Chapter Summaries

President Eisenhower suspended the Super Soldier enhancement programs after Steve Rogers's defection exposed the danger of uncontrolled fighters, while ordering Hoover to investigate the powerful Howlett Family. Meanwhile, Azazel, Bucky, Colin, and Opper searched an abandoned Soviet facility for Sebastian Shaw, who was helping the USSR manage a dangerous Mutant named Andrei.

• Eisenhower questioned intelligence chiefs about Bruce Howlett's connection to Steve Rogers and learned that the Howlett heirs and their predecessor heads mysteriously disappeared from public view.
• Roger Dooley blamed the Howlett Family for the gap between the serum's expected results and the wreckage left by Rogers, and General Walter Smith recommended suspending large-scale Super Soldier production.
• Eisenhower suspended all ongoing Super Soldier enhancement programs, placed the existing Super Soldiers under Smith's command, and ordered Hoover to investigate the Howlett Family.
• Azazel, Bucky, Colin, and Opper broke into an abandoned Soviet research facility in Siberia, collected its documents, and left after finding no trace of Shaw.
• Shaw used a crude helmet to protect himself from Nina's mind-reading and suggestion powers, then went to a Soviet government facility to examine Andrei's uncontrolled energy ability.
• Shaw calmed Andrei by absorbing the energy surges from his body, while Colonel Sergei explained that the Hellfire Program struggled to control powerful Mutant abilities.

Steve Rogers and Peggy Carter married, while James Howlett continued training Steve and Bucky and received intelligence about Sebastian Shaw’s influence in the Soviet Union. James decided to go there and kill Shaw, suspecting that a powerful mind-controlling mutant was helping him.

• James gave Peggy custom Adamantium pistols as a wedding gift, and Steve and Peggy married at the Howlett estate with James officiating.
• Emma invited James to dinner, while Charles Xavier and Raven Darkholme met Erik Lehnsherr at a New York bar and Charles recognized him as a mutant.
• James defeated Steve and Bucky in a sparring match, demonstrating Claw Frenzy Strike and promising Steve another dose of Styx Serum.
• Peggy told James that Soviet officials and the Hellfire research institute had begun behaving strangely, and she suspected Shaw had a mind-controlling mutant ally.
• James told Emma he would go to the Soviet Union and kill Shaw rather than continue investigating him from afar.

James and the Winter Wolves attacked the Hellfire Institute in Moscow, but Sebastian Shaw had already escaped and taken control of a Soviet nuclear submarine. Shaw learned that his stronghold had been destroyed, while James’s group left with the institute’s files and a warning about Shaw’s plan to provoke a nuclear war.

• Sebastian Shaw left the Hellfire Institute with Nina Ivanovna and his followers, then used her psychic suggestions to take control of Major General Robert Rostislav and the crew of a Soviet nuclear submarine.
• James, Emma, Erik Lehnsherr, and the Winter Wolves reached the institute under concealment and fought its guards and Mutant soldiers.
• Emma searched Colonel Sergei Kriki’s memories and discovered that Shaw planned to provoke a nuclear war by manipulating Soviet military leaders into extreme responses to American action.
• James’s group searched the institute, took Shaw’s documents, and left after Erik Lehnsherr destroyed the institute buildings.
• Shaw received news that the Hellfire stronghold had been destroyed and reacted with rage aboard the submarine.

James and Emma analyzed Sebastian Shaw’s mutant allies and his plan to provoke nuclear war, while Moira uncovered Shaw’s attempt to influence the deployment of missiles in Turkey. Charles confirmed that mutants could control minds, and James’s family prepared to intercept Shaw as he pursued the generals who could approve the plan.

• Emma explained how Shaw used Nina Ivanovna and the Goncharov brothers to gain control of the Soviet mutation laboratory and build toward nuclear war.
• Shaw used Nina’s mind suggestion to influence Colonel Bob Hendry into arranging meetings with two generals who opposed deploying strategic missiles in Turkey.
• Moira witnessed Shaw’s meeting with Hendry, but CIA Director McCone dismissed her report until Charles Xavier confirmed that mutants could control minds.
• Moira brought Charles and Raven to CIA headquarters, while Erik returned home and told James he suspected Charles was interested in his identity.
• James tested Emma’s Mind Pierce ability, then told Erik to investigate Charles later as the family prepared to meet Shaw.

Charles Xavier demonstrated his mind-control ability to CIA Director Mike McCone and gained the interest of Michael Halse, head of the SSR’s Mutation Power Research Lab. Meanwhile, James confronted Sebastian Shaw at Fisher Golf Course, seized him and flew away as the remaining Mutants battled Erik and Emma.

• Charles Xavier read Mike McCone’s thoughts, briefly immobilized him, and explained how Mutant powers could affect the mind.
• Michael Halse questioned Charles about Mutant abilities and brought him, Moira MacTaggert, and Raven to the SSR research facility.
• Sebastian Shaw arrived at Fisher Golf Course with Colonel Bob Hendry and his Mutant allies to meet Lieutenant General Stanton, but James revealed that the supposed general was asleep elsewhere.
• James rejected Shaw’s plans for a new Mutant empire, then overwhelmed Shaw’s escape attempt and carried him into the sky.
• Emma Frost used her psychic power against Andrei and Riptide while Erik Lehnsherr attacked with metal, and Nina invaded Emma’s mind.
• Riptide summoned a colossal tornado against Erik as the battle continued across the golf course.

Hank McCoy tested Cerebro with Charles Xavier, whose scan of New York revealed Erik Lehnsherr and other powerful Mutants. Meanwhile, Erik defeated Riptide and Andrei, Emma Frost overcame Nina’s psychic attack, and James Howlett prepared to fight Shaw.

• Hank McCoy activated Cerebro at low amplification, but the machine overloaded after Charles Xavier scanned New York and spotted Erik Lehnsherr and several other powerful Mutants.
• Erik Lehnsherr survived Riptide’s tornado by shielding himself inside a steel fortress, then killed Andrei and pursued the fleeing Riptide.
• Emma Frost traced Nina’s psychic attack back to its source, shattered Nina’s psychic manifestation, and transformed into diamond while releasing Psychic Shock.
• James Howlett carried Shaw to a mountain valley, threw him onto the rocks, and challenged him to a fight.

James overwhelmed Sebastian Shaw by forcing him to absorb an attack with the energy of an atomic bomb, then let Erik deliver the final blow. Azazel teleported James, Erik, and Emma back to the ruined battlefield, where Erik introduced James to Professor Charles Xavier.

• James tested Shaw's absorption limits and battered him with his Atomic Fission Claw until Shaw hovered near death, while James stopped before delivering a final strike.
• James sent Azazel to fetch Erik, and Emma returned from the Backside world after turning Nina Ivanovna's psychic attack against her and knocking Nina and the Goncharov brothers unconscious.
• Azazel brought Erik and Emma to the ravine, where Erik killed Shaw with a Nazi-era coin accelerated by electromagnetic force, and the four escaped as an enormous blast consumed the mountainside.
• Charles Xavier, Raven, Hank McCoy, Moira MacTaggert, and Michael Halse arrived at the devastated battlefield and found six bodies, but Shaw was missing.
• Azazel teleported James, Erik, and Emma back to the battlefield, where Erik identified Charles Xavier to James as his colleague.

James and the Wolf Pack dealt with the aftermath of Shaw’s attack, while Charles, Raven, and Hank confronted their own uneasy feelings about being mutants. James then launched a major operation in Africa, where T’Chaka watched an unfamiliar fleet of airships descend over Wakanda.

• James met Charles Xavier and Erik at the ruined golf course, ordered Emma to erase Moira MacTaggert and Michael Halse’s memories, and took the Soviet mutant bodies.
• Charles, Raven, and Hank left with Moira and Halse, and Raven’s question about Azazel’s confidence made both Charles and Hank reflect on their own insecurities.
• President John Kennedy read reports about mutants and began to suspect that his painful skin condition was connected to his genes.
• James prepared a large operation, and his aircraft carried Steve, Bucky, Peggy, Emma, and Erik toward Africa while a Howlett Family fleet assembled off Somalia.
• T’Chaka sent N’Jadaka and others abroad to gather knowledge, then watched an unknown fleet of oval airships blot out the sky above Wakanda.

James Howlett began the operation to extract Wakanda’s Vibranium meteorite by putting its removal in Erik’s hands and activating thousands of Tesseract-powered engines. Meanwhile, Charles Xavier joined S.H.I.E.L.D. as a consultant, and Raven arrived in Wakanda with Azazel just as the mountain began to move.

• N'Jadaka and other Wakandans reached Kenya and saw the Howlett Group’s trucks and machines clearing a route toward Wakanda.
• T'Chaka ordered Wakanda’s forces to prepare, but James Howlett’s group subdued the king and put the charging warriors to sleep.
• Charles Xavier accepted a consulting post with S.H.I.E.L.D. and discussed mutant acceptance with Raven and Hank McCoy.
• James directed Winter Wolf warriors to excavate the Vibranium meteorite while Dr. Arnim Zola confirmed the plan to lift it was feasible.
• Erik used his powers to position tens of thousands of Anti-Gravity Engines, and Dr. Zola activated them to begin lifting the meteorite.
• Azazel arrived in Wakanda with Raven and mistook the enormous operation’s spectacle for a hallucination arranged by Charles.

James Howlett moved the Vibranium meteorite from Wakanda to a secret underground base in Greenland, while Director Hoover began connecting the Howlett Family to unexplained events. In New York, Azazel and Raven grew closer as he promised she could one day walk openly beside him.

• Erik Lehnsherr helped lift the Vibranium meteorite and discovered he had reached the third stage of his abilities.
• James refused to seize Wakanda or enslave its people, left its mined Vibranium behind, and ordered his team to return to the nest with the Heart-Shaped Herb.
• Director Edgar Hoover reviewed files on the Howlett Family and mutant activity after Martin King ended their call.
• James and his team transported the meteorite to a vast underground Greenland base powered by the Tesseract.
• Azazel reassured Raven about James's trust and promised her he would one day be able to walk openly; Raven kissed him.

N'Jadaka returned to Wakanda and discovered that his people were alive, though the kingdom had been changed. In the United States, Charles Xavier used Cerebro to find mutants and detected President Kennedy, while Hoover suspected Kennedy was one; the Sorcerer Supreme also prepared to establish a new Sanctum Sanctorum in New York.

• N'Jadaka found T'Chaka and the Wakandans apparently dead, but T'Challa and the others soon awoke unharmed, and T'Challa saw that Wakanda had changed.
• Hank McCoy activated the upgraded Cerebro, allowing Charles Xavier to scan New York and nearby cities for mutants.
• Charles detected a brilliant psychic presence at the Howlett Estate, and Emma Frost sensed his amplified telepathy before he withdrew from probing her.
• Edgar Hoover pressed President Kennedy about S.H.I.E.L.D. and his brother, then connected Kennedy's history and mutant reports and concluded that Kennedy was a mutant.
• The Sorcerer Supreme learned that a burst of life energy had damaged the Vishanti barrier and ordered Master Wong to prepare a new Sanctum Sanctorum in New York.

Raven joined Azazel for a family dinner at the Howlett ancestral home, where she was warmly welcomed and showed the family her shapeshifting ability. Afterward, James discussed the dangerous Styx Serum with Steve and Peggy, while Hydra’s influence within S.H.I.E.L.D. and Edgar Hoover’s ambitions came to the fore.

• Hank McCoy arrived to ask Raven to a movie, but Azazel appeared and invited him to dinner; Hank declined after seeing Raven’s natural form.
• Azazel brought Raven to the Howlett ancestral home, where James welcomed her to a family dinner celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival.
• Raven demonstrated that she could imitate clothing and other people’s appearances, delighting the family and alarming Azazel when she copied him.
• James offered Steve and Peggy a choice between the Super Soldier Serum and the dangerous Styx Serum; Steve declined the Styx Serum, but Peggy chose to try it.
• James advised Peggy and Steve to train in the Killing Technique before making their decision, while the narration revealed that Hydra had spread into S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Edgar Hoover attended his first S.H.I.E.L.D. board meeting and renewed his ambition as he learned more about mutants and the hidden forces in the world.

James Howlett appointed Emma Frost to lead the Special Talent Affairs Department and set out to investigate strange forces beyond the known world. Meanwhile, Erik Lehnsherr warned Charles Xavier not to interfere with his family, and Edgar Hoover met Bolivar Trask, who argued that Mutants could unite humanity as its common enemy.

• Charles Xavier passed Master Wong and Master Mark as they examined 177 Blake Street, a property owned by the Howlett Group.
• James Howlett introduced Emma Frost as head of the Special Talent Affairs Department and warned her that Mutant numbers and experimentation would increase; he then flew off to investigate strange legends and forces.
• Erik Lehnsherr showed Charles Xavier a lead helmet that greatly weakened telepathy, then warned him not to stand in the Howlett family's way.
• Edgar Hoover examined a blood sample and asked Bolivar Trask about Mutants; Trask claimed they could become humanity's common enemy and unite the divided world.

James inspected the expanding Wolf Nest Base before traveling to Kathmandu to seek out Kamar-Taj, a hidden order of sorcerers in the Himalayas. After learning that its members sometimes appeared in the city, he headed into the mountains, where villagers knelt as he passed.

• James reviewed Wolf Nest’s construction and told Arnim Zola to continue studying Vibranium while safeguarding Dr. MacLean’s health and examining the collected Mutant corpses with Dr. Erskine.
• James arrived in Kathmandu and met Imran Khan, a Howlett Group employee who agreed to guide him through the city and explain local legends.
• Imran told James that Kamar-Taj was a real order of sorcerers whose sanctuary was believed to be hidden deep in the Himalayas.
• Imran recalled seeing a Kamar-Taj sorcerer in Kathmandu and said the sorcerers sometimes treated people before walking into the mountains.
• James praised Imran’s service, vanished from his sight, and set out toward the Himalayas without leaving footprints in the snow.
• Villagers gathered at the foot of the mountain and knelt as James passed.

Raven began working for Emma’s Special Talent Department at the Howlett Group, while Charles and Moira recruited mutants for S.H.I.E.L.D.’s research department. The chapter ended as Emma and Raven visited imprisoned Alex Summers, whose destructive powers had caught their interest.

• Raven changed her appearance, left with Azazel, and began her first day at the Howlett Group’s Special Talent Department.
• Charles and Moira traveled to the Bronx and persuaded Sean Cassidy to join their mutant recruitment effort after offering him a job and benefits.
• Charles and Moira’s next recruitment attempts went badly, and they selected imprisoned Alex Summers as their final prospect for the day.
• Raven, Emma, and Azazel examined Alex’s prison file and went to Rikers Island to meet him.
• Emma entered Alex’s cell and asked whether he was good at destroying things.

Charles Xavier and Moira MacTaggert found Emma Frost with Raven at Alex Summers’s prison cell, but Emma recruited Alex and teleported him away before Charles could intervene. Meanwhile, James Howlett explored the Himalayas and relaxed in a secluded hot spring until he sensed someone approaching.

• Charles Xavier used his psychic abilities to reach Alex Summers’s cell with Moira MacTaggert, where they found Emma Frost and Raven.
• Emma Frost told Alex he could learn to control his power with her, demonstrated her diamond form, and persuaded him to leave with her.
• Azazel teleported Emma, Raven, and Alex from the prison, leaving Charles and Moira to face the approaching guards.
• Moira demanded an explanation from Charles as the guards closed in on them.
• James Howlett crossed the Himalayan mountains, soaked in a secluded hot spring, and sensed someone approaching the ice cliff.

James met Master Mark and Apprentice Li at Holy Water Peak, then flew to Kamar-Taj and broke through its barrier. After the wizards attacked and failed to contain him, the Sorcerer Supreme appeared as James lunged at Kaecilius.

• Master Mark and Apprentice Li climbed to Holy Water Peak to collect spring water, where they found James soaking in the pool.
• James spoke with the wizards, learned Kamar-Taj's location, and flew there after Master Mark and Apprentice Li left through a Sling Ring portal.
• James crashed through Kamar-Taj's barrier, prompting Kaecilius and dozens of wizards to surround and attack him.
• James broke free of the wizards' magical bindings and shattered their cage, then slashed apart the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak Kaecilius threw at him.
• The Sorcerer Supreme appeared through a portal as James lunged toward Kaecilius.

The Ancient One confronted James Howlett at Kamar-Taj after he attacked Kaecilius, and their battle ended in mutual respect and an invitation to hunt a future dimension lord together. Meanwhile, Alex Summers continued training at the Howlett mansion and waited for a chance to meet James.

• The Ancient One visited Carter Slade in Texas to investigate a breach in the barrier, then hurried to Kamar-Taj when its defenses collapsed.
• The Ancient One trapped James Howlett in the Mirror Dimension, but James tore through it and forced her to fight him directly.
• James and the Ancient One battled with magic and martial power until she failed to separate his soul from his body and ended the fight.
• The Ancient One heard James's explanation for attacking Kaecilius, clarified that the spring water had not been polluted, and invited James to help hunt a future invading dimension lord.
• Alex Summers admired the luxury cars in the Howlett mansion garage while Erik Lehnsherr left to drive one, telling Alex to keep training until James returned.

Erik Lehnsherr met Magda Gurzsky and asked Peggy to investigate her, while Charles Xavier and Hank McCoy tested Darwin’s adaptive mutation with the new recruits. In the Himalayas, James Howlett discussed Kamar-Taj’s rules with the Ancient One, offered his New York property for a new Sanctum, and asked to train there; back at Howlett Castle, Steve and Peggy awaited James as concerns about Hoover’s scrutiny grew.

• Erik Lehnsherr spent the evening with Magda Gurzsky, who later reported their meeting to an unknown superior, and he asked Peggy to investigate her the next morning.
• Hank McCoy, Charles Xavier, Sean Cassidy, and Miss Salvador tested Darwin’s ability to adapt to physical damage and sound waves, and Hank concluded Darwin might imitate other mutant abilities if he could control his changes.
• Director Halse warned Charles that S.H.I.E.L.D. was closely scrutinizing the Howlett Group and urged him to work with Mr. Howlett.
• James Howlett asked the Ancient One about Kamar-Taj’s nonintervention rules and requested permission to study how its sorcerers used borrowed magical power.
• The Ancient One explained that Kamar-Taj needed James’s property at 177 Blake Street for a new Sanctum Sanctorum, and James gave the house to the sorcerers as tuition for his training.
• At Howlett Castle, Steve trained the next generation of wolf cubs while Peggy managed the family intelligence network and worried that Hoover had begun investigating.

Major William Stryker joined S.H.I.E.L.D. as its new special operations commander, while Director Edgar Hoover raised concerns about Mutants and forced a shake-up of the agency. Hoover directed Stryker to work with the Mutant Power Research Department and pay special attention to Professor Xavier.

• William Stryker reassured Marcy that his new post in New York would help their family settle down, then left to report to the agency.
• At a S.H.I.E.L.D. meeting, Edgar Hoover presented evidence of Mutant powers at the golf-course site where Colonel Bob Hendry's body was found and criticized Michael Halse for withholding details.
• Hoover revealed that Professor Charles Xavier could locate and connect with Mutants using Cerebro, while Howard Stark defended Xavier's character.
• Hoover announced that Howard Stark would be replaced as director and left the meeting despite Stark's objections.
• William Stryker reported to Hoover and proposed organizing a special force through the Mutant Power Research Department to improve the government's understanding and control of Mutants.
• Hoover approved Stryker's plans, told him not to rush the effort to control Mutants, and instructed him to pay special attention to Professor Xavier.