki out of the air, slammed him into the ground, and pinned him down while asking whether Loki had called him a weak god.

Heisenberg withstood Loki’s attacks and resisted the Mind Stone, then stopped Loki’s attempted surrender and counterattack. Heisenberg beat Loki across New York’s Central Plaza, leaving the city square covered in Loki-shaped craters.

• Loki struck Heisenberg with the scepter’s energy, but only damaged his clothes and left him unharmed.
• Loki offered Heisenberg an alliance and threw him the scepter, then used the distraction to attack him with it.
• The Mind Stone failed to control Heisenberg, who grabbed Loki and smashed him into the ground.
• Loki threatened to kneel, then pretended to surrender and tried to stab Heisenberg with a dagger.
• Heisenberg caught Loki’s wrist and swung him into the ground repeatedly, leaving Loki-shaped craters across Central Plaza.

After Heisenberg took Loki away, Natasha seized control of the injured guests and security guards at Eilenburg Restaurant, killing two people to force everyone to surrender their weapons. Tony stepped forward and offered himself as a hostage in exchange for Pepper’s release, claiming he could persuade Heisenberg to spare Natasha and her new boss.

• The guests celebrated Heisenberg’s victory over Loki while chaos and injuries spread through Eilenburg Restaurant.
• A wealthy man kicked a wounded waitress, who collapsed and sprayed blood over him; both were left dying from their injuries.
• Natasha shot at the ballroom doors, killed two security guards, and threatened the crowd until they laid down their weapons.
• Natasha killed a young woman and an old man to make the remaining armed guards surrender, then blamed them for the deaths.
• Tony sent Pepper away, approached Natasha, and offered to become her hostage if she released Pepper.

Tony persuaded Natasha to let Pepper go and sent the banquet guests fleeing, then Natasha drove him toward the fight. Heisenberg defeated Loki, but Loki vanished after asking Heisenberg to kill him, leaving Heisenberg stunned.

• Natasha threatened Tony until he proposed that Loki bargain with Heisenberg, then freed Pepper and ordered the banquet guests to run.
• Tony sent Pepper home and warned her to contact Heisenberg's subordinates before Natasha drove him toward Loki.
• Heisenberg battered Loki across Central Plaza, breaking many of his bones and injuring spectators with the resulting shockwaves.
• Loki asked Heisenberg to kill him and destroy Asgard, blaming his family for rejecting him.
• Loki vanished in a flash of blue light, and Heisenberg realized he had been tricked.

Heisenberg tracked down the wounded Loki in New Mexico and offered him a chance to reclaim his standing by leading an invasion of Asgard on Earth. Loki accepted, while Heisenberg made clear that the war’s outcome was Loki’s responsibility and that he only wanted the conflict to begin.

• Heisenberg expanded his senses across the United States, located Loki near the abandoned town of Pandian Tigo, and flew there.
• Loki surrendered the Mind Stone and Space Stone to Heisenberg, then collapsed from his injuries and lack of power.
• Heisenberg tortured Loki briefly, then persuaded him that an invasion would give him a chance to prove himself to Odin and win the recognition he craved.
• Loki accepted the Space Stone and agreed to lead his forces against Asgard, but warned Heisenberg about Thanos and Odin.
• Heisenberg ordered Loki to bring the armies into conflict on Earth while keeping the fighting away from his city, then left Loki to arrange the war.

After Natasha left him behind, Tony decided to build an international rescue and reconstruction organization, but a new Bifrost arrival appeared in Central Plaza. Thor found Daredevil and demanded Loki, prompting the Injustice League to assemble and prepare to fight him.

• Natasha knocked Tony out of the car and drove away, while Tony realized he could save people without being Iron Man and decided to establish a rescue organization.
• A rainbow pillar appeared at Central Plaza, and Nuke Gang members began rescuing victims around Eilenburg while Bullseye arranged for Pepper to be taken to the Theater.
• Bullseye, Daredevil, Jessica, Eliza, and Rumlow assembled the Injustice League after the Bifrost appeared and Rumlow ordered them to handle the newcomer.
• Thor arrived through the Bifrost, asked Daredevil where Loki was, and learned that Loki had caused extensive damage to the city.
• Thor summoned his armor and hammer, demanded that the heroes hand Loki over, and Daredevil declared they would deal with Thor properly.