Chapter Summaries

Cindy killed Luke after he attacked her and Jordan at Godia University, then was released on bail as the university moved to turn her into its new star. Azu took her back to campus, while Godia University’s president faced questions about the Sage Grove and Homelander; later, Azu dropped Ryan off at Ginti’s birthday party.

• Luke attacked Cindy and Jordan with fire, and Cindy used her telekinesis to crush his head after Jordan tried to stop him.
• Andre arrived and accused Cindy, but Jordan and the students said Luke had gone berserk and Cindy had saved Jordan.
• Azu visited Cindy at the police station, where she learned that Godia University’s president had posted bail for her.
• President Indira Shetty planned to promote Cindy as Golden Boy’s replacement, while Ashley warned her that Homelander was investigating Golden Boy’s backers and asked whether the matter involved the Grove.
• Azu drove Ryan to Ginti’s birthday party, where Ryan arrived dressed formally and gave her a jewelry gift.

At Ginti’s birthday party, Luke and several boys lured Ryan into a doghouse, where he destroyed the structure and killed the hunting dogs after they frightened him. Azu helped Ryan recognize that the boys had tricked him, but the next day Ryan learned Luke had transferred, while Cindy woke to find herself suddenly famous online.

• Luke visited Ginti’s birthday party despite his injured leg, bringing her a diamond ring and becoming jealous when she spent time with Ryan.
• Luke and several boys used a game of hide-and-seek to lure Ryan into a doghouse, then locked him inside with hunting dogs.
• Ryan blasted apart the doghouse and killed the dogs, then flew away as Ginti, George, Luke, and the other children watched in shock.
• Azu told Ryan that the boys had deliberately tricked him and that he should not blame himself for their actions.
• Ryan went to school the next day intending to confront Luke, but learned Luke had transferred; meanwhile, Cindy discovered she had gained thousands of Twitter followers and students treated her like a celebrity.

Cindy learned that she had risen to first place at Godolkin, but rejected the attention and an interview. Meanwhile, Antila learned of Ryan’s powers and began planning to capture him for Cardoza’s research, unaware that his enrollment date matched Cindy’s.

• Cindy discovered that Godolkin had ranked her first after Luke’s removal, and she tried to avoid the attention by disguising herself.
• Jordan visited the memorial for Professor Brink but pocketed her photograph to avoid drawing attention, then walked away from Kate.
• Jeff tried to arrange an interview for Cindy, but she refused and left; he reported her decision to Antila.
• Antila refused to let Dr. Cardoza experiment on Cindy, then ordered him to continue his work on Sam despite Sam’s instability.
• Alexander sold Cardoza a video of Ryan displaying powerful abilities, and Antila used Godolkin’s database to identify him and began planning his capture.

Ryan reconciled with Ginti and went on his first wilderness camping trip, while Antila arranged a plot involving the children and mercenaries targeting the camp. The mercenaries and Kate approached the sleeping students before dawn, with Kate preparing to retrieve Ryan.

• Ryan returned to class, where Ginti and her friend reassured him about losing control of his powers.
• Antila had Kate use her compulsion to comfort the girls and said she intended to kill Supers once Cardosa's virus was ready.
• Azu signed Ryan's permission slip for the school camping trip, while Ashley reported she was still investigating Golden Boy's supporters.
• Antila instructed someone to proceed with a plan, then sent Kate and security guards to bring Ryan back after the buses left for camp.
• Ryan enjoyed fishing, cooking, and sharing food with Ginti and his classmates before everyone went to sleep.
• At four in the morning, Ota's mercenaries approached the camp while Kate set out with security guards to retrieve Ryan.

Mercenaries attacked the Superpower Children Academy camp and abducted students, but Ryan resisted and was drawn into Kate’s dream as she tried to control him. After learning Ryan was among the missing, Azu decided to search for him himself.

• Ota’s mercenaries infiltrated the camp, killed guards, and abducted students using anesthetic gas and an ultrasonic device.
• Ryan rescued Ginti and killed the mercenaries pursuing them, but Kate used Compulsion and entered a dream with him when he resisted falling asleep.
• In Kate’s dream, Ryan saw a memory of a young Kate being searched for by her mother and the police before the scene began to collapse.
• The mercenaries escaped with many children, and police arrived after the attack; the sheriff reported that seventeen children were missing.
• At Eden Base, Angelina showed Azu the news report listing Ryan among the missing, and Azu decided to find him personally.

After Ryan was captured, Dr. Cardoza discovered that his blood and multiple powers made him a potentially extraordinary Super. Azu and Levin tracked one of the kidnappers to Colorado, learned that the children were being taken to Chicago, and set off to find the organizer, Ota.

• Kate told Antila that Ryan had resisted her coercive power until she pulled him into a dream, and Dr. Cardoza found no Compound 5 in Ryan's blood and suspected he could rival Homelander.
• Azu brought Levin, transformed into a scent-tracking Werewolf, to the abandoned camp, where Levin followed clues from a cigar stub and cologne across two states to a bar in Colorado.
• Levin identified a blond kidnapper in the bar, and Azu used Mind Invasion to control him and take him outside for questioning.
• The blond man told Azu that Ota had organized the kidnapping and that the children were being taken to Chicago to be sold to foreign buyers, suggesting that Kainnan could help locate Ota.
• Azu recruited the blond man, renamed him Duke, and had Levin carry them into the night in Harpy form as they headed for Chicago.

Azu tracked down Ota’s restaurant in Chicago, where Ota was negotiating to sell imprisoned superpowered children, including Azu’s child. After Ota’s men opened fire and failed to hurt him, Azu slaughtered them and caught Ota as he tried to escape.

• Ota demanded one million dollars per child from the brown-bearded buyer, who negotiated him down to eight hundred thousand.
• Azu arrived at the restaurant and killed Mitri and Scarface when they confronted him.
• Azu introduced himself to Ota as David Jane and demanded that Ota hand over his child.
• The brown-bearded man and his men shot at Azu, but he remained unharmed and killed them with beams from his eyes.
• Azu attacked Ota’s companions as Ota crawled toward the door, then stopped him and asked, “Where are you going?”

Azu tortured Ota until he revealed that Ryan had been taken by someone else, then turned Ota into a living corpse under his control. At the Woods Project laboratory, Antila ordered Dr. Cardoza to intensify a virus that suppressed Supers, while a disturbance upstairs drew guards and Cindy's attention.

• Ota remembered his wartime experiences before Azu overpowered him and demanded to know where Ryan was hidden.
• Azu tortured Ota, discovered that Ota knew Ryan and had accomplices, and killed him when he refused to identify them.
• Azu revived Ota as a living corpse and demonstrated that he could control Ota's body.
• At the Woods Project laboratory, Dr. Cardoza showed Antila that his virus had suppressed Bella's powers, but Antila ordered him to increase the dosage and develop it into a weapon against Supers.
• A sudden building shake sent Lange and the guards upstairs to investigate, while Cindy saw a figure rise from the dust outside Godolkin University and recognized him.

Azu broke into Godolkin University's underground laboratory to find Ryan, defeating the security teams sent to stop him. He rescued the sedated boy and confronted Antila and Dr. Cardoza, who blamed each other before Cardoza claimed Alexander had told him about Ryan's powers.

• Azu searched Godolkin University, found an underground experimental base, and ordered Cindy to return to her dorm.
• Azu fought through the base's guards, while Captain Lange injected Temporary Compound 5 and led a superpowered team to intercept him.
• Azu charged through Lange and his team, killing Lange by smashing his body apart, then located Ryan's room.
• Azu broke into the laboratory, removed Ryan's respirator, and asked Antila why she had kidnapped him.
• Antila blamed Dr. Cardoza for wanting Ryan for research, and Cardoza claimed Alexander had sent him a video revealing Ryan's powers.

Azu interrogated Antila and Dr. Cardosa about a virus designed to target Supers, learning that Vought Group backed the research before forcing Antila to reveal more. Meanwhile, Cardosa lured Alexander to a meeting, where he arrived and came face-to-face with Ryan.

• Ryan identified Luke as the person who recorded the video of him at Ginti's house, and Azu linked Luke to Alexander.
• Cardosa revealed that Vought Group supported the research and that the team had created a virus capable of stripping Supers of their abilities.
• Kate tried to put Azu to sleep, but her powers failed; Azu injured Antila and forced her into a dream featuring Soldier Boy.
• Azu killed Antila and revived her, then demanded that she identify who had authorized the research.
• Cardosa called Alexander with an offer of a private bodyguard job, and Alexander agreed to meet the next day.
• Alexander arrived at Cardosa's estate and saw Ryan standing beside him.

Ryan punished Alexander for selling a video that led to Ryan being targeted, and left him facing a lifetime as a laboratory experiment. In London, Azu confronted Ashley over Vought’s secret virus project, killed a man who intervened, and refused Ashley’s offer to confess.

• Ryan stopped Alexander from escaping, showed him evidence of Luke’s plan to trap Ryan with hunting dogs, and explained that Alexander had sold the video to Cardoza.
• Cardoza described the experiments Ryan would have endured, and Ryan ordered that Alexander be kept as a laboratory subject without his limbs.
• Azu arrived in London with Antila and demanded that Ashley explain why Vought had authorized her to develop a virus targeting Supers without telling him.
• Antila confirmed she had told Azu about the project, and Ashley denied knowing anything about it.
• A British man attacked Azu to defend Ashley, but Azu killed him with blasts of golden light and told Ashley she had missed her chance to confess.

Azu exposed Ashley as a corpse-like traitor and killed her, then attacked the secret Vought shareholders after she arrived at their meeting as a bomb. Fern escaped with Yula as Nila exploded while absorbing Azu’s energy, destroying much of Caiton Manor.

• Azu showed Ashley that Antila was dead but still moving, then killed Ashley by pulverizing her body.
• Fern arrived at Caiton Manor, where Vought’s hidden shareholders gathered to discuss the Forest project and a virus meant to control Homelander.
• Yula discovered that Ashley’s body contained a bomb, and Ashley exploded after saying Homelander sent his regards, killing Caiton and injuring the other shareholders.
• Azu descended into the ruined study and confronted the shareholders, while Yula carried Fern toward the window and Nila attacked Azu.
• Azu fired golden beams at Nila, who absorbed the energy until she exploded and destroyed the upper floors of the manor.

Azu killed Fern after the attack on Caiton Manor and decided to return to the Marvel Universe to complete his Ultimate Mission. He arrived in New York to find that people were protesting against him and the John Empire, leaving him wondering what Tchalla and the others had done.

• Azu spared Yula after she tried to stab him, while Fern escaped in a car and abandoned her.
• Azu stopped Fern's car, injected him with a modified Ebola virus, and left him in a primeval forest to suffer.
• Several days later, Azu prepared to return to the Marvel Universe and pursue the final task of his Ultimate Mission.
• Azu arrived on a New York street, where a taxi driver insulted him for dressing as the Conqueror.
• Azu saw a protest procession denouncing the Conqueror and the John Empire as demonstrators tore down his statue in Times Square.
• Azu questioned whether Tchalla and the others had mishandled affairs in the Marvel Universe.

The Avengers and Federation forces arrived at Wakanda’s border to demand that King Tchalla make Conqueror answer for the abductions attributed to The High Evolutionary. Tchalla accused the Federation of using the crisis to seize Wakanda’s technology and Vibranium, leaving the confrontation on the brink of conflict.

• Banner, Peter Parker, and Doctor Strange discussed public protests against Conqueror and Thor’s attempt to recruit the gods of the City of All-Blacks.
• The Avengers crossed through Doctor Strange’s Portal and saw Wakanda’s expanded defenses, including Vibranium unmanned fighters and giant mechs.
• Tchalla warned the Federation army to leave Wakanda or be treated as invaders.
• The Federation general demanded that Wakanda make Conqueror explain the abductions and release the captives, while urging Wakanda to share its technology and Vibranium.
• Tchalla said The High Evolutionary had abducted the people without Conqueror’s authorization and accused the Federation of exploiting the crisis to gain access to Wakanda.

Azu arrived in Wakanda as the Federation confronted T’challa, and a tank fired at him, triggering a full-scale battle between the Federation and Wakanda. The fighting continued as the Avengers tried to manage the conflict, with Azu attacking Federation forces and Scott bringing down a Wakandan mech.

• T’challa rejected the Federation general’s demands and defended Wakanda’s sovereignty before leaving to meet Azu.
• Azu emerged above Wakanda, learned Shuri blamed the High Evolutionary for the crisis, and ordered T’challa to prepare for battle after the Federation called for his investigation.
• A Federation tank fired at Azu without the general’s order, and Azu retaliated with golden beams that destroyed troops and vehicles.
• T’challa lowered Wakanda’s protective shield and ordered his forces to attack as Federation aircraft, tanks, and soldiers fought Wakanda’s forces.
• Rhodes urged the Federation general to withdraw, but the general refused and Rhodes sent the Avengers to help; Scott grew giant-sized and knocked a Wakandan mech to the ground.

Azu overwhelmed the Avengers and raised the battlefield’s dead with the Darkhold, forcing Stephen Strange to evacuate the survivors. The Federation troops retreated as the undead army advanced.

• Azu killed Sam and Colonel Rhodes, then defeated Hulk and knocked Spider-Man unconscious.
• Azu revealed the Darkhold and used its Death Servant spell to raise the battlefield’s recently dead, including Sam and Colonel Rhodes.
• Stephen Strange saw the Darkhold trigger a strange eye on his forehead, suppressed it, and sent Spider-Man and Dr. Banner through a Portal to Kamar-Taj.
• Stephen Strange told Ant-Man to retreat as the undead charged the Federation troops.
• The Federation general ordered an evacuation and admitted that they could not fight the dead.

The High Evolutionary and P13 plotted to eliminate the Conqueror, but their powerful artificial humans had severe emotional flaws. At Kamar-Taj, Dr. Banner, Peter Parker, and Scott joined Doctor Strange and Wong to discuss the Conqueror’s Infinity Gauntlet and Darkhold, while America Chavez shared what she knew about the Multiverse.

• The High Evolutionary told P13 that an artificial human had fired the shell at the Conqueror and revealed that the Incubation Pods held combatants grown from the Conqueror’s cells.
• The High Evolutionary showed P13 an artificial human’s violent emotional outburst and explained that the clones craved maternal attention, making them difficult to control.
• Dr. Banner and Peter Parker woke at Kamar-Taj, where Scott told them that Sam and Colonel Rhodes had died fighting the Conqueror.
• Wong led Dr. Banner, Peter Parker, and Scott to a meeting with Doctor Strange and America Chavez, who described Spider-Man and other heroes across the Multiverse.
• Doctor Strange warned the group that the Conqueror wielded both the Infinity Gauntlet and the Darkhold, and Wong explained the book’s origin and Wanda’s destruction of another universe’s Illuminati.

Stephen revealed that the Conqueror possessed the Infinity Gauntlet and likely the Darkhold, then sent America Chavez, Hulk, and Spider-Man to search other universes while he went to find Wanda at Mount Wundagore. As Stephen reached the ruins, an eye opened in his forehead, while Azu learned in Wakanda that the High Evolutionary’s kidnappings had fueled Earth’s anger toward the John Empire.

• Wong described the Darkhold’s history, and Stephen said the Conqueror had used it to raise corpses into an army.
• Stephen proposed trapping the Conqueror in a dying universe, but warned that the Conqueror might travel between universes.
• Stephen identified Wanda as their other possible ally and said she might have survived Mount Wundagore’s destruction.
• America Chavez opened a portal, and Hulk and Spider-Man accompanied her to search for a suitable universe.
• Stephen traveled to Mount Wundagore, where an eye opened in his forehead as he approached the ruins.
• In Wakanda, Azu learned from Tchalla that the High Evolutionary’s kidnappings had stirred public opposition to the John Empire.

Dark Doctor Strange warned Azu about the Avengers’ plans and offered an alliance in exchange for the Darkhold. After preparing a genetic double, Azu returned to the empire, killed a minister who implied he was dead, and learned that The High Evolutionary had taken experimental subjects from Earth.

• Dark Doctor Strange told Azu that the Avengers planned to imprison him in a lifeless parallel universe, Thor Odinson was seeking the gods’ help, and Carol might return with allies.
• Azu agreed to begin cooperating with Dark Doctor Strange but suspected he was withholding information, then used a Gene Replication Spore to start growing a double.
• Azu traveled to the Sanctum, where imperial ministers debated choosing a new emperor because they believed he had fallen.
• Azu killed Fenan for suggesting he was dead, warned General Corvus Glaive against claiming the throne, and dismissed the ministers.
• Azu learned from Proxima Midnight that Ayesha had taken Adam back to her planet and that The High Evolutionary had taken experimental subjects from Earth.

Azu abandoned peaceful contact with Earth and began preparing for war, then traveled to Knowhere and confronted the High Evolutionary about abducting humans. Meanwhile, Stephen entered Wanda’s mental world and found her frozen and unconscious in reality, leaving Azu’s confrontation unresolved.

• Azu agreed with Proxima Midnight that peaceful contact with Earth had failed and ordered preparations to conquer it by war.
• Stephen reached the collapsed Mount Wundagore, entered Wanda’s mental world, and found her watching television with Vision inside a sealed house.
• Stephen realized Wanda remained motionless and covered in frost in the underground passage just meters away.
• Azu arrived at Knowhere, admired its advanced city and statue of himself, then went alone to the High Evolutionary’s laboratory.
• The High Evolutionary admitted he had taken humans as test subjects, and Azu accused him of deliberately sabotaging his efforts to win Earth’s trust.