Chapter Summaries

James Howlett witnessed the first atomic bomb test, then prepared to undergo an evolution using the Tesseract’s energy and a serum made from Heart-Shaped Herb. As the Wolf Pack and others watched, James entered the chamber and lost consciousness, where he encountered a radiant version of himself.

• James watched the atomic bomb detonate with Remus Pitt and discussed Remus’s plan to launch the “Winter of the Wolf.”
• Bucky Barnes endured the Wolf Pack’s training at the Edmonton estate and secretly boarded its advanced aircraft with the trainees.
• James, Erik Lehnsherr, and Azazel arrived at the Greenland base, where Dr. Arnim Zola and Dr. Abraham Erskine prepared the Evolution Chamber with the Tesseract.
• Remus led eight Wolf Pack members to the metal pods as James revealed his transformed body and entered the Vibranium chamber.
• James injected the “Styx” serum and drew on the Tesseract’s energy as his body evolved, then encountered a radiant figure resembling himself in his mind.

Remus and the Wolf Pack completed their Super Soldier transformations as James Howlett emerged from the vibranium egg after reaching a new level of power and understanding. His awakening drew the attention of Odin and Heimdall in Asgard, who chose not to intervene as Ragnarok approached.

• Dr. Erskine explained to Arnim Zola that the Super Soldier Serum brought subjects toward their genetic potential, while its ability to surpass human limits varied by person.
• Remus and the other Wolf Pack members emerged from the chambers with healed injuries and enhanced physiques as the vibranium egg containing James Howlett began to pulse.
• James completed his rebirth, awakened a new perception of body and soul, and emerged from the egg surrounded by crimson energy.
• The nine Super Soldiers, Bucky, Dr. Erskine, and Zola knelt before James, and Bucky understood Steve's warning that people who saw James's path would honor him as a god.
• Heimdall told Odin that a true god had been born in Midgard, and Odin decided not to open the Bifrost, letting events take their course as Ragnarok approached.

Bucky trained with the young wolves and discovered that John Coffey could heal his injuries, while Erik gained confidence at school and drew Emma Frost’s interest. After learning that two atomic bombs had been dropped on Japan, James prepared to travel with Azazel to Tokyo.

• Bucky endured punishing sparring sessions, and John Coffey healed his bruises and sprained knee with a cloud of dust.
• Erik used his training to score a touchdown in a football game against Mike’s team, earning his classmates’ respect.
• Emma Frost praised Erik’s play and asked to meet his parents or another elder from his family.
• After receiving news that two atomic bombs had been dropped, James told Azazel it was time for a long trip to Tokyo.

James Howlett tested his ultimate ability, “Bu Huai,” by enduring an atomic detonation over Tokyo and surviving. He explained his near-immortality to Azazel, while President Truman learned that the bomb in Tokyo had not come from the Manhattan Project.

• James and Azazel reached Chiyoda Ward, where James set off the atomic weapon he had secretly kept from the Manhattan Project.
• James’s body was destroyed by the blast and radiation, but it regenerated, and he flew to meet Azazel after the explosion.
• James told Azazel that his ultimate ability, “Bu Huai,” fused his body, spirit, soul, and energy, making him extraordinarily difficult to kill.
• Truman demanded to know where the third atomic weapon had come from, and Marshall said the Manhattan Project’s remaining bomb was still secure.
• Truman slumped into his chair and wondered whether the Soviet Union had supplied the bomb detonated in Tokyo.

President Truman ordered the Tokyo atomic bombing classified as America’s highest secret, while Emma Frost visited James Howlett’s estate with Erik and tried to read James’s mind. James revealed that he knew about her telepathy, leaving Emma stunned.

• Oppenheimer told Truman that the Tokyo blast had been an airburst, and Truman ordered the bombing’s truth sealed at Area 51.
• Emma Frost arrived at the Howlett estate with Erik Lehnsherr, who introduced James Howlett as his cousin despite thinking of him as his father.
• James welcomed Emma and spoke with her while Erik left to visit his mother and get ice cream.
• Emma tried to read James’s thoughts but heard nothing beyond his spoken words, then asked why Erik called him ‘Dad.’
• James hinted that he knew Emma had tried to read his mind, and Emma froze in shock.

James spoke with Emma Frost about their abilities and offered guidance, then taught Bucky a footwork technique suited to fighting with one arm. Bucky left with a challenge: avoid being struck by the young wolves for three months to earn another lesson.

• James reassured Emma that mutants were not superior or inferior to other people, warned her against casually reading minds, and offered to teach her ways to control her telepathy.
• James agreed not to tell Erik about Emma's powers and invited her to visit again; afterward, Erik wondered what they had discussed.
• Bucky kept training against the young wolves, and an Old Wolf taught his son to respect Bucky's courage despite his missing arm.
• Coffey treated Bucky's injuries, and Remus Pitt brought him to James in the Underground Palace.
• James demonstrated a boxing and Bagua Quan footwork technique designed for Bucky, who quickly imitated its basic movements.
• James challenged Bucky to go three months without letting the young wolves land a punch before he would teach him something new.

Emma struggled with her parents’ troubled household while thinking of James, who took control of the Howlett Group and set its priorities. Meanwhile, Sebastian Shaw demonstrated his powers to Soviet intelligence, which agreed to introduce him to Joseph Stalin.

• Emma hid her mother’s medicines from Winston Frost and confronted him over her mother’s addiction and his plans to arrange Emma’s marriage.
• James arrived at the Howlett Group headquarters and reassured its executives that he would leave most operations in their hands while prioritizing advanced technology and research.
• James ordered the Group to pursue Howard Stark’s antigravity technology after negotiations to acquire Stark Industries failed.
• Sebastian Shaw met Soviet intelligence officer Rudolf Abel in Moscow and revealed his ability to create fire.
• Abel accepted Shaw’s offer to aid the Soviet Union and said he would introduce him to Joseph Stalin.

James met Emma Frost outside her home and invited her to learn his mutation-training methods, while scientists discussed how to classify mutant abilities. The chapter ended with James proposing an Omega tier above Alpha.

• James gave Emma his jacket, discussed her psychic abilities, and invited her to try his training methods over the weekend.
• Bucky used evasive footwork to fight Rhino, while Opper admitted Bucky’s skill had changed his opinion of him.
• James asked Dr. Zola and Dr. Erskine to distinguish fundamental laws from conditional energy and classified psychic powers as physical mutations for now.
• Erskine presented projections that mutant abilities would become more common and described the projected proportions of the Greek-letter tiers.
• James proposed adding Omega as a placeholder tier above Alpha.

James taught Emma Frost and Erik meditation to help awaken their mutant abilities, and Emma’s psychic power manifested as a diamond that knocked Erik unconscious. Meanwhile, Sebastian Shaw worked with Soviet officials in Sverdlovsk to develop a mutation serum using German prisoners of war.

• James guided Emma and Erik through breathing exercises and meditation, and Emma visualized a glowing diamond-shaped polyhedron.
• Emma’s psychic shockwave knocked Erik unconscious, and she later woke on a sofa while James explained that her powers came from genetic mutations rather than her mind or soul.
• Erik woke and apologized to Emma before suggesting they resume their practice.
• In Sverdlovsk, Sebastian Shaw told Major General Brezhnev that he would test his serum production process on German prisoners of war.
• Shaw proposed using young volunteers because adolescents responded well to mutation, but Brezhnev insisted that Soviet soldiers of any age were made of steel.

James acquired Howard Stark’s anti-gravity engine technology and rationed the research center’s dwindling Vibranium while planning future work. In Wakanda, T'Chaka defeated and killed King Olba, reclaimed the throne, and unified the tribes through force before introducing modern technology.

• Jay Gatsby told James that Howard Stark had sold the anti-gravity engine technology but kept its patents, and James praised Gatsby’s negotiation and told him to continue overseeing Greenland.
• Dr. Myron MacLain reported that the research center had a little over four tons of Vibranium left, so James ordered its use restricted and directed MacLain to work on small Adamantium components.
• T'Chaka invoked his royal right to challenge King Olba, and the four Wakandan tribes consented to the challenge.
• T'Chaka used ironwood spikes hidden in the pool to trap Olba, then defeated him and fatally stabbed him when Olba refused to submit.
• The four tribes pledged allegiance to T'Chaka, who subsequently crushed Jabari opposition, unified Wakanda, and introduced modern technology.

James Howlett took Emma Frost and Erik Lehnsherr to watch the Wolf Pack’s first Alpha trial: a deadly climb up an icy Alpine cliff. Bucky Barnes and the other candidates reached the summit by linking their ropes and cooperating, only to learn that the Winter Wolves had secretly prevented anyone from dying.

• James brought Emma and Erik to the Alps with Azazel to watch the Wolf Pack candidates climb a sheer cliff in a blizzard.
• Remus Pitt explained that the climbers had to reach the summit, where they would fight to determine the next Alpha.
• Bucky ignored Opper’s warning to quit and began climbing despite having only one arm.
• When Opper fell, Bucky caught him, then urged him to link the candidates’ ropes so they could climb together.
• Bucky, Opper, and more than a dozen candidates reached the summit as James flew there and Colin Pitt saluted him.
• The Winter Wolves revealed they had caught the falling candidates, and Bucky realized the trial had been a setup.

Bucky won the Wolf Pack candidates’ voluntary Alpha fight against Colin, then collapsed from exhaustion and woke beneath the old house to find his healed left arm replaced by a metal hand. Mr. Howlett explained that Coffey had healed the injury and that Bucky would gradually adjust to the returning sensations.

• Remus Pitt explained that becoming Alpha was voluntary, and Colin Pitt, Bucky, Opper, and a black-haired young man stepped forward to compete.
• Colin quickly crippled the black-haired fighter, while Bucky and Opper joined forces against him.
• Opper briefly caught Colin in a grappling throw, but Colin escaped and knocked Opper unconscious.
• Bucky struck Colin with repeated Falling Star Fist punches, defeating him before collapsing on the snowy peak.
• Bucky woke in the underground palace and discovered that his healed left arm ended in a metal hand.
• Mr. Howlett told Bucky that Coffey had healed his injury and that the pain came from dead tissue and nerves being stimulated again.

Bucky received an Adamantium arm and accepted James as his mentor, then asked what James hoped to achieve. James explained that he was preparing for a future crisis that threatened all life on Earth, and the chapter ended with his memory of a desolate X-shaped tombstone.

• James showed Bucky his new Adamantium arm and said Dr. Zola would examine its neural link.
• Steve arrived, and James teased Bucky about calling Steve and several women’s names while he was unconscious.
• Steve prompted Bucky to offer James tea, and James accepted Bucky as a student like Steve.
• James asked Bucky whether he wanted to become the Wolf Pack’s alpha, but Bucky said he was unsure what kind of person he wanted to be.
• James told Bucky, Steve, and Azazel that a future crisis threatened all life on Earth and that he intended to grow stronger and shape their own fates.

James advised Bucky that he was not suited to lead the Wolf Pack and encouraged Steve to stay with the SSR while learning about its changing world. In the Soviet Union, Sebastian Shaw pursued a brutal method for creating mutants, while James began questioning Erik about the nature of his power.

• Bucky told James that Colin was better suited to become the alpha, and James agreed that Bucky should continue training for the Winter of the Wolf plan.
• Steve told James that he and Peggy were doing well, but he was troubled by the SSR’s political changes and chose to remain there for now.
• James told Steve to be careful and ordered regular reports on Steve Rogers from his contacts in the military and government.
• Major General Leonid Brezhnev reprimanded Sebastian Shaw after Shaw’s near-death experiment left Alexei with severe brain damage, and Shaw later became fascinated by radiation damage from atomic bombings.
• Erik Lehnsherr and Emma Frost sparred at the Howlett Estate, and James asked Erik what he used to control metal; Emma answered that it was magnetism.

James pushed Erik to develop his magnetic abilities through science study and guided Emma’s meditation practice. Later, Bucky asked to take the Styx serum, saying he had nothing left to lose.

• Erik controlled twelve metal darts at high speed, and James said he had begun to grasp the Evolution Technique’s second stage.
• James demonstrated reshaping a steel dart and urged Erik to study physics and magnetic fields so he could manipulate matter more precisely.
• Emma told James she could meditate and sense her psychic powers more clearly but was afraid to touch the diamond in her mind; James suggested practicing on small animals.
• Colin Pitt became the new leader of the Wolf Pack, despite James Barnes having won under the selection rules.
• Bucky asked James whether he could undergo the Styx serum trial, and James questioned why he thought he was different from other young recruits.
• Bucky told James he wanted to try because he had nothing left to lose.

Bucky underwent the Winter Wolf ceremony with the last dose of the “Styx” serum, while nine veteran Winter Wolves entered cryogenic sleep. After testing Bucky’s new strength, James heard that Steve Rogers had refused orders to fight in Korea, leaving Roger Dooley to consult someone by phone.

• Bucky told James that he wanted to follow a path of his own, and James brought the Wolf Pack to Greenland for the Winter Wolf ceremony.
• Dr. Erskine administered the “Styx” serum to Bucky as thirteen young warriors received their Evolution Serum, and James used his Gang Qi to rouse Bucky from a near-fatal daze.
• The transformed warriors honored the nine veteran Winter Wolves as they entered cryo-pods, and Bucky fitted his reattached Adamantium arm before testing his new powers with James.
• James judged that Bucky’s serum had greatly increased his strength and healing, then urged him to keep training in the Killing Technique.
• Steve refused to join the war in Korea, and Roger Dooley let him leave before calling someone to discuss the situation.

James Howlett arranged a night at Studio 54, where he reunited with Erik Lehnsherr and discussed mutant research with Emma. Meanwhile, Steve Rogers prepared to attack a Soviet research facility, but he suspected the military had sent a company to monitor him rather than support him.

• James Howlett told Brian Foss to keep the Howlett Group's trade with the East going through African channels and to expand everyday businesses.
• James attended Studio 54 with Emma, congratulated Erik Lehnsherr on graduating, and discussed emerging research into mutants with Emma.
• Steve Rogers learned that Hydra research might connect the Soviet Union to Auschwitz, then told Peggy Carter he planned to submit his discharge papers after his mission.
• Steve traveled to West Germany to join a secret operation against a Soviet research facility in Siberia.
• Major Bernard Harper presented Steve with twelve elite troops and nearly a hundred armed soldiers, prompting Steve to ask whether they were there to support him or ensure his safety.

Steve Rogers was ambushed at a deserted military airfield by Major Harper and American troops who accused him of betraying the military. He killed Harper and fought off the soldiers and serum-enhanced special forces, but the anesthetic bullets eventually overwhelmed him, leaving him unconscious.

• Major Harper ordered Steve to accept military protection and cooperate with an investigation, then signaled the troops to open fire.
• Steve dodged the needle bullets, killed soldiers with his shield, and charged toward the forest before sonic cannons slowed him down.
• Steve destroyed the sonic cannons and forced the bullets’ needles and some of their liquid out of his body, but special forces soldiers attacked with more sonic cannons and grappling chains.
• The serum-enhanced soldiers restrained Steve as anesthetic bullets weakened him, and he threw his shield through Major Harper, badly wounding him.
• Steve broke free long enough to kill several super-soldiers, but soldiers kept firing anesthetic rounds until he fell unconscious.

James learned that Steve Rogers had been arrested and was being held for experiments after refusing orders, while the Howletts moved to rescue him. Azazel freed Steve from his restraints, and Steve recovered enough to ask for Azazel’s knife as footsteps approached the cell.

• James received word that Peggy Carter had been taken by the SSR and told Emma that the situation was expected.
• Roger Dooley told Howard Stark that Steve had been arrested on alleged Soviet links and ordered Stark to study Steve’s shield and uniform.
• Bucky rushed to James’s estate, was blasted away from the study window, then learned Azazel would bring Steve back and was told to repair the broken window.
• Researchers drew spinal fluid from an anesthetized Steve and confined him in a reinforced underground cell.
• Azazel teleported into Steve’s cell, cut through his restraints with an Adamantium knife, and watched him recover from the drugs.
• Steve asked Azazel to lend him the knife as approaching footsteps neared the cell.

Steve destroyed the Strategic Scientific Reserve’s facilities and reclaimed his shield, then rescued Peggy and became America’s most wanted fugitive. James explained the conflict between emerging superhumans and the old ruling powers, and reminded Steve that the Howlett Family already stood among them.

• Steve and Azazel escaped the collapsing sanatorium, and the Strategic Scientific Reserve learned that Steve had destroyed the facility and killed its personnel.
• James told Steve to retrieve his shield himself, so Steve went to the New Jersey base and fought Colonel Thomas’s super-soldiers before taking the shield from Howard Stark’s laboratory.
• Steve rescued Peggy from the Strategic Scientific Reserve office with Azazel’s help, and the government branded him a top-level fugitive under the codename Traitor.
• Peggy met James and the Howlett Family at dinner, while Steve later told James that he understood what it meant to accept his strength and differences.
• James explained that old ruling powers would resist the rise of superhuman beings, then told Steve that the Howlett Family had already drawn their attention and that James was one of them.