Chapter Summaries

Kenji rescued the injured Flash Army from Willis Pharmaceutical Company, but they escaped without Chemical No. 6 and left its gas containers damaged. As the leak trapped researchers inside and exposed the Department of Defense’s secret experiments, Azu suspected the disaster was tied to Willis Pharmaceuticals and the Chimera Project—and wondered whether the warning came from foresight or a planned plot.

• Kenji used his powers to crush the security guards in an elevator and helped the injured Flash Army escape from Willis Pharmaceutical Company.
• Kenji hurled a tanker truck behind the fleeing group, causing an explosion as they drove away.
• The team leader told Kenji the Flash Army had failed to retrieve Chemical No. 6 because it was a gas and they had no container for it.
• Damaged containers leaked Chemical No. 6 inside the laboratory, trapping researchers as the gas spread through the facility.
• Dr. Kyle told Wilson the gas could rapidly turn people into Super Lifeforms, but they would become dangerously aggressive; then he learned the leak involved Chemical No. 6.
• Azu watched news of the explosion and suspected it was connected to Willis Pharmaceuticals and the Chimera Project, questioning whether the Administrator’s warning was a prediction or part of a plot.

Wilson and Dr. Kyle dealt with a worsening Chemical No. 6 leak at Willis Pharmaceuticals as Colonel Yuri led the Mecha Squad into the building to close the valves. The squad encountered Chimeras in the gas-filled corridors and prepared to fight after one attacked them.

• Wilson arrived at Willis Pharmaceuticals, where Dr. Kyle explained that Chemical No. 6 had transformed researchers and that the laboratory valves had to be closed manually.
• Dr. Kyle sent Colonel Yuri and the Mecha Squad into the research building, while Wilson ordered an officer to bring Guardian and prepared for a possible citywide disaster.
• Dr. Kyle warned that Chemical No. 6 could cover the block within five minutes and more than half of New York within half an hour, and said the neutralizer was not ready for the gas.
• Colonel Yuri ordered the squad to avoid firearms and killed a Chimera with his chain sword, then spotted other Chimeras devouring its corpse.
• A fly-headed, bee-stingered Chimera noticed the Mecha Squad and pounced, prompting Colonel Yuri to call the squad to battle.

Colonel Yuri’s team opened the laboratory and triggered a deadly attack that released Chemical No. 6, spreading mutations and monsters through the block. Wilson and Dr. Kyle fled with Ryan while Azu refused the disaster event and went to sleep.

• Wilson dismissed concerns about evacuating residents and waited for Colonel Yuri’s operation to produce results.
• Colonel Yuri entered the laboratory, where barbed tentacles dragged soldiers inside and an explosion threw him out.
• Chemical No. 6 spread from Willis Pharmaceutical Company, transforming a reporter and unleashing a monster amid the fog.
• Wilson ordered Ryan to fly him and Dr. Kyle to the air force base as the fog swallowed the block.
• Azu refused the disaster event and returned to his room to sleep.

An explosion at Willis Pharmaceutical Company released Chemical No. 6 across New York, prompting the Defense Secretary to call in The Seven and Seven Tower to send its reserve team. The reserve team’s first battle ended in disaster, with three heroes killed and the survivors fleeing while Homelander remained unreachable.

• An explosion at Willis Pharmaceutical Company spread thick gas through nearby streets, causing civilians to panic and some to mutate into monsters.
• Wilson ordered The Seven to deploy and asked Dr. Kyle for countermeasures, then called for a quarantine covering more than half of New York City.
• Ashley sent Starlight, Supersonic, Blind Man Tony, Sophia, and the other reserve heroes to the disaster site, then tried to get Azu to respond to the emergency.
• A Chimera attacked Starlight, and Supersonic rescued her before another Chimera stabbed him through the chest and carried him away.
• Chimeras killed Blind Man Tony and Sophia, while the two remaining reserve heroes fled the fog; Ashley rang Azu’s doorbell again.

Azu refused Wilson’s request to fight the Chimeras spreading through New York, while Wilson chose to let the disaster worsen to damage Azu’s reputation. Starlight was overwhelmed in the fog, but Stormfront and the other superheroes arrived and rescued her.

• Ashley brought Wilson’s call to Azu, who refused to deploy and told her not to return again that night.
• Wilson learned that Azu would not help and decided to prepare to destroy New York rather than persuade him, intending to blame the deaths on Azu.
• Wilson sent Ryan into the city to fight the Chimeras as a warm-up before facing Azu.
• Azu watched Wilson’s conversation through images formed from information and judged that the fog would not reach Chinatown or Xiao Lin.
• A gorilla-like Chimera grabbed Starlight and began suffocating her, but Stormfront’s electrical blast freed her.
• Stormfront, Princess Frost, Livewire, Element Man, and the other superheroes arrived, and Starlight fainted after seeing them.

The Chimera outbreak overwhelmed New York’s defenses until the creatures suddenly reverted to normal and the fog cleared. Two days later, the Department of Defense charged Azu over his refusal to obey orders, threatening to arrest him.

• Wilson ordered the military to hold the barricades and warned that the Air Force could bomb the disaster zone if necessary.
• Ryan fought Chimera Variants at the barricades while the military and The Seven struggled to keep the creatures from escaping.
• Princess Frost was left defenseless as Chimera broke through the defenses, but the creatures began returning to human form and the fog dispersed.
• Wilson and Ryan flew over New York, where Wilson ordered the transformed residents isolated while Dr. Kyle studied them.
• Wilson declared that Homelander should be sanctioned for his refusal to help during the crisis.
• Ashley told Azu that the Department of Defense had filed charges against him and could arrest him.

Azu attended the Federal Supreme Court hearing over Homelander’s failure to intervene during the Boiling Midnight incident, as the Department of Defense accused him of neglecting his duties. The prosecution played a recording of Wilson asking him to act, while Wilson kept the mutated residents hidden and feared they could become Chimeras again.

• Ashley gave Azu a summons requiring him to attend the Department of Defense’s hearing, and Azu said he would decide based on his mood.
• Public debate over Homelander’s attendance and conduct grew as protesters and supporters gathered outside the Federal Supreme Court.
• Wilson learned from Dr. Kyle that the rescued residents’ genes had irreversibly mutated and refused to seek international help, fearing it could lead to a Chimera army.
• Azu arrived at the courthouse, where Wilson watched him enter amid loud protests.
• The chief justice opened the hearing, and Gilbert Scott accused Homelander of failing to intervene and played a recording of Wilson urging him to act.

Azu faced a public trial as the Department of Defense used recordings and past incidents to turn the city against him. He admitted to the accusations, rejected the court’s authority, and began playing a recording that implicated Wilson and the Department of Defense.

• A recording of Homelander refusing Wilson’s request to intervene in the Boiling Midnight incident aired publicly, prompting New Yorkers to condemn him.
• Azu accused Wilson of cutting part of their conversation from the recording, but Chief Secretary Gilbert denied it and presented evidence against him.
• Gilbert blamed Homelander for deaths during Boiling Midnight and cited his actions during the Manhattan Incident and other missions, fueling outrage in court and online.
• Azu shattered the defendant’s stand, floated above the courtroom, admitted to the accusations, and called the people judging him mortal ants and curly-haired baboons.
• Azu challenged the Department of Defense to face trial too, snapped his fingers, and began playing another recording.

Azu exposed Wilson’s plan to let New York suffer mass casualties to discredit Homelander, derailing the hearing and deepening the conflict between Homelander and the Federation. A month later, Azu and Lin Aida reached her home, where a dazzling multicolored light appeared beyond the door.

• Azu revealed an unaltered recording in which Wilson admitted Willis Pharmaceuticals had caused a disaster and refused to help clean it up.
• Azu released a video of Wilson discussing the Chimera outbreak, the possibility of destroying New York, and manipulating the media to blame Homelander.
• Wilson fled the courtroom as reporters questioned him, and the judge recessed the hearing.
• Seven Tower announced that the Federation would have to pay for superhero services, including an annual billion-dollar fee for Homelander’s limited deployments.
• After Wilson lost his ministerial position and crime rose in New York, Azu and Lin Aida walked home together and found a brilliant multicolored light inside her doorway.

Azu and Lin Aida entered the X-Men: First Class universe and joined Raven, Darwin, Banshee, Angel, Alex, and the other young Mutants as they showed off their abilities. Before Azu could explain what he and Lin Aida could do, a woman outside reacted to the damage they had caused.

• Azu and Lin Aida passed through the Cosmic Door, leaving Arthur behind, and arrived at a gathering of young Mutants.
• Azu recognized the world as X-Men: First Class and learned that Charles and Erik were preparing to stop Sebastian Shaw.
• Raven welcomed Azu and Lin Aida, then asked the group to share their code names and abilities.
• Darwin demonstrated his adaptive powers by growing gills, and Banshee shattered the windows with a sonic blast.
• Angel revealed her insect wings and corrosive acid, while Alex sliced apart a bronze statue with an energy blast.
• Raven asked Azu and Lin Aida to demonstrate their abilities, but a woman outside shouted about the damage.

Azu watched as Red Devil attacked the CIA base, leaving the young Mutants terrified and trapped amid the slaughter and destruction. The assault ended with Shaw entering the room to confront them.

• Moira, Charles, and Erik left the young Mutants after Raven gave them their future names.
• Red Devil began teleporting CIA guards into the sky, killing them as the young Mutants watched in horror.
• Red Devil attacked the armed agents while Azu protected Lin Aida with his Bio-Field and stayed behind as Raven and the others tried to escape.
• A tornado destroyed Hank's cerebral enhancement device, and explosions forced Raven and the others back into the room.
• Shaw entered the room after the sounds of the attack abruptly stopped.

Sebastian Shaw tried to recruit the young Mutants, but Azu killed Red Devil and the long-haired tornado-wielding Mutant, forcing Shaw to flee. Raven praised Azu, who asked Hank to show him to a bathroom so he could wash off the blood.

• Sebastian Shaw entered and offered the young Mutants a choice between joining him or becoming his enemies, and Angel accepted his hand.
• Red Devil held Azu and Lin Aida at knifepoint, but Azu knocked Lin Aida unconscious and then killed Red Devil with Golden Rays.
• Shaw ordered the long-haired Mutant to attack Azu with a tornado, but Azu charged through it and smashed the man apart.
• Shaw fled through the window and out the main entrance, while Azu declined to pursue him because he was covered in blood and gore.
• Raven praised Azu, and Azu asked Hank to show him to a bathroom and find him a change of clothes.

After returning to the destroyed CIA base, Charles learned that Azu had protected the surviving young Mutants and agreed to let them stay and train. Azu accepted their request to train them, leaving the group to relocate while they prepared to confront Sebastian Shaw.

• Charles and the others returned to the destroyed base, where Raven told Charles that Azu had saved the surviving Mutants.
• Charles offered to send the young Mutants home, but Darwin and Alex insisted on helping stop Sebastian Shaw.
• Erik persuaded Charles that sending the young Mutants away would not keep them safe and that they needed training.
• Charles agreed to let the young Mutants stay for special training, and they asked Azu to train them.
• Azu agreed to stay, interested in Sebastian Shaw's energy-absorbing ability and the chance to encounter Apocalypse and Dark Phoenix.
• The group began relocating because the CIA base was no longer safe.

Azu toured Charles's ancestral castle with the young Mutants and discussed Shaw's powers over dinner. Later, Raven visited Azu to ask whether Mutants should hide their existence.

• Azu declined Raven's offer to show him around and stayed with Lin Aida as Charles led the group through the castle.
• The group toured the manor and ate an extravagant dinner, while Lin Aida rested after falling ill.
• Charles asked Azu how confident he was against Shaw, and Erik described Shaw's abilities.
• Raven asked Azu how he planned to train the youths, and he said he would give her an answer the next day.
• Raven visited Azu in his room and asked whether Mutants should hide their existence.

Azu advised Raven to accept herself and use her shapeshifting ability for covert work, then encouraged Charles to guide Mutants through a school. The next day, he began training Alex to focus and control his destructive power without relying on equipment.

• Azu told Raven to live freely and use her ability for infiltration, intelligence gathering, and assassination.
• Raven showed Azu her blue-skinned appearance, and he sincerely called her beautiful.
• Charles asked Azu how to improve himself, and Azu suggested that he guide Mutants and open a school for them.
• Azu demonstrated focused energy blasts to Alex and told him to master his power without relying on equipment.
• Azu had Alex practice increasingly difficult handstands to improve his concentration.

Azu trained Raven, Hank, and Darwin, then agreed to help Erik awaken his power by recreating the worst moment of Erik’s life. Erik relived his childhood trauma and tried to move the coin, but it remained still.

• Azu sent Raven to practice shapeshifting by imitating one of the others, while Hank received Kryptonian knowledge to improve Cerebro.
• Azu trained Darwin by gradually attacking him with Heat Ray, and Darwin learned to withstand a three-thousand-degree beam.
• Erik asked Azu for guidance, and Azu offered to intensify Erik’s anger by recreating his most painful memory.
• Azu entered Erik’s mind and used Twist Reality to recreate the scene in which Sebastian Shaw forced Erik to move a coin while his mother was held captive.
• Erik reached for the coin, but it did not move.

Erik relived the memory of his mother’s death and unleashed enough power to uproot and destroy a satellite receiver. Afterward, Raven rejected Hank’s serum and encouraged him to speak with Azu, while Hank decided to use it himself.

• Sebastian Shaw’s memory of shooting Erik’s mother overwhelmed Erik as he failed to move the coin.
• Erik’s rage surged, and he uprooted the satellite receiver and hurled it across the grounds.
• Azu congratulated Erik on breaking through his limits, while the others marveled at his power.
• Raven revealed herself after impersonating Hank, and Hank invited her outside to discuss his serum.
• Raven declined the serum, saying Azu had helped her accept herself, and Hank chose to use the serum himself.

Hank injected his serum and transformed into a powerful blue-furred beast, while Raven and the others comforted him and Charles took the remaining dose for safekeeping. As the Mutants’ training improved their abilities, the president’s warning over Cuba signaled that the final battle was approaching.

• Raven saw Erik withdraw into a dark room, where he refused Charles’s attempt to read his mind and said anger could solve many problems.
• Hank woke after injecting his serum and discovered that it had caused his X-cells to multiply, transforming him into a blue-furred beast.
• Raven comforted Hank, and the others agreed that his unstable serum should not be tested further.
• Hank gave the remaining dose to Charles for safekeeping, and Erik witnessed the exchange.
• The Mutants trained and improved their abilities, while the president warned that the United States would respond to any nuclear missile launch across the Cuban blockade.

As the Federation and Soviet Union neared war over Cuba, Charles and the young Mutants prepared to stop Sebastian Shaw. Shaw waited aboard a nuclear submarine, absorbing energy so he could destroy both fleets if the missile ship failed to cross the Embargo Line.

• Erik recognized that Sebastian Shaw was likely near the Embargo Line, and Charles urged the Mutants to train for the coming battle.
• Erik entered Charles's room and secretly switched Hank's serum with an identical syringe.
• At the airport, Hank revealed that he had designed the Blackbird, and Azu transformed his bracelet into a combat suit and gave Erik Shaw's helmet.
• Charles, Erik, and the others boarded the Blackbird and headed for the Embargo Line as the Federation and Soviet fleets prepared for battle.
• Sebastian Shaw began absorbing nuclear energy aboard a submarine, planning to destroy both fleets and start World War III if the missile ship could not cross the line.

Azu stopped the cargo ship from triggering a war by lifting it out of the sea, while Charles and Erik moved to capture Shaw’s submarine. Azu then used Mind Invasion to make the ship’s crew shoot one another as he watched the confrontation unfold.

• As the Federation and Soviet Union fleets prepared to open fire, Azu lifted the cargo ship out of the sea and carried it to a nearby island.
• Charles told the others that Azu had handled the cargo ship and urged them to capture Shaw.
• Erik sensed Shaw’s submarine, hauled it from the water, crushed it, and threw it onto a deserted island.
• The cargo ship’s crew aimed rifles at Azu, but he made them turn their guns on one another and opened fire with his command.
• Azu watched the crew die and remarked that the scene would be better with fries and cola.