Chapter Summaries

Ian learned that his return to the rebooted universe had inspired widespread worship and that Steve Rogers had used Ianism to convert much of Hydra into S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Serpent Division. As Ian searched for his former comrades, he found Gwen thriving as Quantum Spider-Man in Seattle and Peter Parker struggling with Vulture while Morgan Stark harassed him; Tony Stark himself remained absent from the universe’s history.

• Ian discovered that his presence in the Hero Heart had helped inspire worship of him and that Steve Rogers had preached Ianism to Hydra members.
• Steve Rogers and AI Tony purged Hydra loyalists, integrated converted members into S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Serpent Division, and earned Steve the title Captain Hydra.
• Ian scanned North America and found Gwen Stacy in Seattle, using her powers as Quantum Spider-Man to capture bank robbers.
• Ian saw Peter Parker fighting Vulture in Queens while Morgan Stark accused him of exploiting Tony Stark’s legacy and interfered with the fight.
• Ian searched Stark Tower and realized that AI Tony remained active, but the real Tony Stark had no trace in the universe’s history.

Ian investigated the gaps in Tony Stark’s history and found that the universe preserved Iron Man’s influence while erasing the details of Tony as a person. He then visited Thor’s thriving Los Angeles barbecue restaurant and headed to the New York Sanctum to question Doctor Strange about the universe’s distortions.

• Ian discovered that historical records of Tony Stark were blurred and incomplete, while AI Tony remained Stark Industries’ pillar with an altered account of its origins.
• Ian searched for Steve Rogers but could not find him on Earth, then located Thor Odinson at his restaurant, Asgard’s Stomach, in Los Angeles.
• Ian watched Thor run the restaurant, care for infant Odin, and briefly leave to fight threats in the Nine Realms before returning to cook.
• Ian decided Thor was unlikely to know much about Tony’s erased history and chose Doctor Strange as a better source of information.
• Ian flew to New York and landed near the New York Sanctum at 177A Bleecker Street.

Ian returned to the New York Sanctum and learned that Strange had fled to Kamar-Taj after sensing his arrival. When Ian followed him there, he discovered Strange had been teaching the mages to borrow magic from Ian, whom they revered as a cosmic being.

• Ian heard news commentators and New Yorkers argue over whether he was a hero, a threat, or a staged creation.
• Ian entered the New York Sanctum, where Mage Wong welcomed him as the One Who Unifies All and recited extravagant claims about his cosmic nature.
• Wong told Ian that Strange had hurried to Kamar-Taj and claimed he was studying an important spell in seclusion.
• Ian sped to Kamar-Taj and found its mages training by borrowing magic from him.
• Ian realized the mages treated him with reverence because they regarded him as the creditor for their borrowed power.

Ian discovered that Doctor Strange had secretly arranged for Kamar-Taj’s sorcerers to borrow power from him through contracts, with their souls serving as collateral after death. After breaking Kamar-Taj’s shield and demanding Strange’s presence, Ian learned Strange had fled to another dimension and recognized the powerful old man before him as the Ancient One.

• Ian sensed that Kamar-Taj’s sorcerers carried contracts linking their magic to his power, and realized Strange had made him their creditor and soul-holder.
• Ian broke Kamar-Taj’s defensive shield with one finger, and the sorcerers prepared to fight until the white-bearded old man ordered them to stand down and bow to Ian.
• Ian demanded to see Strange, but the old man said Strange had left to investigate disturbances in other dimensions.
• Ian traced his contract with Strange across the multiverse and located the universe where he had fled.
• Ian noticed the old man’s immense, practiced magical power and asked whether he was the Ancient One.

Ian deduced that Ancient One had helped Doctor Strange devise Kamar-Taj’s scheme to borrow power from him and secure benefits for the sorcerers. After Ancient One urged him to pursue Strange, Ian followed the fluctuating contract thread to the universe where Strange had fled, postponing his reckoning with Ancient One until later.

• Ian identified the white-bearded man as the male Ancient One after reasoning that only a sorcerer with immense independent magical power could explain what he sensed.
• Ancient One admitted he had once used that name and tried to redirect Ian toward Doctor Strange.
• Ian accused Ancient One of designing or guiding the contract scheme that let Kamar-Taj borrow power from him and promised its sorcerers a path to eternal life.
• Ancient One gave no denial and urged Ian to chase Strange, blaming his disciple and calling him Kamar-Taj’s legal representative.
• When Ian sensed Strange trying to sever their contract connection or flee again, Ian left to pursue him and postponed settling Kamar-Taj’s debt.

Ian followed Strange into a parallel universe and discovered it was the familiar Marvel Cinematic Universe, where he watched S.H.I.E.L.D. begin an operation to recruit Skye. He then looked inside Stark Tower to see Tony Stark, but the sight shocked him.

• Ian teleported through his bond with Strange and arrived in a more conventional New York, where Stark Tower stood in place of the TVA headquarters.
• Ian explored the city and found Captain America's history presented as the familiar World War II story, with no Captain Hydra or Ianism.
• Ian observed Nick Fury assign Coulson to form a team and contact Skye, and recognized that the universe was following the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. storyline.
• Coulson traveled with Grant Ward and Melinda May to Los Angeles, where Ian saw Skye working in a Rising Tide hacker hideout.
• Ian turned his attention to Stark Tower to check on Tony Stark, and what he saw shocked him.

Ian discovered that Tony Stark was absent from this Marvel universe, then found Doctor Strange being pursued by Ghost Rider at the New York Sanctum. Ghost Rider judged Ian to be sin itself and turned to attack him.

• Ian scanned Stark Tower and New York, finding Obadiah Stane in charge of Stark Industries and no trace of Tony Stark.
• Coulson approached Skye at the Rising Tide hideout and offered information about her parents in exchange for her cooperation.
• Ian left the scene and arrived at the New York Sanctum, where Ghost Rider was attacking Strange while the Ancient One watched.
• Strange called Ian his savior and tried to present Ghost Rider as an apology gift, but Ghost Rider ignored him and focused on Ian.
• Ghost Rider declared Ian to be sin itself, prompting Ian to challenge the spirit's judgment.

Ian faced Ghost Rider and effortlessly resisted his physical, Hellfire, and Penance Stare attacks while studying how his powers worked. Ghost Rider’s attacks failed and the Spirit of Vengeance recoiled, while the Female Ancient One silently called for help from a conceptual-level sovereign.

• Ghost Rider approached Ian and declared that he would judge his sins, while Ian became interested in studying the Spirit of Vengeance.
• Ghost Rider attacked Ian with his Hellfire chain, but Ian evaded it and analyzed its properties.
• Ghost Rider unleashed Hellfire, but Ian dispersed it and disrupted the connection between Ghost Rider and his chain with a touch.
• Ghost Rider used the Penance Stare, but Ian remained unaffected, and the power’s backlash left Ghost Rider staggering.
• Strange begged the Female Ancient One to help him, but she calmly watched Ian and silently called for help from a conceptual-level sovereign of the Marvel Universe.

The Ancient One consulted Eternity about Ian and learned that he was a righteous god from the Multiverse Sea, so she chose to observe rather than interfere. Ian transformed Ghost Rider into his loyal Punishment Knight, but a hidden, ancient darkness erupted from the new knight and swallowed Ian, leaving Strange and the Ancient One stunned.

• The Ancient One secretly sent a message to Eternity, who told her that Ian was a righteous god and advised her not to interfere.
• Ian used his authority over contracts and souls to overwrite Ghost Rider's bond with Mephisto and make him his knight.
• Ian changed Ghost Rider's flames to pure white and tested his obedience, movement, and newly reforged chain.
• An ancient darkness erupted from Ghost Rider, consumed his white flames, and spread across the Sanctum grounds.
• The darkness swallowed Ian before Strange or the Ancient One could react.

After Ghost Rider’s power erupted into an ancient darkness, Ancient One and Strange feared for Ian while he calmly analyzed and dismantled the dark force from within. As Ian rapidly collected its fragments, curses, and rule brands, the entity parasitizing the darkness finally roared in protest.

• Ancient One identified the eruption as ancient, rule-based darkness unleashed when Ian overwrote Ghost Rider’s power, while Strange hoped Ian would prevail.
• Ancient One and Strange guarded the Sanctum entrance and recorded the dark sphere’s fluctuations as Ian remained trapped inside.
• Ian resisted the darkness and traced it to a vast accumulation of resentment, curses, and distorted rules parasitizing the concept of vengeance.
• Ian decided to harvest the darkness, using conceptual tentacles to sort and store its fragments while analyzing its rules.
• The dark sphere rapidly shrank as Ian stripped away its contents, prompting the parasitic entity to roar, “Enough!”

Ian awakened Zarathos’s lingering consciousness while trying to claim the darkness, and the ancient demon attacked him. Ian countered with his Satan King authorities, turning Zarathos’s powers against it and binding its soul, leaving the demon struggling in chains.

• Ian’s attempt to pack away the dark energy awakened Zarathos’s ancient remnant, which manifested and attacked him with dark tentacles and soul-freezing flames.
• Ian chose to face Zarathos without the Speed Force and blocked its first attacks with a rule-based force field.
• Ian adapted his force field to absorb Zarathos’s dark-purple flames and convert their pain and despair into dark divine power.
• Ian advanced on Zarathos, defined its chaotic suffering as a “Debt of Pain,” and disrupted its power with the imposed order.
• Ian manifested Soul Shackles around Zarathos’s soul and power structure and ordered the ancient demon to kneel.

Ian defeated Zarathos's lingering will by binding it with the Hell Codex and overcoming its final backlash with his combined powers. He sealed its remaining consciousness and recycled its power, then turned back to find the Ancient One and Strange stunned by what they had witnessed.

• Ian bound Zarathos's lingering will with Soul Shackles and exposed it as a fragment of power rather than the demon god's main body.
• Zarathos tried to self-destruct, so Ian invoked the Hell Codex to confiscate its pain and resentment, strip its vengeance imprints, seal its consciousness, and dismantle its dark-energy shell.
• Zarathos launched a final backlash of vengeance that briefly resisted Ian's punitive power.
• Ian strengthened his power with traits from the Speed Force, Kryptonian Bio-field, and his Angel/Demon authority, then purified the backlash and sealed Zarathos's remaining consciousness in a crystal.
• Ian stored the crystal for later study and returned his attention to the Ancient One and Strange, who were stunned by his actions.

After Ian defeated Zarathos’s lingering thought, he confronted Doctor Strange about exploiting his power to expand magical credit, while the Ancient One explained the crises that had driven Strange to do so. Meanwhile, the imprisoned Zarathos felt his essence being drained, and Mephisto decided to release him as a pawn to test Ian.

• Ian entered the Sanctum with the Ancient One and Doctor Strange and demanded an explanation for Strange’s magical loan scheme.
• The Ancient One apologized for Strange’s actions, and Strange described the crises and attacks that had overwhelmed his universe.
• Strange admitted that he had used Ian’s power and rule affinity to accelerate mages’ growth, while presenting the scheme as fulfilling their mutual-assistance contract.
• The Ancient One explained that Ian’s multiversal restart had stirred up threats across the universe, and Ian asked Strange whether that made his actions understandable.
• Imprisoned Zarathos felt his lingering thought and part of his source being taken, then roared for Mephisto to release him.
• Mephisto watched Ian’s judgment of Zarathos’s lingering thought and decided to free Zarathos as a pawn to test Ian’s power.

Mephisto staged a fake attack on his dimension to trick Zarathos into breaking out of prison. Zarathos escaped and headed for the human world to reclaim the power Ian had taken.

• Mephisto refused to release Zarathos and secretly planned to use him as a scout by making him believe Mephisto had backed down.
• Mephisto faked an assault on his dimension, acting as though an unknown enemy was overwhelming his defenses.
• Zarathos sensed the apparent battle destabilizing his prison seals and focused its power on the weakened chains.
• Zarathos broke out, drained the souls and energy of fleeing demons, and recovered some strength.
• Zarathos fled the dimension and headed to the human world to confront Ian and reclaim its power.

Mephisto sent Zarathos toward Earth as a trap, but Zarathos entered a parallel universe through a cultists’ ritual and began seeking an ancient divine object to resist its restrictions. A messenger from Dormammu offered cooperation, which Zarathos rejected, leaving them at odds while Ian remained unaware.

• After Zarathos left, Mephisto revealed that he had staged their battle and sent Zarathos as a greeting gift for the young man in New York.
• Zarathos struggled through the void, found a cultists’ summoning ritual in a parallel universe, and used it as an entry point.
• Zarathos devoured the cultists, their sacrifices, and the altar, then realized the universe was suppressing its power.
• Zarathos decided to seek an ancient divine object that might help it resist the universe’s laws.
• A messenger from Dormammu offered Zarathos limited cooperation, but Zarathos refused and accused Dormammu of plotting to use it.

Ian forced Doctor Strange to sign a sweeping agreement binding him to unpaid service and knowledge sharing, then asked the Ancient One to contact Eternity about Tony Stark’s disappearance and the Multiversal Reshaping. While the Ancient One went to meditate, Ian ordered Strange to open a portal to Kamar-Taj’s library so he could study its magical books.

• Ian beat Doctor Strange and made him sign an agreement that bound Strange to indefinite service, information sharing, and strict loyalty to Ian.
• The Ancient One recognized the historical irregularity surrounding Tony Stark’s absence and Obadiah Stane’s rise, but did not know its cause.
• Ian told the Ancient One that the anomaly might relate to her return and the Multiversal Reshaping, then asked her to contact Eternity.
• The Ancient One went to a protected meditation chamber to try to reach Eternity, while Ian told her to keep Strange from escaping.
• Ian demanded that Strange open a portal to Kamar-Taj’s library so he could read its magical collection.

Ian forced Doctor Strange to take him to Kamar-Taj's core library and rapidly absorbed its magical knowledge, prompting the sorcerers to discover the intrusion. Kaecilius sent others to seek help while secretly heading to a hidden room to contact the demon god he served.

• Ian compelled Doctor Strange under their agreement to open a portal to Kamar-Taj's library.
• Ian rapidly scanned and stored the library's magical texts, then subdued the guard sorcerer who tried to stop him.
• Ian ordered Strange to study alongside him, and Strange reluctantly began memorizing the books.
• Kaecilius sensed the disturbance and found that intruders were draining the library's knowledge while the guards lay unconscious.
• Kaecilius sent Carl and two sorcerers to seek the Ancient One, then claimed he would inspect the backup defenses.
• Kaecilius instead went to a concealed storeroom where he secretly contacted the demon god he served.

Kaecilius secretly reported the attack on Kamar-Taj to Dormammu, who told him to keep observing while focusing on securing Zarathos’s loyalty. When Zarathos refused Dormammu’s emissary, he launched a surprise attack and overwhelmed the emissary’s attempt to assimilate him, leaving it begging Dormammu for help.

• Kaecilius contacted Dormammu and described the intruder’s assault on Kamar-Taj, but Dormammu instructed him to keep watching because the time was not yet right.
• Kaecilius mistook Dormammu’s ambiguous response for evidence of a larger plan and left the hidden room to return to the library.
• Dormammu focused on his emissary’s effort to recruit Zarathos, while Zarathos repeatedly rejected the offer and warned the emissary to leave.
• After the emissary turned to depart, Zarathos attacked it with dark-purple ice-flame and soul-draining tentacles.
• The emissary scattered into dark-orange motes to assimilate Zarathos, but Zarathos’s vengeance runes destroyed the attack, forcing the emissary to beg Dormammu for help.

Zarathos devoured Dormammu’s emissary and then fought a staged projection of Dormammu, unknowingly absorbing power marked for surveillance. After the battle, Zarathos searched New York and fixed on Spider-Man, drawing the attention of both demon gods.

• Zarathos trapped and devoured Dormammu’s emissary, absorbing its energy, memories, and a hidden mark.
• Dormammu used the mark to track Zarathos and sent a projection to provoke him with a public battle over New York.
• Zarathos destroyed the projection and devoured its energy, believing he had defeated Dormammu’s attempt to use him.
• Dormammu watched Zarathos search New York and target Spider-Man, whose spider-sense began to flare.

Zarathos attacked New York and took Spider-Man hostage, drawing the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. into a desperate response. As the heroes prepared to fight, Homelander and Vought’s other supes watched from a safe house instead of helping.

• Zarathos ambushed Spider-Man, overpowered him, and bound him in dark tendrils while revealing that he wanted Spider-Man’s popularity.
• S.H.I.E.L.D. and the police established a defensive perimeter as Zarathos’s attack left officers dead and conventional weapons appeared ineffective.
• Obadiah Stane, Steve Rogers, Thor, and Natasha Romanoff assembled and learned that Vought’s heroes could not be reached and were refusing to respond.
• Steve assigned Obadiah to draw Zarathos’s attention, Thor to disrupt its energy with lightning, and himself and Natasha to attempt Spider-Man’s rescue.
• Homelander watched the battle from Vought’s secret safe house and justified his refusal to help while criticizing the Avengers.