Chapter Summaries

Shen Fei and Reed worked out a way to help Susan control her invisibility, and Reed left with a blueprint to build an amplifying watch. Impressed by Shen Fei's research, Reed considered joining Osborn Company, leaving Susan startled.

• Wanda bragged that she had learned the technique in three days, and Shen Fei said Reed and Jonathan should wait while Connors examined Susan.
• Shen Fei and Reed reasoned that Susan's invisibility came from psionic power and that an unstable brain magnetic field made her control unreliable.
• Shen Fei showed Reed a preliminary blueprint for a Supernatural Magnetic Field Amplification Watch, and Reed agreed to perfect it and keep it confidential.
• Connors gave Shen Fei Susan's examination results, and Shen Fei handed Reed the parameters needed to design a watch that could extend invisibility to a group.
• Shen Fei told Susan her problem was solved and invited Reed to join Osborn, but Reed left to build the watch before asking Susan what she thought of joining the company.
• Reed said working with Shen Fei seemed more interesting, and Susan reacted with disbelief.

After absorbing Susan’s blood, Shen Fei discovered a new spirit-energy dimension and began exploring its potential. Elsewhere, Max’s team and Logan’s team converged on a Sentinel Robot as it threatened a child.

• Shen Fei absorbed Susan’s blood and used his mental power to uncover a dimension whose energy fused with thought into spirit energy.
• Shen Fei tested the ability by making himself and Connors vanish, then considered asking his teacher whether he could control the apparently ownerless dimension.
• Max led Rhino, Sandman, and the Steel Body Squad on a mission to capture a Sentinel Robot in Michigan.
• Logan led Iceman, Shadowcat, and Colossus toward the same town as a Sentinel Robot targeted a child it identified as a Mutant.
• Colossus rammed the Sentinel Robot, which responded by heating its body, and someone told Iceman to cool it down.

Logan and the X-Men fought Sentinel Robots while trying to capture them and rescue a Mutant child. After the Sentinels adapted to their jamming devices and surrounded them, Sandman and Electro arrived to break up the attack.

• Sentinel Robots countered Iceman's freezing powers with intense heat, while Logan and Colossus fought back and Logan neutralized an X-Gene Inhibitor with Hank's antidote.
• Shadowcat used a Signal Jamming Bullet to disable the Sentinels, and Logan agreed to take the Mutant child with them.
• More Sentinel Robots arrived, recovered from the jamming, and trapped Logan, Colossus, Iceman, Shadowcat, and the child as they tried to break through.
• Sandman swept the Sentinels aside with a wave of sand, while Electro destroyed their systems with electricity.

Max and Osborn Company’s soldiers captured the Sentinel Robots and demanded Shadowcat in return, prompting a standoff with Logan and the X-Men. Storm arrived to protect them, but another figure landed with a greeting that changed everyone’s expressions.

• Max identified Shadowcat as a high-priority target while Osborn Company’s Steel Body Squad fought the Sentinel Robots.
• Max’s soldiers used magnetic fields to stop the Sentinels from adapting and began capturing them.
• Logan asked for a Sentinel Robot for Tony Stark to study, but Max refused and demanded Shadowcat’s biological material instead.
• Logan refused to give up Shadowcat and tried to leave with the others, but Max said she had to stay as compensation for saving their lives.
• Ororo arrived after receiving the group’s distress signal and challenged Max’s demand.
• A figure crashed into the ground and spoke to Ororo and Logan, leaving everyone startled.

Shen Fei confronted Ororo and the X-Men to obtain a blood sample from Shadowcat, overpowering them with magic and his abilities. After taking only a little blood, he left Shadowcat unharmed, while Logan and the others remained at his mercy.

• Shen Fei arrived after detecting Ororo approaching and explained that he wanted Shadowcat's blood.
• Ororo summoned a storm, but Shen Fei trapped the area in the Mirror Dimension and shattered Colossus's arm when he attacked.
• Shen Fei overwhelmed Ororo and Bobby with a freezing hurricane, while Logan charged at him to protect Shadowcat.
• Shen Fei manipulated gravity to send Logan flying and kept Shadowcat running in place before pulling her to him.
• Shen Fei drew a small amount of blood from Shadowcat and reassured her that it was enough.

Shen Fei left with the Osborn soldiers and the captured Sentinel Robots after stopping Ororo's out-of-control storm. Logan and the others decided to return to Charles and ask whether they should capture Shen Fei's group again or negotiate a trade.

• Shen Fei chose to wait until he was back before absorbing Susan's ability, wary that establishing a new gene bank could trigger a violent reaction.
• After the golden barrier shattered, Ororo lost control of the storm, which grew into a tornado threatening the town.
• Shen Fei chilled the air inside the tornado, slowed its circulation, and dissipated the storm, then told Ororo to study how her powers worked.
• Shen Fei led the Osborn soldiers and damaged Sentinel Robots through a ring of light, while Max told Marko and Aleksei they would need to trade for the robots or bring Tony Stark.
• Ororo and Logan agreed to return to Charles and ask whether they should capture Shen Fei's group again or make a trade.

Shen Fei brought Trask Company’s Sentinel Robots to his laboratory and asked Otto to help investigate how they had incorporated Mystique’s genes. After dismantling the robots, Shen Fei discovered a clue, leaving the Sentinel project’s technical mystery close to being solved.

• Shen Fei returned to the laboratory with the Sentinel Robots and told Otto to help him research how Trask Company had applied Mystique’s genes.
• Shen Fei reassured the recovering Symbiotes that he would leave them alone if they cooperated with his research.
• Otto recognized the robots as Trask Company machines and explained that he and Connors had been researching Sentinels but had stalled on embedding the Shapeshifting Gene into metal.
• Shen Fei and Otto dismantled the Sentinel Robots and examined their components under a microscope, where Shen Fei realized how Trask Company had solved the problem.

Shen Fei identified the Sentinel’s Metal Cells as products of the Rebirth Cradle and ordered Al to locate Trask Industries so he could obtain the technology. He modified Colossus’s tissue to keep its metal-forming gene active, absorbed it, and strengthened his Body of Steel before the Rockefeller Family requested a call.

• Shen Fei recognized the Metal Cells and deduced that Trask had acquired the Rebirth Cradle technology, possibly through the military.
• Shen Fei ordered Al to locate Trask Industries and asked Otto to study the Sentinel samples and Colossus’s tissue.
• Shen Fei and Al identified the gene fragment that activated Colossus’s Metal Cells, and Shen Fei removed the fragments that would restore the tissue to its original state.
• Shen Fei absorbed the modified Colossus tissue, strengthening his body and estimating that his normal strength approached 300 tons.
• Al told Shen Fei that the Rockefeller Family was requesting a call as he prepared to absorb Shadowcat’s ability.

Shen Fei investigated the Malick and Mercer families after Hydra-linked operatives targeted him, then endured the painful acquisition of Shadowcat’s Time Travel Ability. Learning that Quake had investigated the Malicks connected the threat to Hydra’s secret faction and the Inhumans.

• David warned Shen Fei that people investigating the Malick and Mercer families had died, and Shen Fei ordered Al to investigate them.
• Al found that Hydra had entered Osborn Company through docks controlled by Malick, and Shen Fei searched Hydra records for information on both families.
• Shen Fei absorbed Shadowcat’s blood and gained the ability to pass his hand through the molecules of the lab bench, then asked Connors to prepare gene samples for experiments.
• Al identified Quake, also known as Skye, as an operative who had investigated the Malick family.
• Shen Fei connected the Malicks to Hydra’s secret faction and considered the Inhumans, including their king, Black Bolt.

At Malick Manor, Gideon Malick asked Kaecilius to assess the family’s magical relics and revealed a black monolith that could open a passage to another world. Malick explained that the stone had once been used to banish Hive, the first Inhuman, and left Kaecilius poised to activate it.

• Kaecilius agreed to examine the relics after joining forces with Hydra against Superman.
• Kaecilius dismissed three objects and identified the Holy Gun as a magical weapon with limited power against strong foes.
• Kaecilius recognized the black stone as a key to a dimensional passage, and Gideon Malick asked whether he could open it.
• Gideon Malick recounted how the Kree created Inhumans and made Hive their ruler.
• Gideon Malick explained that rebellious Inhumans used the monolith to teleport Hive away, ending his control and ushering in human civilization.

Shen Fei revealed that the Malick Family’s Secret Society and Modern Hydra had joined forces with Kaecilius to bring Hive back and use him against him. He ordered his allies to dismantle their operations within ten days and force them to summon Hive.

• Kaecilius and the Hydra leaders agreed to cooperate, recruit Inhumans, and use Hive against Shen Fei.
• Shen Fei explained to Wanda, Max, Klaw, and the others that the Malick Family’s Secret Society had preserved the Black Stone and sought to return Hive to Earth.
• Shen Fei identified the Malick Family as Hydra’s orthodox faction and said it had joined forces with Modern Hydra, which had targeted Osborn Company.
• Shen Fei ordered Max to attack the Secret Society’s sites and locate Hydra hideouts, and told him to contact Rogers and Tony Stark.
• Shen Fei asked Wanda to help identify and counter Kaecilius, whom he suspected had helped the Malicks travel through space to reach Hive.
• Shen Fei sent everyone out to complete the mission within ten days and force their enemies to summon Hive.

Tony mobilized the Avengers after learning about Hydra, the Inhumans, and Hive, while Nick Fury questioned how Shen Fei knew so much. Shen Fei began planning to capture Inhumans for research, starting with Carl and General Glenn.

• Tony ordered Friday to search for Hydra bases and assembled the Avengers after reading Norman's message about the Inhumans and Hive.
• Nick Fury sent the intelligence to Captain America and the others, then reflected on the Inhumans' connection to the Kree and wondered who Shen Fei was.
• Shen Fei identified Absorbing Man Carl as a potential first subject for his Inhuman Project and told Al to find him.
• After learning that Skye had awakened her ability and the Obelisk was gone, Shen Fei decided to target General Glenn and other Inhumans for research.

Osborn Company's superhuman squads launched a rapid assault on Hydra and the Malick Family, destroying their defenses and seizing research files. After the raids swept through properties around New York, Tony Stark learned how powerful Osborn Company was.

• Max led an assault on a Hydra base, where he used electricity to overwhelm its defenders while James and Undead Squad 2 secured research data.
• Max and the squad loaded the captured materials onto aircraft and moved on to their next target as Osborn Company demonstrated its strength to other superhuman forces.
• Aleksei led Steel Body Squad in a charge against a Malick Family research facility, smashing through its defenses and ordering manager Joe John to gather the files.
• Osborn's superhuman squads rapidly raided Hydra and Malick Family properties throughout the region, overcoming their forces and taking their materials.
• Tony Stark heard Friday's report after a meeting and was shocked by Osborn Company's power.

Tony, Nick Fury, and the Avengers watched Osborn Company rapidly destroy Hydra and Malick Family bases, revealing the scale of Shen Fei’s superhuman forces. Gideon Malick called on allies and government forces to retaliate as S.H.I.E.L.D. and Tony’s people joined the purge.

• Tony saw Osborn’s forces eliminate targets across New York and ordered the Avengers to move against bases elsewhere.
• Nick Fury recognized that Osborn had mass-produced abilities resembling those of Power Man, Wolverine, and Jewel, then mobilized S.H.I.E.L.D. and contacted Rogers and Coulson.
• Gideon Malick learned that Osborn forces were destroying Malick assets and ordered public relations, military, Ross’s team, and Trask’s Sentry squads to respond.
• Gideon received word that S.H.I.E.L.D. and Tony’s people had joined the attacks and that the military was mobilizing against the Malicks.
• Gideon ordered The Hand, the Serpent Society, Kingpin, Vulture, and other allies to act against Osborn.

Osborn Company attacked Hydra-linked operations, and Max confronted Carl, whose Vibranium body resisted his attacks. Shen Fei arrived and trapped Carl in the Mirror Dimension, intending to use him as the first subject in his Inhuman activation plan.

• Shen Fei ordered Osborn Company's operation to expose its enemies and obtain Hydra's files.
• Max faced Carl and learned from Al that Carl could transform his body into any material he touched.
• Max attacked Carl with electricity, but Carl became rubber and then transformed into Vibranium.
• Shen Fei arrived, proposed making Carl the first subject of his Inhuman activation plan, and unfolded the Mirror Dimension before Carl could answer.

Shen Fei captured Carl and attacked the soldiers and helicopters at the docks after they opened fire on him. He redirected a tactical nuclear missile toward the Pentagon, prompting Charles to warn that its use would make reconciliation between superhumans and the government impossible.

• Shen Fei defeated Carl, froze him in an ice sculpture, and emerged from the Mirror Dimension with him.
• Shen Fei stopped the soldiers’ bullets and used his heat vision to kill them and destroy the helicopters.
• Shen Fei told Max to continue while he took Carl away, then flew toward the submarine that had launched a tactical missile.
• Shen Fei opened a golden ring in front of the missile, revealing the Pentagon on the other side and terrifying U.S. officials.
• Charles contacted Shen Fei and warned that sending the missile through would end any chance of reconciliation between superhumans and the government.

Shen Fei froze the sea and destroyed the fleet sent against him after Tony failed to carry the missile through the closing portal. The X-Men Academy witnesses recognized the scale of his power, and Hank urged them to study Shen Fei’s theories.

• Shen Fei told Charles that the United States government was obstructing his attack on Hydra and asked whether it had become Hydra’s accomplice.
• Tony caught the tactical nuclear missile headed for the Pentagon, but Shen Fei closed the portal before Tony could take it through.
• Shen Fei unleashed a freezing wind that spread across the ocean and trapped the approaching battleships and submarines in ice.
• The cold swept through Colonel John’s fleet, freezing its crew and destroying the ships and submarines.
• Bobby questioned how Shen Fei’s copied freezing power could surpass his own, and Hank explained that combining Mutant abilities could amplify it.
• Hank urged the Mutants at X-Men Academy to study Shen Fei’s theories as a possible path for their advancement.

Shen Fei captured Carl and examined his Inhuman ability, discovering that Carl’s X-Gene had been edited and its awakening mechanism locked. Carl’s memories revealed that the Mind Stone awakened his powers, prompting Shen Fei to consider whether other Infinity Stones could do the same.

• Shen Fei thawed Carl, restrained him, and knocked him unconscious so he could study his ability to transform by absorbing materials.
• Shen Fei ordered Connors and Stern to analyze Carl’s genes, cells, and organs while comparing his biology with Mutants.
• Connors found that Carl’s X-Gene had been edited and retained traces of a substance that had been broken down.
• Shen Fei read Carl’s memories and learned that the Mind Stone’s power had awakened Carl’s ability during the Battle of New York.
• Shen Fei concluded that Inhumans had a locked part of their X-Gene and wondered whether other Infinity Stones could awaken supernatural powers.

Shen Fei investigated the Kree’s genetic modifications and planned safeguards for producing Inhumans. After Carl transformed into Spatial Derivative and lost control of the energy he absorbed, Shen Fei drained it and offered to help him master the power if he worked for him.

• Shen Fei and Stern found that the Inhumans’ altered genes resembled X-Genes and might contain a Kree-controlled backdoor, so Shen Fei ordered a search for Inhumans whose powers had not awakened.
• Shen Fei asked Connors and Stern to investigate combining Absorbing Man’s genes with Mystique’s so someone might absorb matter and permanently transform.
• Shen Fei offered Carl a chance to leave if he transformed into Spatial Derivative, and Carl accepted the test.
• Carl transformed into Spatial Derivative and began absorbing spatial energy, but he lost control and begged Shen Fei for help.
• Shen Fei absorbed Carl’s uncontrolled energy and offered to help him master his power if he agreed to work for him.

Carl agreed to work for Shen Fei, who then absorbed Carl’s blood and discovered a new ability. As Osborn Company wiped out Hydra bases near New York, Zola attacked its computer systems, giving Shen Fei a chance to trace Hydra’s location.

• Shen Fei persuaded Carl to leave General Glenn’s service, and Carl agreed to work for him.
• Carl asked for his Vibranium back and offered to lend Shen Fei the Carbyne Metal at his home, where Max would accompany him.
• Shen Fei absorbed Carl’s blood and found that he could transform his cells into metal and take on its properties.
• Al reported that Osborn Company had eliminated Hydra strongholds near New York and that the Malick Family had mobilized The Hand and superhuman criminals.
• Zola attacked Osborn’s central control system, but Shen Fei’s artificial intelligences and firewalls blocked him.
• Shen Fei began tracing Hydra’s location through the computer attack.