Chapter Summaries

S.H.I.E.L.D.'s convoy was overwhelmed by insect swarms, forcing the agents to retreat and abandon the unconscious Zhan Liu. Natasha rescued him, and Zhan Liu realized she was an impostor with insect-controlling abilities, then declared that he would stand by her.

• S.H.I.E.L.D. agents fought off the locusts as ants infiltrated the convoy and attacked from within.
• The ant and mosquito swarms overwhelmed the agents, while red fire ants damaged the wiring in Zhan Liu's transport vehicle.
• The commander ordered a retreat, and the Bug Swarm surrounded the vehicle carrying Zhan Liu as the Quinjets evacuated the agents.
• Zhan Liu woke, tore through the cold-storage chamber, and found Natasha waiting for him at the ruined battlefield.
• Natasha told Zhan Liu she had saved him alone, and he realized she was an impostor who could control insects.
• Zhan Liu promised to stand by Natasha and offered to help destroy her organization, but Natasha told him to stop trying to comfort her.

Natalia told Zhan Liu about her missing memories, strange abilities, and mysterious system, and he spun an elaborate theory that Hydra had experimented on both of them. She tentatively accepted his explanation, though his deductions had only accidentally brushed against the truth.

• Natalia said she could not remember Mutants or explain her newfound powers, and wondered if she was a clone or experiment subject.
• Zhan Liu claimed Hydra was still active inside S.H.I.E.L.D. and shared what he knew about its operations; Natalia began calling herself Natalia.
• Natalia admitted that a system had appeared in her mind, and Zhan Liu explained how systems helped transmigrators grow stronger.
• Zhan Liu concluded that Natalia was a transmigrator captured and experimented on by Hydra, then theorized that he was another Hydra test subject.
• Natalia questioned his lack of evidence but temporarily accepted his explanation, while Zhan Liu remained convinced his deduction was correct.

After Zhan Liu escaped with Natalia, Nick Fury discovered that the Natasha inside S.H.I.E.L.D. was an impostor and ordered Agent Garrett to capture her. The alien was frozen and secured in a reinforced chamber, where Nick confronted her about the Skrulls’ plans and the fetus she carried.

• S.H.I.E.L.D. watched Zhan Liu reunite with Natalia and escape, while Nick began planning how to deal with them together.
• Agent Hill showed Nick Natasha’s X-ray and pregnancy test, revealing that the Natasha in S.H.I.E.L.D. was an impostor with a uterus and a fetus.
• Nick ordered Agent Garrett and Crossbones to capture Natasha, authorizing them to use the Tesseract if necessary.
• Nick lured Natasha to a S.H.I.E.L.D. base, where Crossbones’s team stunned her with electricity and froze her with liquid helium.
• S.H.I.E.L.D. locked Natasha to an Adamantium table and aimed liquid-helium nozzles at her as Nick demanded information about the alien invasion and her fetus.

Nick Fury tried to contain public panic after Natasha exposed Hydra’s alleged infiltration of S.H.I.E.L.D., while Zhan Liu and Natalia escalated the crisis by publicizing evidence from a Hydra base. The chapter left Natalia livestreaming the base’s giant Hydra emblem to millions of followers.

• Councilman Pierce berated Nick Fury over the scandal, and Nick ordered Agent Hill to calm S.H.I.E.L.D. staff while continuing the Skrull investigation under Agent Garrett.
• Nick suspected the impostors planned to replace Agent Garrett and others, but he had few trusted allies available and decided to advance the Avengers Initiative.
• Zhan Liu and Natalia leaked claims of Hydra’s infiltration to the media and exploited public hostility toward S.H.I.E.L.D. to spread the story.
• Hydra’s factions joined forces to deny the allegations and distract the public with celebrity scandals, so Zhan Liu and Natalia decided to expose Hydra bases directly.
• Natalia gained millions of social media followers by livestreaming her investigations, and she showed viewers a large Hydra emblem inside a base near Atlanta.

Zhan Liu and Natalia found themselves running out of Hydra leads, but discovered they could fly and planned a decisive strike. At a Hydra meeting, Alexander Pierce agreed to handle them after the other leaders refused to risk their own resources.

• Zhan Liu and Natalia found that Hydra had stripped its abandoned bases of intelligence, leaving them with few leads.
• Natalia realized she could fly, and Zhan Liu soon managed to do the same; they decided their new mobility would let them make a major move against Hydra.
• Alexander Pierce complained at a secret Hydra meeting that Zhan Liu and Natalia kept destroying bases, while Killian, Malick, and Madame Hydra blamed S.H.I.E.L.D. or declined to help.
• Madame Hydra urged Pierce to use S.H.I.E.L.D.'s 084s, but Pierce resisted because they belonged to him.
• Pierce agreed to deal with Zhan Liu and Natalia himself after learning Dr. Zola was unreachable and the other Hydra leaders offered no support.

Nick Fury, suspecting both Hydra and the Skrulls had infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D., recruited Sharon Carter and moved to rebuild the organization while launching the Avengers Initiative. He used Howard Stark’s legacy to draw Tony Stark into investigating his father’s murder, and Tony agreed to join the fight against Hydra.

• Nick Fury inspected the conspicuous Hydra bases, doubted his agents’ loyalties, and sought help from Peggy Carter in the United Kingdom.
• Nick returned with Sharon Carter and a trusted team, planned an independent S.H.I.E.L.D. investigation, and brought the Avengers Initiative forward.
• Tony Stark examined himself with Jarvis and discovered his physical measurements had changed, though his identity and biological data remained the same.
• Nick visited Tony with a box of Howard Stark’s belongings and claimed Howard had left it for him.
• Tony demanded to know who killed his father, rejected Howard’s plans for his future, and vowed to find Hydra.
• Nick offered Tony trusted agents for protection, and Tony agreed to pursue Hydra with their help.

Linderman tried to recruit Zhan Liu and Natalia into the military’s plan to take control of S.H.I.E.L.D., but Natalia exposed the scheme and Zhan Liu sent him away. After discussing power and responsibility, Natalia urged Zhan Liu to begin exploring how he could change the world, leaving him outside her closed bedroom door.

• Linderman arrived at Zhan Liu and Natalia’s base and offered to clear Natalia’s name and help her take control of S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Natalia rejected Linderman’s offer, explaining that the military wanted to use her as a puppet while installing its own people in the organization.
• Zhan Liu ordered Linderman to leave and warned the people behind him not to scheme against them again.
• Natalia explained that powerful rulers would keep trying to control them, while Zhan Liu said he wanted freedom rather than rewards tied to obedience.
• Zhan Liu declared that he wanted to change the world, but admitted he had not decided how; Natalia urged him to start exploring and then shut the bedroom door on him.

Zhan Liu and Natalia agreed to a temporary truce with Alexander Pierce while continuing to investigate their origins, and Pierce began searching Hydra for the source of their abilities. Meanwhile, Tony Stark was captured in Iraq, escaped in his crude Iron Suit, and returned to Nick Fury, who pledged S.H.I.E.L.D.'s support as Tony vowed to uncover Hydra agents.

• Zhan Liu and Natalia rejected Pierce's attempt to recruit them into Hydra but agreed to cease hostilities as long as S.H.I.E.L.D. stopped provoking them.
• Pierce concluded that Zhan Liu and Natalia had been created by a Hydra branch and ordered John Garrett to investigate Dr. Zola's hideout for research data.
• Tony Stark was captured by terrorists in Iraq after his military convoy was wiped out, then used his handmade Iron Suit to fight his way free.
• Nick Fury met Tony and insisted that S.H.I.E.L.D. security personnel protect him, while Tony showed off his Iron Suit and refused to mass-produce or sell it.
• Nick asked Tony to help investigate Hydra within S.H.I.E.L.D., and Tony promised to find every Hydra agent.

Tony returned to Stark Industries after surviving the attack, and Obadiah tested the Iron Suit, became determined to claim it, and planned to kill Tony that night. The chapter ended with Obadiah preparing the suit and its weapons for his attack.

• Tony landed and reunited with Pepper and Obadiah, who scolded him for risking his life and warned him not to rely on the Iron Suit.
• After Tony left, Obadiah put on the Iron Suit, tested its flight, and flew alongside a passenger plane.
• Obadiah decided Tony had to die before Stark Industries could mass-produce the suit and make Tony politically untouchable.
• Obadiah returned to Stark Tower, kept the Iron Suit, and ordered engineers to repair it and add weapons for his planned attack that night.

Obadiah attacked Tony at his Malibu villa, but Tony survived the Gatling fire and discovered that Obadiah had betrayed him for power and money. Obadiah escaped and, after receiving intelligence and weapons from a helpful citizen, began recruiting allies to take control of Stark Industries while Tony remained overwhelmed by grief.

• Obadiah flew the Iron Armor into Tony's villa and opened fire on him with a Gatling gun.
• Tony walked through the bullets unharmed, removed the armor's faceplate, and learned Obadiah was behind the attack.
• Obadiah explained that he wanted compensation and control of Stark Industries, then escaped while Tony was too heartbroken to stop him.
• Police and medical staff arrived, but Tony refused examination and left the villa to find somewhere else to rest.
• Obadiah considered fleeing the country, then received intelligence and weapons from a helpful citizen and began calling contacts to recruit allies.

S.H.I.E.L.D. arrested Tony after Pepper was deceived into helping Obadiah, and Nick Fury investigated whether the impostors were connected to Mutants rather than Skrulls. His test freed Clint and other agents, but Nick remained suspicious and ordered the captured Scott Lang examined.

• Obadiah used information from Jarvis's database to convince Pepper that Tony was an impostor who needed rescuing, and Pepper helped S.H.I.E.L.D. capture him.
• Nick studied the evidence about Tony and ordered Agent Hill to test the imprisoned agents' memories of Mutants.
• Clint and the other agents who passed the test were released, while the suspected impostors remained in their cells.
• Nick offered Scott Lang a place in S.H.I.E.L.D. in exchange for serving his sentence outside prison, and Scott accepted so he could see his daughter.
• After every S.H.I.E.L.D. agent passed the broader test, Nick ordered Agent Hill to send Scott to the dissection table for examination.

Hydra helped bring about S.H.I.E.L.D.’s dissolution, then used the breakup to infiltrate the governments and corporations that absorbed its people and resources. Meanwhile, Coulson contacted Nebula after she was no longer being pursued, and she secretly used the communicator he provided to contact the Black Order, setting an alien invasion in motion.

• The Security Council removed Nick Fury from office, and competing factions divided S.H.I.E.L.D.’s branches, assets, and Items 084 among nations and corporations.
• Hydra replaced valuable Items 084 with imitations and used its agents’ new positions to plan fresh infiltrations.
• After S.H.I.E.L.D.’s pursuit ended, Nebula stole advanced chips while hiding on Earth and tried to build an interstellar communicator.
• Coulson approached Nebula, accepted her false story about Xandar, and arranged for the Illuminati to provide her with communications equipment.
• Nebula used the equipment to contact the Black Order, bringing its arrival on Earth closer.

Nick Fury formed the Illuminati with John Garrett’s help, while Zhan Liu and Natalia established the Ultimate Limit Hall to fulfill Natalia’s system mission. Unable to find the required Ultimate Limit Qigong, Zhan Liu decided to ask the Ancient One for help.

• Nick Fury persuaded John Garrett to help launch the Illuminati, recruit Grant Ward in his place, and secure Hydra-backed funding.
• Nick Fury assembled the Illuminati and assigned it a first mission to recruit an alien woman who had been stealing high-tech chips.
• Zhan Liu and Natalia abandoned their search for Dr. Zola and opened the Ultimate Limit Hall using money from Councilman Pierce, with Natalia named its owner.
• Natalia recruited fifty students, but the system mission remained incomplete because neither she nor Zhan Liu knew Ultimate Limit Qigong.
• Zhan Liu recalled that Ultimate Monk had created the martial art over decades and decided to seek the Ancient One’s help finding it.

Zhan Liu accidentally killed the Ancient One at the New York Sanctum, took the Time Stone, and escaped with Natalia. As Kaecilius’s ritual opened a portal and unleashed Dark Magic over New York, the expected Demon God did not appear.

• Zhan Liu and Natalia found the New York Sanctum under attack by Kaecilius’s followers, and Zhan Liu accidentally killed the Ancient One when she rushed into his punch.
• Zhan Liu took the Eye of Agamotto containing the Time Stone and fled with Natalia while Kaecilius pursued them.
• Zhan Liu explained to Natalia that the Ancient One had used her allegiance to Eternity to evade the debts from the magic she borrowed, and he warned that the Time Stone would attract powerful enemies like Thanos.
• At Kamar-Taj, the sorcerers rallied after the Ancient One’s death and pushed Kaecilius’s forces back, while Kaecilius secretly prepared a summoning ritual using the fallen bodies.
• Kaecilius opened a portal that destroyed the Sanctum’s concealment and spread Dark Magic through New York, driving ordinary people into madness and chaos.
• Kaecilius prayed for the Dark Overlord to descend, but the portal remained silent.

Zhan Liu accidentally destroyed Kaecilius’s summoning array, causing Dormammu to withdraw his Dark Magic and abandon his invasion of Earth. After learning the Ancient One had named a successor, Zhan Liu tried to return the Eye of Agamotto, but Wong revealed that whoever held it would become the next Sorcerer Supreme.

• Dormammu flooded New York with Dark Magic but refused to bring his true body through the portal, while authorities and S.H.I.E.L.D. failed to respond effectively.
• Zhan Liu flew to the New York Sanctum with the Eye of Agamotto and accidentally landed on and destroyed Kaecilius’s summoning array.
• Dormammu recognized Zhan Liu and the Eye of Agamotto, reclaimed his magic, and collapsed the portal; Zhan Liu then killed Kaecilius and drove off the remaining Dark Disciples.
• Zhan Liu asked for Doctor Strange and offered to return the Eye, but Wong told him Doctor Strange was not at the Sanctum and blamed him for killing the Ancient One.
• Wong reconsidered the Ancient One’s succession plans and thanked Zhan Liu for saving Earth before revealing that whoever held the Eye of Agamotto would be the next Sorcerer Supreme.

Zhan Liu was forced into the role of Sorcerer Supreme when the Eye of Agamotto and a magical cloak chose him, but he refused to learn magic or stay at Kamar-Taj. After Wong diverted a nuclear missile aimed at New York, Zhan Liu rejected Hydra’s attempt to bring the sorcerers under its influence and revealed that he was now their Sorcerer Supreme.

• The Eye of Agamotto repeatedly returned to Zhan Liu, and a magical cloak attached itself to him, convincing Wong that Zhan Liu had been chosen as Sorcerer Supreme.
• Zhan Liu refused Wong’s invitation to stay at Kamar-Taj and flew away, insisting that he would rather learn technology than magic.
• Washington launched a nuclear missile at the New York Sanctum, but Wong sent it through a portal into outer space.
• The officials discovered the missile had vanished and the Sanctum had disappeared, then decided to negotiate with the sorcerers through Zhan Liu.
• Councilman Pierce offered benefits in exchange for sorcerers accepting oversight, but Zhan Liu rejected the terms and explained that New Yorkers would recover as the Dark Magic faded.
• Zhan Liu told Pierce that he had killed the former Sorcerer Supreme and had been chosen as her successor, then rejected Hydra’s conditions in his new role.

Zhan Liu searched for Doctor Strange amid the aftermath of New York’s disaster, intending to send him to Kamar-Taj and give up the Sorcerer Supreme role. After learning that Strange had watched Christine die and wanted revenge, Zhan Liu revealed the truth about the Dark Magic and persuaded him to become a mage.

• Zhan Liu considered relinquishing the Eye of Agamotto and seeking Doctor Strange, while the Time Stone’s temptation weakened his resolve amid New York’s devastation.
• Zhan Liu contacted Councilman Pierce, learned Strange’s hospital address, and flew to find him.
• Doctor Strange told Zhan Liu that Christine had gone mad, killed her colleagues, and taken her own life after he watched helplessly from an operating room.
• Strange vowed to find the person responsible, and Zhan Liu explained that Dark Magic—not neurotoxic gas—had caused the disaster.
• Zhan Liu invited Strange to join Kamar-Taj, and Strange accepted so he could gain supernatural power and protect the people he cared about.

Zhan Liu welcomed Doctor Strange into the world of magic and left him with Wong, while Peter Parker, Rocket, Harry, and Ned helped people during the Dark Magic outbreak. After the magic vanished and a portal swallowed a nuclear missile, the group resumed rescuing victims, and Ned became even more eager to learn magic.

• Zhan Liu accepted Doctor Strange as a new mage and took him to the New York Sanctum, where Wong could teach him.
• Peter Parker and Rocket Raccoon found Harry Osborn and Ned unaffected by the Dark Magic at Midtown High School and explained the crisis to them.
• Ned mistook Rocket for a magical master, but Peter revealed that Rocket was an alien science teacher.
• Harry used his mutant power to restrain rampaging students, and the group helped protect people throughout the school.
• The Dark Magic suddenly vanished, and the group saw a space gate make a nuclear missile disappear before they went out to rescue victims.

Nick Fury recruited Norman Osborn into the Illuminati by promising him influence and access to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s hidden assets, while also securing Harry Osborn as an executive councilor. He then went to Peter Parker's home to claim Rocket, leaving Aunt May to let him inside after he pretended the raccoon was his lost pet.

• Zhan Liu rejected Nick Fury's recruitment efforts, though Nick still gathered intelligence from him and suspected he was cooperating with Hydra.
• Nick visited Norman Osborn, who had discovered that he and Harry had awakened Magnetic Field Control and had secretly sheltered two Doctor Banners to study Skrull technology.
• Nick persuaded Norman to fund the Illuminati, promising Harry an executive council seat and appointing himself the organization's first chairman.
• After Norman warmly saw him off, Nick headed to Peter Parker's home to recruit Rocket, pretending the raccoon was his lost pet.
• Aunt May recognized Rocket in Nick's flyer, admitted the family had planned to adopt him, and let Nick into the house.

Nick Fury took Rocket from the Parkers, but Rocket used Tony's Nano Armor to defeat Fury and the Illuminati agents escorting them. Peter's plan to confront the hidden threat began early, and Fury died on the roadside without anyone else knowing.

• Nick Fury showed Aunt May adoption documents and convinced her that Rocket was his pet, while Peter threatened Fury but did not stop him from taking Rocket.
• Fury carried Rocket away in a convoy and tried to pressure him into cooperating with the Illuminati, but Rocket stayed silent until they reached the suburbs.
• Rocket activated Tony's Nano Armor, blocked Fury's gunfire, and threw Fury and the driver into the car windows.
• Rocket left the car, protected his tail from gunfire, and complained to Tony about the armor's design.
• Rocket used the armor's lasers to kill the Illuminati agents, and Nick Fury died during the failed recruitment operation.