Chapter Summaries

A Black-Robed Mage destroyed Kree-Lar’s defenses and sent a sphere made from its satellites crashing down, while leaving the Kree alive to suffer. As the mage’s approach toward Hala became clear, Dork VIII asked Supreme Intelligence what to do and was ordered to wait.

• The Black-Robed Mage opened Kree-Lar’s artificial dome, rained living corpses and acid across the planet, and caused widespread suffering without killing the Kree.
• Kree soldiers attacked the mage, but their weapons vanished into a black shadow, and he disappeared from their sight.
• The mage gathered Kree-Lar’s defense satellites into a giant iron sphere, which swallowed the Annihilation Wave and fell onto the planet.
• A messenger reported that the Kree had lost forty planets and that the enemy was approaching Hala, but Dork VIII had him taken away before he could finish speaking.
• Dork VIII saw the tortured remains of Kree soldiers following the mage toward Hala and asked Supreme Intelligence what to do; it ordered him to wait.

He Shenyan confronted Carol Danvers for trying to stop his revenge on the Kree and stripped her of the power she had gained through the Space Stone. He left her frozen and powerless as he carried her and the suffering Kree toward the Kree homeworld.

• Carol Danvers challenged He Shenyan, arguing that his revenge had gone too far and that he should spare Kree civilians.
• He Shenyan revealed that the Kree were alive but trapped in a sphere of agony, and accused Carol of abandoning Earth while she acted as the universe's hero.
• Carol attacked He Shenyan, but he dodged her punch and covered her in black ice.
• He Shenyan drained Carol's power, explaining that the Space Stone had created her connection to limitless energy and that he had taken it for himself.
• He Shenyan left Carol frozen and powerless, then carried her and the screaming Kree sphere toward the Kree homeworld.

Sam Wilson struggled through the nationwide chaos on his way to the White House, where Jarvis delivered his Falcon equipment from Tony. Meanwhile, Steve Rogers confronted an uncooperative official over the government’s response and beat him unconscious, leaving Steve and Hawkeye facing the aftermath of their clash.

• Sam Wilson drove toward the White House through traffic jams, riots, and deadly crashes as he tried to respond to Steve’s message.
• A silver suitcase bearing the Avengers emblem landed on Sam’s car, and Jarvis told him Tony had sent his equipment from Stark Tower.
• Steve and Hawkeye demanded that a White House official warn the public that the danger had passed, but the official refused and threatened to charge them with trespassing.
• Steve punched the official and beat him unconscious after learning that he had delayed them for an hour while chaos spread across the country.

Steve and the others reunited with Tony after he returned from captivity, then landed to meet Bucky. The reunion ended with Tony refusing to forgive Bucky, despite acknowledging that Bucky had died and been revived.

• Sam arrived to join Steve and Clint, and Tony contacted the group over their comm channel.
• Steve gathered the others aboard the Quinjet, where Tony and Rhodey traded jokes and Tony asked about the group's plans.
• Tony noticed Steve's subdued mood, and Steve said Jack Reacher had died because of him.
• The Quinjet landed, and Tony confronted Bucky, saying he would not hold Bucky's actions against his parents but would not forgive him.

Tony introduced Rhodey to his new armor while Steve checked on Bucky’s transformed arm. On Hala, the dying Dork VIII watched He Shenyan enter the Supreme Intelligence’s hall and began to doubt the Kree’s faith in it.

• Tony explained the weapons and functions of Rhodey’s new armor as Rhodey listened eagerly.
• Bucky showed Steve and the others his black, scaled arm and said it glowed at night and could cut firewood like an axe.
• He Shenyan asked the wounded Dork VIII how he felt, then refused to hear what the emperor wanted to say and entered the hall of the Supreme Intelligence.
• As Dork VIII’s strength faded, he remembered He Shenyan’s destruction of the Kree fleets and Hala and wondered whether the Supreme Intelligence had ever been wrong.

He Shenyan defeated Supreme Intelligence and transformed it into a god who would suffer eternally alongside the Kree. Hala and its people vanished, leaving the screaming god alone in space.

• Supreme Intelligence accepted the Kree's endless suffering and explained that it had sought the continuation of Kree existence, but refused to reveal why it invaded Earth.
• He Shenyan destroyed Supreme Intelligence's sanctuary and gathered Hala's ruins, the Kree, and Supreme Intelligence into a storm of magic.
• He Shenyan infused Supreme Intelligence with the Kree's faith and made it experience pain, sorrow, and despair as their god.
• Hala and the Kree vanished, leaving Supreme Intelligence's enormous, screaming corpse floating in space and killing anyone who approached with its psychic cries.
• He Shenyan left, declaring Supreme Intelligence the god of the Kree, doomed to suffer forever.

Steve Rogers and Tony returned to a hidden Texas base, where they connected to global satellites and began a nationwide broadcast. As Steve urged Americans to rely on one another after the government abandoned them, Mark rediscovered his old guitar and rushed out to join the people.

• Steve Rogers, Tony, Rhodey, Hawkeye, Sam, and Frank arrived at the long-sealed Texas base and activated it with Steve and Tony's authorization.
• Steve connected the base to global satellites and initiated a nationwide broadcast.
• Mark, a despairing man in Hell's Kitchen, listened as Steve blamed the government for abandoning the country during the alien invasion and called on citizens to act themselves.
• Mark put on his old overalls, took his pistol, and found the guitar he had lost years earlier beneath his bed.
• Mark tuned the guitar and rushed out of his apartment as Steve declared that the people would bless America.

Steve and the Avengers learned that Chthon’s power was unleashing winged monsters on New York, while Strange discovered that Frank had become a flaming skeleton and was attacking them. Strange sent the others to New York, banished Frank through a portal to hell, and then left through another portal despite his exhaustion.

• Steve dismissed Tony’s offer to negotiate after being declared a wanted man and said they should go to New York.
• Strange arrived injured and showed the group monsters slaughtering people across New York, explaining that Chthon’s power had enveloped Earth and that the creatures’ wings came from Heaven.
• Strange sensed danger and shielded the group from an explosion caused by Frank, whose left hand had caught fire.
• Strange opened a portal and sent Steve, Tony, and the others to New York, but a flaming skeleton then pierced his shield and attacked him.
• Strange froze Frank long enough to open a portal to hell and throw him inside, then collapsed before opening another portal and leaving.

Tony prepared Stark Tower to defend Earth, sending Pepper to shelter and equipping his allies as an alien invasion continued. Meanwhile, He Shenyan raced back toward Earth, but Ego confronted him in space, claiming the mage carried a trace of his missing son.

• Tony ordered Jarvis to locate Pepper, deploy rescue and armed drones, and prepare Witchcraft Bane and three suits of armor for himself and his allies.
• Pepper left Tony an angry voice message, prompting the others to laugh and briefly easing the tension.
• Tony, Steve, Clint, and Bucky put on armor and prepared to fight the invaders.
• He Shenyan traveled through space, worried about the growing danger from Chthon and struggling to control the enormous energy he had absorbed.
• Ego appeared before He Shenyan and said he had come for his son, whose presence he sensed in the mage.

After Ego acknowledged that his son was not a Kree and left, Mark woke in the rubble of a destroyed subway station. He and Dave rescued a little girl named Alice and set off to search for other survivors.

• Ego thanked He Shenyan for avenging the Supreme Intelligence, then left after He Shenyan let him go.
• Mark woke injured in the rubble, remembered going into the street after Captain America's call, and realized he had lost his guitar.
• Mark called out after hearing a child cry, and Dave dug through the debris to find him and a little girl.
• Dave pulled Mark free, and they introduced themselves as Mark Rendell and Dave Elbins.
• Mark and Dave agreed to search the ruins and take the girl with them, and she told them her name was Alice.

Tony Stark, Steve, Bucky, Rhodey, Hawkeye, and Sam fought powerful monsters across New York while rescuing civilians. Tony and Steve’s teams killed several monsters, but the battle continued as they moved toward more enemies.

• Tony Stark used his armor to distract a monster on Manhattan Island, then destroyed it by making his suit crash into its energy core.
• Jarvis reported that Steve had a fractured hand, while Rhodey, Hawkeye, and Sam were fighting effectively in their assigned boroughs.
• Steve used the Road Roller armor to knock a monster off balance, and Bucky killed it by driving his unarmored hand through its chest.
• Steve and Bucky found two monsters feeding on civilians and attacked without stopping to coordinate.
• Bucky severed one monster’s tongue and destroyed it, while Steve beat the other monster’s head into paste.

Rhodey used Jarvis’s autocannon to destroy the giant monster, while He Shenyan faced Chthon’s magic spreading across Earth. The chapter ended with He Shenyan addressing Chthon in the oldest demonic tongue.

• Rhodey anchored his armor and fired Jarvis’s energy-block autocannon at the approaching monster.
• Rhodey’s barrage blasted the monster away until nothing remained, and he praised Jarvis’s weapon design.
• He Shenyan recognized that Chthon had spread magic power across the entire world and decided against performing the ritual needed to speak with him.
• He Shenyan summoned a storm of magic and rubble above Earth and invoked Chthon in the oldest demonic tongue.
• He Shenyan’s long invocation amounted to an insult directed at Chthon.

He Shenyan confronted Chthon over the dark magic covering Earth, and Chthon withdrew it before warning that mages eventually lose their humanity. Meanwhile, Mark and Dave hid underground with Alice after seeing a winged monster devour people.

• Chthon admitted that the dark magic covering Earth came from him but said he had lent it to others under a contract.
• He Shenyan persuaded Chthon to withdraw the magic and questioned him about the wings attached to his creations.
• Chthon refused to name the people who had borrowed his magic and warned He Shenyan that mages eventually became cold and ruthless.
• He Shenyan rejected the idea of abandoning his humanity and left through a portal.
• Mark and Dave fled back into the subway station after seeing a black, white-winged monster eat people, and they tried to stay calm while Alice slept.

He Shenyan healed the unconscious Strange and followed the remnants of Chthon’s creations to the Darkhold’s holders. He captured two fleeing cultists and prepared to question them about their High Priest.

• Strange vomited up the insects consuming his magic, sent them back through a hell portal, and collapsed after insisting Chthon had to be stopped.
• He Shenyan used shamanic magic to heal Strange and layered protective spells around him before leaving the Sanctum Sanctorum.
• He Shenyan destroyed Chthon’s creations across New York, restored the damaged city, and followed their ashes toward the Darkhold’s holder.
• Two cultists fled New York in a car with the Darkhold, but He Shenyan appeared in their back seat and stopped them from killing themselves.
• He Shenyan questioned the captured cultists about their High Priest and revealed that he had already searched their memories.

He Shenyan uncovered how an evil-god cult’s revenge plan had helped destroy an empire, then tracked down its leader in the South American jungle. The old man’s memories revealed that key details about New York and the Darkhold had been erased, leaving the reason for the attack unexplained.

• He Shenyan read the memories of the two cultists and learned they had survived his earlier attack, allied with aliens, and arranged the revenge plan that destroyed the empire.
• He Shenyan transformed the cultists into a lightning-charged Sword of Dust and sent it to the South American jungle, where it pinned their leader.
• He Shenyan confronted the old man, whose memories showed decades of murder, cannibalism, and service to an evil god.
• He Shenyan searched the old man’s memories but found that the reason for choosing New York and the source of the Darkhold and angel wings had been erased.

He Shenyan tortured the evil god worshiper while Chthon confronted the Ancient One about her scheme to keep He Shenyan tied to Earth. After the monsters vanished and the city was restored, Mark resolved to return to Kansas as Alice ran toward a familiar man and woman.

• He Shenyan realized the worshiper's memory of its deal had been erased and tortured its soul anyway.
• Chthon accused the Ancient One of arranging the High Priest's escape and deceiving He Shenyan.
• The Ancient One said she needed He Shenyan to preserve his humanity and keep returning to Earth, then left Chthon's dimension.
• The monsters disappeared, the damaged city was restored, and the uninjured survivors gathered in the street.
• Mark told Dave he was giving up guns and going back to Kansas.
• Alice spotted a familiar man and woman at a street corner and ran toward them.

After New York's disaster, Tony Stark reunited with Pepper Potts while the city's leaders condemned the federal government for withholding aid. Mayor Hobson Harlan ended his live speech by threatening that New York would seek to secede from the Federation.

• Tony Stark reunited with Pepper Potts, who embraced him but joked that she had not forgiven him for kissing her with his tongue.
• NYPD Commissioner George Stacy apologized to bereaved families, reported that more than forty percent of the police force had died, and announced he would resign.
• George Stacy demanded to know why the federal government had sent no support to New York.
• Mayor Hobson Harlan denounced the federal government's failure to provide aid and raised his middle finger during the live broadcast.
• Hobson threatened that New York would stop paying taxes and seek a vote to secede from the Federation.

Hawkeye and Sam raced to stop four teams moving against Chief Stacy, killing or engaging the attackers before they could reach the police station. Hawkeye was confronted by two masked figures, and the red-and-blue-suited one caught his arrow.

• Clint and Sam bet on how soon Chief Stacy would be killed, then spotted a black sedan and rushed toward the police station.
• Clint identified the approaching vehicles as hostile, while Sam flew overhead and reported four action teams closing in.
• Clint shot at the first attackers, and Sam dived at two snipers who had fired at him.
• Clint headed across the rooftops to protect Hobson and Chief Stacy, but two masked figures ambushed him.
• Clint fired an arrow at the red-and-blue-suited figure, who caught it, and demanded to know who he was.

A group of Spider-people and their allies attacked Hawkeye, Sam, and Rhodes on a rooftop, demanding to find that universe’s Peter Parker. Steve challenged their leader, and the two groups clashed while Bucky and Peni stayed out of the fight.

• Hawkeye’s arrow missed Spider-Man, while Spider-Gwen took Sam’s pulse pistol and aimed it at him and Hawkeye.
• Rhodes arrived in his armor and ordered the newcomers to surrender, but a black-coated stranger knocked him away.
• More allies joined Hawkeye’s side, while the red-and-black Spider-Man identified the Avengers and demanded to know Steve’s identity.
• Steve punched one of the leader’s metal legs, starting a fight between Rhodes and the black-coated man, Sam and Spider-Gwen, and Hawkeye and Spider-Man.
• Bucky introduced himself to Peni Parker, and the two watched the rooftop battle from the sidelines.

Bucky and the Avengers faced Morlun, a powerful cannibal who had pursued Peni Parker across parallel universes to hunt Spider-Totems. Morlun badly injured Peni and drained Steve before attacking Sam and Rhodey, but Bucky blocked his strike at the chapter’s end.

• Peni Parker told Bucky that Morlun had devoured the people in several universes and showed him Morlun’s image on her watch.
• A green portal opened, and Morlun emerged, attacked Bucky, and targeted Peni as the metal-legged fighter and Rhodey turned their attention to him.
• Morlun broke Peni’s leg, defeated Steve, and drained his strength while declaring Peter Parker his preferred prey.
• Morlun appeared in front of Sam and ignored Rhodey’s pulse blast before preparing to strike him.
• Bucky rushed in and blocked Morlun’s attack on Rhodey with his special left arm.