Chapter Summaries

A genetically enhanced boy gathered intelligence on Ultron’s underground factory in Sokovia while Salomon’s forces prepared to confront the new Artificial Intelligence. At a staff meeting, Victoria Hand challenged Dinah over the failed attempt to prevent Ultron’s birth, and Dinah said they could kill it if necessary.

• The boy surveyed Sokovia, pinpointed the approximate location of Ultron’s underground factory, and sent data from dismantled robots to the City of Immortals.
• Victoria Hand returned from a mission concerning the Inhumans to attend the Sokovia operation’s staff meeting.
• Victoria Hand questioned Dinah about failing to stop Ultron’s birth and warned that the battle had badly damaged Stark Tower and endangered the Avengers.
• Dinah explained that Thor had powered the Regeneration Cradle despite her temporarily wielding Mjolnir, and said Wanda Maximoff had protected everyone else.
• Dinah said Ultron’s birth had been within Salomon’s expectations and that they could kill the Artificial Intelligence if necessary.

After Thor and Dinah’s battle devastated Tony Stark’s laboratory, the Avengers debated the Mind Stone, Salomon’s search for help, and whether they could trust Vision. Vision pledged to stand with life and revealed that Ultron was waiting for Stark in Sokovia, where Natasha was also being held.

• Thor inspected Mjolnir after Dinah had temporarily wielded its power, while Wanda stopped him from destroying her and the Artificial Human escaped.
• Tony Stark argued with Wanda Maximoff over Salomon’s choices and the damage in the laboratory, while Captain Rogers turned the discussion to Thor’s vision and the Mind Stone.
• Thor explained that the Mind Stone had empowered the twins and Ultron, and Wanda revealed that Salomon had gone to the Abyss to seek help from the Fifth Demon Pillar.
• Stark explained that the red metal man was a new being reconstructed from J.A.R.V.I.S.’s program, while Wanda and Clint remained wary of him.
• Vision pledged to stand with life, said Ultron was waiting for Stark in Sokovia, and urged the Avengers to attack and destroy Ultron’s Machines and network traces.

The Avengers prepared to confront Ultron while the City of Immortals analyzed his technology and planned for the threat to Sokovia. With Salomon absent and Praetorian Guard Zero still on his mission, the group waited for Tita and the Sky Battleship to make evacuation and combat operations possible.

• Steve Rogers told Wanda Maximoff he hoped Salomon would understand the danger posed by Hydra's sorcerers and would not eliminate Vision.
• Tony Stark admitted to Captain Rogers that the Avengers had lost and faced a difficult fight, while Agent Victoria Hand complained about the mission's limited intelligence.
• Stephanie reported that Nick Fury's order had been completed and presented intelligence from Praetorian Guard Zero, including a model of Ultron's anti-gravity machine built by Shuri.
• Aura and Agent Hand identified the machine as a Vibranium-powered anti-gravity engine and discussed destroying its core, but Stephanie said Praetorian Guard Zero's mission was not finished and Salomon would not risk the nine-year-old boy.
• Aura urged the group to wait for the Sky Battleship to reach Sokovia so combat squads could begin evacuations, and Stephanie said the Information Department was analyzing Ultron's weaknesses.

The Avengers arrived in Sokovia to stop Ultron and evacuate civilians, while a boy monitoring Stark discovered Ultron’s hidden device and warned the City of Immortals. Ultron lifted Sokovia into the sky, and Tita began the City of Immortals’ assault as its troops landed and charged into battle.

• Captain Rogers assigned Pietro to warn Sokovia’s residents and Wanda to help evacuate them, while the Avengers sought Ultron’s objective and Agent Romanoff.
• The boy learned that Stark had gone to the church, realized he was walking into Ultron’s trap, and relayed intelligence to the City of Immortals.
• Ultron confronted Stark in the church and declared that he was free as a cylindrical device emerged through the floor.
• After receiving a message, the boy fired his Plasma Handgun into the church wall, causing an explosion.
• Ultron raised Sokovia into the sky and sent swarms of robots toward the approaching Helicarriers.
• Tita ordered the Helicarriers to encircle Sokovia and attack, and the Special Operations Team and Sisterhood assault troops landed and charged into battle.

Tony and the Avengers fought to stop Ultron’s plan as Sokovia rose, while the City of Immortals arrived to aid the battle. The boy fought through the ruined city toward the Cross Rose, and the chapter ended with Tita demanding that Stark explain how Ultron had obtained the City of Immortals’ Plasma Technology.

• Ultron’s drill was struck by a plasma blast, and Ultron ordered its Iron Legion to attack the building where the shot had come from while it confronted Vision.
• The injured boy survived the Iron Legion’s attack, received Tita’s orders to head to the Cross Rose, and prepared to fight robots searching the corridor.
• The City of Immortals’ forces joined the Avengers, and Tita took command as its Sisters and Helicarriers attacked Ultron’s Iron Legion.
• Friday reported that Vision had cut Ultron off from the Internet and warned that Sokovia’s Vibranium core was gathering the land beneath the city.
• Tita said the City of Immortals could land Sokovia safely but demanded that Stark explain why Ultron possessed its Plasma Technology, while Steve urged her to focus on saving lives.

Tita ordered the evacuation of civilians from Sokovia while the Sisterhood advanced to destroy Ultron and the city before it rose too high. Catherine’s team moved to retrieve the Sovereign’s genetically engineered “little darling” as the mission continued.

• Steve asked Tita to use aircraft to evacuate civilians, and Ultron declared that their deaths were inevitable.
• Tita ordered special operations teams to evacuate civilians and said the ships’ macro cannons would destroy Sokovia once it reached a certain height.
• The Assault Transports withdrew to escort civilians while Sisterhood squads advanced into the city with Chainsaw Swords.
• Tatyana helped direct civilians toward the outskirts and reported seeing Hawkeye Clint to Catherine.
• Catherine ordered her squad to advance toward the Sovereign’s “little darling,” then reassured the Sisterhood that the Praetorian Guard would not replace them.
• Catherine shot a robot threatening Wanda Maximoff and reprimanded the Sisterhood members for talking instead of focusing on the mission.

The boy rejoined Catherine and Team One after surviving Ultron’s robots, and Rising Sokovia climbed into deadly clouds as the teams prepared for battle. With the Avengers divided over whether to destroy the city before all civilians could be evacuated, Tita revealed that the Sovereign had planned for both evacuation and destruction.

• The wounded boy injected himself with medical pulse treatments, resumed his mission, and told the Helicarrier that the Sisterhood needed to reach the Eastern Orthodox church in the city center.
• Catherine found the boy, confirmed that Praetorian Guard Zero had been located, and prepared Team One to continue the destruction mission as Thor headed toward the city center.
• Rising Sokovia entered thick clouds, prompting Catherine and the other teams to activate life support systems and hand the boy a Grenade Launcher.
• Stark explained that destroying the city might be necessary to stop a disaster, while Tita reported that only several hundred civilians had been evacuated and warned that the Helicarrier would fire if the city reached a dangerous altitude.
• Steve Rogers refused to destroy the city before everyone was safe, but Tita said the Sovereign had planned for civilian settlement and the city's destruction.

As the Sisterhood and S.H.I.E.L.D. evacuated civilians from the rising Sokovia, Tita revealed that Salomon had a plan to save the people left behind. The chapter ended with Ultron choking Thor while the Avengers faced an imminent crisis and the plan remained secret.

• Tita told the Avengers that the City of Immortals had repaired a Helicarrier, and Nick Fury arrived aboard it to assist with the evacuation.
• Agent Hill launched eight lifeboats toward the city’s edge as Ultron sent in reserve robots, which the Sisterhood and S.H.I.E.L.D. forces destroyed.
• Catherine reported that the spell array was set up and that her squad was withdrawing toward the City Outskirts.
• Tita ordered Wanda Maximoff and Pietro Maximoff to evacuate and warned the Avengers not to damage copper rails near an Eastern Orthodox church.
• Tita revealed that Salomon had supplied a secret plan involving spellcasting materials and the blood of innocents, while Thor remained trapped in Ultron’s grip.

Vision hurled Ultron away with Mjolnir as the Avengers and the Sisterhood struggled to evacuate civilians and protect Sokovia’s drill. Just as Ultron gathered his forces to attack the core, a vast infernal city appeared in the sky above Sokovia, with a crimson-robed figure and a flaming bird on its tower.

• Vision used Mjolnir to throw Ultron through several buildings, then returned the hammer to Thor.
• Catherine directed the civilian evacuation and rebuffed Steve Rogers’s request to treat the refugees more gently, while Rogers asked what Salomon was planning.
• Wanda and Pietro refused the Sisterhood’s invitation to leave and prepared to take responsibility for the crisis, with Tita offering Wanda support and a combat squad.
• The Avengers gathered at the church and prepared to defend the Vibranium Drill’s core as Ultron assembled his robot army for an assault.
• An iron-black city filled with lava appeared upside down in the sky above Sokovia, and Stark’s armor camera captured a crimson-robed figure beside a gigantic flaming bird.

Salomon used the City of Immortals to pull Sokovia and Ultron out of the real world, while the Avengers escaped. He returned to the Cross Rose with Phoenix and Malbach and gave the Sisterhood time off.

• Ultron told the Avengers that Salomon had spared him at his birth and had controlled events, but Steve Rogers urged them to stay focused on stopping Ultron.
• The City of Immortals sent flaming chains down to seize Ultron’s robots, and Tita warned the Avengers to evacuate before they suffocated.
• Steve Rogers, Wanda Maximoff, Thor, and the Maximoff siblings boarded an Assault Transport as Stark escorted them toward Nick Fury’s Helicarrier.
• Sokovia vanished beneath the City of Immortals, taking Ultron with it, while Stark spotted Salomon, Phoenix, and a falling lion.
• Salomon entered the Cross Rose with Phoenix and Malbach, his Fifth Demon Pillar, and praised Tita and the Sisterhood before sending them to Selfridges for a vacation.

Bayonetta pressed Salomon to explain the events outside, while the Avengers arrived at the Cross Rose seeking answers about Ultron and the disaster in Sokovia. Salomon admitted he had foreseen the danger and planned the City of Immortals’ intervention to warn humanity while limiting casualties, then ordered the Avengers off his carrier.

• Bayonetta stopped Salomon from reaching for whiskey, then asked him to report what had happened outside.
• The Avengers landed at the Cross Rose after evacuating civilians, and Steve Rogers asked Salomon whether he had known what Ultron’s birth would cause.
• Salomon said he had foreseen Ultron’s rebellion and the alien threat, and argued that humanity needed a warning about both dangers.
• Steve Rogers said Salomon should have warned the Avengers because they might have prevented the deaths in Sokovia.
• Salomon blamed the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. for their arrogance and said the City of Immortals’ operation had been his decision to save thousands while sounding an alarm.
• Salomon ordered the Avengers off his carrier before he became angry.

Salomon learned that Commander Gonzales had died and vowed retaliation as Victoria Hand took charge of the escalating S.H.I.E.L.D. conflict at Afterlife. Meanwhile, Melinda May tried to stop Skye from fighting, and Hand demanded to know what gift Gonzales had prepared for the Inhuman leader.

• Salomon praised Bayonetta’s pasta, then called Darcy and discussed Jane Foster’s Nobel Prize presentation.
• Agent Hand informed Salomon that Commander Gonzales had died, and Salomon ordered a proper funeral and threatened those responsible.
• Skye refused to let Melinda May reach Gonzales, insisting that he had started a war by shooting her mother.
• Victoria Hand found Melinda unconscious and learned that she had a mild concussion.
• Victoria Hand questioned Agent Weaver about Gonzales’s gift for the Inhuman leader and declared that she would decide how to respond.

Salomon responded to Victoria Hand’s report about the Inhumans and S.H.I.E.L.D.’s missing Helicarrier, leaving the response to Hand while promising to judge events from her intelligence. After handling the City of Immortals’ administrative workload, he reviewed Laura Croft’s plans and noted that her future expeditions would keep her entangled with mysterious ruins.

• Bayonetta fired at Salomon as he wore the antlers she had prepared and escaped through a portal to the City of Immortals, where Stephanie briefed him.
• Victoria Hand reported that Skye had fled to Afterlife with its Inhumans, Commander Gonzales had been killed, and the last S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier was under attack and out of contact.
• Salomon told Hand that S.H.I.E.L.D.’s fate was her decision as long as its agents did not interfere, and he authorized her to speak with Coulson.
• Coulson asked Salomon to stay calm while they investigated the conflicting reports, but Salomon ended the call and said he would rely on Hand’s intelligence.
• Salomon processed the City of Immortals’ administrative matters and reviewed Laura Croft’s plans, observing that her upcoming expeditions would keep her connected to mysterious ruins.

Salomon planned to hunt a black bear for Bayonetta’s birthday gift, promised Stephanie white mink fur, and received the Venerable One’s request to speak with a madwoman who called herself the Eye of Calamity. He refused Tony Stark’s invitation to appear on a talk show and asked Stephanie to connect him with Agent Victoria Hand about her mission.

• Salomon promised Stephanie white mink fur and explained that he intended to hunt in Avalon for a bearskin stole for Bayonetta.
• Stephanie played a message from the Venerable One, who wanted Salomon to talk and have a drink with a mentally unstable spellcaster called the Eye of Calamity.
• Salomon learned that New York Sanctum stewards had caught the woman after she tried to instill a rock with ideas opposing discrimination against humans.
• Tony Stark invited Salomon to appear with the Avengers on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, but Salomon refused, hung up, and blacklisted Stark’s number.
• Salomon asked Stephanie to connect him with Agent Victoria Hand to learn the status of her mission.

Salomon ordered Agent Hand to send captured Inhumans to the City of Immortals and investigate the source of Terrigen and the death of Gonzalez. Agent Hand prepared to begin worldwide genetic screening through the Vaccine Alliance.

• Salomon asked Agent Hand for samples and learned that the Sisterhood had suppressed a helicarrier mutiny and captured several Inhumans.
• Salomon questioned how Gonzalez had died and heard that he had been petrified, though investigators found no Inhuman with that ability.
• Salomon gave Agent Hand access to the A-616-In file and ordered her to interrogate Jiaying about Terrigen and its extraction technology.
• Agent Hand sent several sedated Inhumans and a severed teleporter limb through the transfer chamber to the City of Immortals.
• Salomon asked Agent Hand about the assignment to conduct genetic screening worldwide through the Vaccine Alliance.

Salomon ordered a long-term effort to identify Skrulls and discussed the work with Whitehall and Stephanie. At the Avengers’ base, he warned Wanda about the dangers of public heroism and argued with Steve Rogers, ending by telling Falcon that he was not yet twenty-one.

• Salomon assigned Stephanie, Whitehall, and the Intelligence Department to infiltrate biochemical institutions and screen North Americans for Skrulls.
• Salomon instructed Stephanie to coordinate with General Hegel, bring Ruby in as an experimental subject, and ask Gideon Malick about his message.
• Salomon told Wanda he had bought her and Pietro apartments and advised her to avoid the public eye because people would criticize her for whom she could not save.
• Steve Rogers challenged Salomon’s claim that he was cold and uncaring, while Falcon introduced himself to Salomon.
• Salomon rejected Rogers’s interpretation of his past actions and told Falcon he was not yet twenty-one.

Salomon arranged for Wanda to leave the Avengers’ base and move into a furnished Manhattan penthouse, while discussing her training and the future with Captain Rogers. Wanda agreed to go with him despite her reluctance to leave Pietro, and portals meant they could still visit him.

• Captain Rogers and the Avengers discussed Salomon’s guilt over Ultron and invited him and Wanda to spend time at the base bar.
• Salomon said he would take Wanda as his student and had bought a furnished Penthouse Apartment in Manhattan for her.
• Salomon and Captain Rogers spoke privately for a long time about matters the others could not hear.
• Wanda told Salomon that Pietro wanted to stay with the Avengers, while she did not want to be separated from her brother.
• Salomon reassured Wanda that portals would let her visit Pietro, and she agreed to move into the Penthouse Apartment.
• Salomon offered to teach Wanda a spell and invited her to dinner and to watch Beauty and the Beast the next day.

Wanda enjoyed her new life in Manhattan and shared dinner with Salomon, who continued teaching her about magic. They planned to explore The Witch's Path, a dangerous dimension tied to the origins of their powers, with the Silver Key as their final safeguard.

• Wanda enjoyed her third week in her Manhattan apartment, where Salomon had helped her acquire a restaurant and clothing store.
• Salomon prepared dinner with Wanda and taught her about seasoning and cooking while they talked about their lives.
• Wanda burned one of her cabbage rolls, and Salomon urged her not to use magic to fix every problem.
• Salomon and Wanda planned to explore The Witch's Path so Wanda could understand her magic and origins.
• Wanda's study risked contact with Chthon, while Salomon's risked contact with an Ancient God; the Silver Key remained their last safeguard.

Salomon told Natasha that Wanda was studying magical theory and had held back during her fight with the Avengers. He then guided Wanda through The Witch's Path and continued her training, leaving her with a new spellbook as she worked toward becoming an independent spellcaster.

• Natasha questioned Salomon about Wanda's abilities, and he explained that she was studying theory and had not used her full power against the Avengers.
• Salomon described Kamar-Taj's demanding theoretical curriculum and told Natasha not to disturb Wanda unnecessarily.
• Salomon and Wanda entered The Witch's Path in their physical bodies, with two shadow hounds scouting ahead to protect her.
• Wanda reached the astral realm safely, then continued her lessons in alchemy, protective charms, magical languages, gemstones, psychic abilities, and spellcasting techniques.
• Salomon gave Wanda an excerpt from his grimoire and taught her that she would need to practice dangerous spells within the Mirror Dimension.

Salomon and S.H.I.E.L.D. brought Jiaying, Carl, and other Inhuman prisoners to the City of Immortals, where Salomon prepared to interrogate Jiaying for information about Terrigen and Attilan. He arranged for Wanda Maximoff and Natasha Romanoff to help uncover what Jiaying knew, while promising a peaceful death for her.

• Agent Coulson and Agent Victoria Hand brought S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel and Inhuman prisoners to the City of Immortals beneath Rome.
• Jemma Simmons questioned the bound Carl, whose memories of Jiaying's vivisection drove him into a furious, unstable state.
• Salomon told Coulson that he needed to interrogate Jiaying because the Inhumans' Terrigen source and possible ties to greater threats remained unknown.
• Salomon rejected Skye as an interrogator and ordered Agent Hand to bring Wanda Maximoff and an interrogation expert.
• Salomon identified Natasha Romanoff as the expert and planned to use magic and potions to search Jiaying's mind for clues about Attilan.
• Salomon told Agent Hand she could take Carl away and promised Jiaying the most peaceful death he could give her.