Chapter Summaries

Master Wong disciplined rebellious Sanctum deacons and sent Wanda to handle the crisis while Kamar-Taj faced shortages of experienced Arcanists. Meanwhile, the Emperor reviewed intelligence on Peru and prepared to land openly in Cuba despite a US Navy blockade.

• Master Wong slapped a rebellious deacon, dismissed several low-ranking deacons from the mission, and told Wanda to take charge of the problem.
• Master Wong explained that Kamar-Taj's experienced Arcanists were occupied on another battlefield and retrieved an artifact from the relic chamber.
• Hammurabi confirmed that the Trinity Order's funding for Peru had been correctly accounted for, while Maria Hill defended Nick Fury's independent actions during an intelligence meeting.
• The Emperor said Castro was close to death and the Peru investigation was nearly finished, then dismissed concerns about the Fourth Fleet's blockade.
• The Emperor announced that he would land openly at the airport in Cuba with his escort formation as global media gathered there.

The Emperor of Latveria arrived in Cuba through a passage cut through the storm, stunning the officials and reporters with his military force. Meanwhile, Camila’s team found Supiluliumas and Amon holding an indigenous group at gunpoint, and Supiluliumas demanded their obedience to the Emperor.

• Diana List insisted that the Emperor would come to Cuba despite the hurricane, while the US Navy Fourth Fleet withdrew from the storm after losing aircraft.
• The Helicarrier and its flight formation descended through an opening in the clouds and landed at Jose Marti Airport.
• Diana List welcomed the Emperor, whose Gene-modded Warriors and Praetorian Guard shocked the Cuban officials and television viewers.
• Nick Fury watched the arrival with a Homeless Man, who offered to take him to meet someone who could give him what he wanted.
• Camila’s team entered a canyon filled with dead members of The Trinity and found Supiluliumas and Amon confronting an indigenous group.
• Supiluliumas pointed the Spear of the Garrison at the group and threatened to kill them if they resisted the Praetorian Guard again.

The Praetorian Guard confronted Enuratu’s tribe and offered to preserve their people if they joined their master’s cause. Meanwhile, Nick Fury prepared to make a shaped-charge weapon, and the threat of the Beast’s awakening remained unresolved.

• The Praetorian Guard killed The Trinity’s armed soldiers, and Supiluliumas told Enuratu that his lord needed her tribe to join a cause of unification.
• Enuratu refused, insisting that her people had a more important mission, while Supiluliumas warned that mechanical stars could destroy the Beast if it awakened.
• Nick Fury told the Homeless Man that he was making a HEAT round, prompting the man to ask what powerful enemy he had angered.
• Amon returned the rescued boy to Enuratu, and Supiluliumas warned that her tribe faced extinction from urban expansion or future colonizers.
• Supiluliumas offered the tribe a chance to preserve its traditions and bloodlines if it cooperated, but warned that failure would bring floods, lava, and extinction.

Supiluliumas and Laura Croft negotiated with Enuratu, the former queen of Paititi, to stop the Quetzalcoatl Cult and learn about its leader, Pedro Dominguez. The group split up to investigate the cult and prepare an assault, with Supiluliumas promising weapons for Enuratu’s warriors.

• Enuratu agreed to help Supiluliumas but demanded that the cult leader be handed over to her for judgment under Paititi’s laws.
• Camila showed Enuratu a photograph of Amaru, and Laura Croft identified him as Pedro Dominguez; they learned that The Trinity’s attack had destroyed the vehicle holding him.
• Enuratu explained that Pedro had taken over the Quetzalcoatl Cult, sought to awaken Quetzalcoatl, and gained enough support to drive her from the throne.
• Laura Croft asked about the Yakso corpses found in a cave, and Enuratu said the mysterious creatures had long lived near Paititi but she did not know why they attacked the cult’s soldiers.
• Supiluliumas assigned Amon to accompany Laura Croft in investigating the cult and searching for the Silver Casket, while he and Camila’s team prepared to fight alongside Enuratu’s warriors.
• Enuratu worried that her bow-wielding warriors could not face the cult’s firearms, and Supiluliumas promised to equip them with modern weapons.

Supiluliumas agreed to help Enuratu fight the Trinity and began preparing her warriors to use advanced weapons. Meanwhile, Amon took Laura Croft toward the Eye of the Giant Serpent and warned her about the dangers ahead.

• Supiluliumas and Camila assessed Enuratu's small guerrilla force, and Enuratu explained that Amaru had kept her alive to obtain Quetzalcoatl's secret.
• Enuratu agreed to work with Supiluliumas, who ordered weapons brought down from the gunboat and promised to train her warriors.
• Enuratu tested a Laser Carbine, and Supiluliumas explained its power and warned that a mortal could be injured by the Spear of the Garrison's recoil.
• Amon told Laura Croft that his lord had kept supernatural truths secret and said Laura would need to learn them because of her fate.
• Amon and Laura flew toward the Eye of the Giant Serpent as Amon prepared to deal with supernatural threats and told Laura to bring a gas mask.

Camila’s squad welcomed the surviving Martian Technician and sniper, while Enuratu’s warriors prepared to raid a Trinity depot. Meanwhile, Laura Croft and Amon searched the Eye of the Giant Serpent for the Silver Casket as increasingly strong earthquakes threatened Paititi.

• Enuratu prepared her warriors to raid a nearby Trinity ammunition depot and command post at dawn, while Camila’s exhausted squad rested.
• Camila and Enuratu met the Martian Technician and sniper, who arrived in a heavily damaged but operational Armored Personnel Carrier after escaping Trinity forces.
• The sniper explained that José’s body was missing and that the vehicle had been modified with smoke grenades to thwart missile locks; Camila welcomed the mechanic into the squad and promised to avenge José.
• Laura Croft and Amon explored the Eye of the Giant Serpent, where Laura found a silver snake-shaped artifact and discussed the ruin’s ancient water system and a worshipped Penguin Doll.
• Amon warned that earthquakes were growing stronger and moving toward Paititi, and urged Laura to find the Silver Casket while his master had only twenty-four hours free from official duties.

Supiluliumas spoke with Enuratu about Paititi’s leadership, her hopes for Etzli, and the Praetorian Guard’s plans to help fight the coming threat. After Laura Croft returned from exploring the Eye of the Giant Serpent, Amon reported that the Yaaxil guarded the place she was searching for.

• Enuratu told Supiluliumas that Amaru was controlled by the Quetzalcoatl Cult and explained that she hoped Etzli would inherit Paititi after the coming war.
• Enuratu described how her husband Seri had died while hunting during a famine, though she had never seen his body.
• Supiluliumas promised that his lord would send warriors and war machines to face the Feathered Serpent God and other threats.
• A mysterious figure appeared at the rebel camp around three in the morning, remained briefly, and vanished into motes of light.
• Laura Croft returned exhausted around four in the morning and fell asleep without noticing Supiluliumas and Amon speaking.
• Amon told Supiluliumas that the Yaaxil attacked him and Laura Croft at a cave near the Eye of the Giant Serpent, and he vowed to return and uncover what they guarded.

Supiluliumas received intelligence about the Emperor’s relief efforts in Cuba while Amon led Laura Croft to the Silver Casket through a cave filled with Yaaxil and Trinity mercenaries. Enuratu prepared to raid the Quetzalcoatl Cult with Supiluliumas, after meeting a mysterious cloaked figure who had arrived with two armored giants.

• Supiluliumas learned that the Emperor had arranged aid for Cuba, while the US Navy Fourth Fleet dealt with losses caused by the storm.
• Amon woke Laura Croft with a stimulant and escorted her into the Eye of the Giant Serpent, fighting Yaaxil while she searched for the Silver Casket.
• Amon sent Laura Croft through a narrow passage to retrieve the Silver Casket, then fought Yaaxil and Trinity mercenaries as they clashed in the cave.
• Enuratu led the tribal warriors through the rain-soaked forest toward a surprise attack on the Quetzalcoatl Cult.
• A mysterious cloaked figure introduced himself to Enuratu and said Supiluliumas would accompany the tribal warriors on their raid.

Enuratu accepted the mysterious figure’s proposal and prepared to face Amaru, while the Emperor of Latveria and T'Challa coordinated defenses against the coming threat of Kukulkan. The chapter ended with the Emperor calling Tony Stark to join the effort.

• Enuratu accepted the mysterious figure’s proposal after he steadied her, and Supiluliumas explained that ordinary humans could not easily face him.
• Enuratu insisted on joining the battle against Amaru to reclaim Paititi’s throne and learn the truth about the famine and Seri’s death.
• The Emperor of Latveria told T'Challa that Kukulkan might emerge as a catastrophic threat and outlined the preparations underway to contain it.
• T'Challa offered Wakanda’s modified Talon Fighters while warning that Wakanda could not provide more direct assistance yet.
• The Emperor of Latveria called Tony Stark and demanded that he come help defend the Earth.

Amon and Laura Croft fought through Trinity mercenaries until Nakia and the Dora Milaje arrived to help. Meanwhile, Supiluliumas led Latverian forces through the jungle, discovered signs of contamination among the Quetzalcoatl Cult followers, and ordered a bombardment as the Queen’s troops refused to retreat.

• Amon used his last rounds to cover Laura Croft as they coordinated an assault on Trinity’s machine-gun positions.
• Amon charged the mercenaries while Laura advanced under his grenade support, and the pair reached the cave exit.
• Nakia and the Dora Milaje arrived, and Nakia told Laura that the King wanted to speak with her and that Latveria’s Emperor was present.
• Supiluliumas led tribal warriors and Camila’s squad against Trinity mercenaries and Quetzalcoatl Cult followers.
• Supiluliumas found a strange feather and scale on a cult follower, ordered the forces to withdraw and begin bombardment, then called for laser guidance when the Queen’s troops would not retreat.

Supiluliumas and the Praetorian Guard destroyed the Quetzalcoatl Cult's defenses as the Emperor explained the Feathered Serpent God's spacetime effects and his plan to study them. The chapter ended with the Emperor introducing the battered Laura Croft to T'Chaka and Nakia by her aristocratic title.

• Camila guided missiles from the unmanned Hover Airship, and Supiluliumas led the Praetorian Guard through the burning fortifications to kill the surviving cultists.
• The Emperor explained to T'Chaka how the Feathered Serpent God might enter the Material Universe through a Lorentzian manifold and cause extreme gravitational effects.
• The Emperor said Tony Stark and Bruce Banner would obtain and interpret observational data through altered Spy Satellite security, while T'Challa suggested putting the threat back inside its model.
• Laura Croft washed up after the battle, and the Emperor introduced her to T'Chaka and Nakia as Lady Hensleigh, daughter of Lord Hensleigh.

Laura Croft explained that the Silver Casket and dagger could protect the person who awakened the Feathered Serpent God but could not prevent the catastrophe. Meanwhile, Nick Fury killed the owner of a London bridge club and planned to finish the job at the hospital, as Constantine's Hellfire Knights landed near the battlefield and prepared to advance.

• Laura Croft told T'Challa, Nakia, and the Emperor of Latveria that Amaru planned to awaken the Feathered Serpent God and destroy lands outside Paititi, and that the Silver Casket would not stop the disaster.
• The Emperor of Latveria warned T'Challa that Pedro Dominguez's mercenaries would not defect because they were bound to him and feared unemployment more than death.
• Nick Fury watched a London bridge club burn after his shaped-charge round ignited its gas pipes, killing the owner, and planned to finish his mission at the hospital.
• Aparajita landed with the Hellfire Knights' First and Second Companies in a forest clearing burned open by their weapons and challenged Constantine to fight.
• Constantine told Aparajita to prioritize the mission, then ordered the Hellfire Knights to advance and leave no survivors.

Enuratu watched the Praetorian Guard’s forces destroy The Trinity and the Quetzalcoatl Cult while Supiluliumas pursued a hidden mission. As reinforcements arrived and the battle quieted, Camila offered Enuratu rum, leaving them to face Paititi’s uncertain future together.

• Enuratu watched Supiluliumas protect tribal warriors while destroying enemy positions, and he warned her not to follow him into the land he intended to burn clean.
• After Supiluliumas left, Camila and her team held the route as reinforcements arrived in waves of Iron Birds and attacked the enemy.
• Enuratu steadied the frightened tribal warriors and told them the newcomers were there to help Paititi win the battle.
• Camila reflected that Paititi would lose control of its land and enter Latveria’s modern society, though she believed its future might improve.
• Camila offered Enuratu a little rum, and Enuratu accepted.

Supiluliumas, Constantine, and the Hellfire Knights assessed the aftermath of their swift assault on Trinity forces and the Yaaxil, while Hannibal captured the Yaaxil queen for questioning. T’Challa and the other observers witnessed the Knights’ overwhelming efficiency, and Constantine arranged for Wanda Maximoff and Kamar-Taj Arcanists to inspect the people of Paititi for contamination.

• Supiluliumas ended the battle in the cave and rejected Constantine’s suggestion of large-scale extermination, saying flamethrowers would suffice because Paititi’s people had not entered the area.
• Aparajita led Hellfire Knights First Company deeper into the region to eliminate scattered Trinity resistance.
• Hannibal captured the Yaaxil queen, and Supiluliumas recognized that her speech contained recognizable Quechua-like words and signs of a logical language.
• Constantine said Hannibal hoped to learn the truth of the place from the queen and appointed Wanda Maximoff and Kamar-Taj Arcanists to inspect Paititi for contamination.
• T’Challa and the Wakandans watched the five-minute battle, while Laura Croft stood beside the Emperor, shaken by the Knights’ display of force.

The Emperor questioned queen Yaaxil Chakchel, who explained the Yaaxil Tribe’s mission to guard Chakchel’s Dagger and Ischel’s Silver Casket and prevent Quetzalcoatl’s awakening. Chakchel accepted the Emperor’s purpose and let Laura Croft keep the Silver Casket, while the search for the Dagger continued.

• The Emperor told Laura Croft that his warriors were searching for Chakchel’s Dagger and returned her camera, teasing her about the penguin idol.
• Hannibal brought his captured spoils to Hammurabi and shared his discoveries with the Emperor.
• Queen Yaaxil Chakchel knelt before the Emperor and explained that Goddess Xquic had created the Yaaxil to guard the Dagger and Silver Casket until they could sacrifice Quetzalcoatl.
• The Emperor learned that the Yaaxil had hunted Laura Croft after she took the Silver Casket, and he explained the tribe’s mission to Laura and the Praetorian Guard.
• Laura offered to return the Silver Casket and apologize, but Chakchel let her keep it and said an oracle had revealed the Emperor’s purpose.

The Emperor investigated the meaning of queen Yaaxil Chakchel’s vision of him as Hun Hunahpu while protecting the Yaaxil Tribe and preparing to recover Chakchel’s Dagger. Constantine began a controlled siege of The Trinity’s stronghold, where the mercenaries and Quetzalcoatl Cult faced pressure to surrender.

• Constantine admitted that he did not know the full truth behind queen Yaaxil Chakchel’s oracle, while the Emperor recognized himself as Hun Hunahpu in her vision.
• The Emperor ordered Kamar-Taj to search for clues about the Goddess Xquic and Cuchumaquic, and queen Yaaxil gave ritual offerings to him, Amon, and Hammurabi.
• Laura Croft noticed the symbolism in queen Yaaxil’s gifts, and the Emperor gave the Yaaxil food before forbidding her from sending them into battle.
• Constantine ordered the Hellfire Knights to seal off the strongholds of The Trinity mercenaries and the Quetzalcoatl Cult, then used broadcasts to undermine their loyalty and demand Chakchel’s Dagger.
• Constantine restrained Aparajita from attacking immediately and told him to prepare for the Feathered Serpent God, reminding him that the Emperor wanted a soldier rather than a beast.

Aparajita and the Hellfire Knights prepared to attack Paititi as worsening weather and earthquakes disrupted their operations. Seismic reports revealed a vast, approaching threat, and Aparajita concluded that witchcraft was causing the disasters.

• Aparajita commanded the Hellfire Knights as they blockaded a nearby town, reinforced their position, and prepared supplies and defenses for the next offensive.
• Constantine reiterated the officers’ orders, while the Hellfire Knights used artillery, electromagnetic pulse bombs, and irritant gas to pressure Trinity mercenaries and the Quetzalcoatl Cult.
• Heavy rain and repeated earthquakes damaged roads and fortifications, forcing the engineers to clear rubble, improve drainage, and reinforce the command post.
• Aparajita studied seismic reports showing earthquakes spreading across Central America and the southern United States, with epicenters moving toward Paititi.
• Aparajita judged that the disasters exceeded the abilities of the previously encountered giant insect and concluded that witchcraft was responsible.

The Emperor used the Vatoum Conference to confront magical schools over the Feathered Serpent God crisis and announce strict Kamar-Taj oversight of dangerous magic. When the spellcasters began to resist, he declared Kamar-Taj would no longer tolerate their refusal and surrounded them with armed forces.

• The Emperor warned the gathered spellcasters that disasters like Tungurahua's eruption would continue and argued that humanity could not escape the coming threat by fleeing Earth.
• He said Kamar-Taj could defeat the Feathered Serpent God but had to preserve its strength for a greater danger, then challenged the schools over the harm caused by their experiments.
• The Emperor invoked the Sorcerer Supreme's authority to impose reviews and restrictions on Outer Dimensions experiments, explorations, and summonings.
• Spellcasters protested the restrictions, while Wanda Maximoff moved Laura Croft to safety and the Praetorian Guard prepared for trouble.
• Praetorian Guard members and the 1st Company, 7th Knight Squad entered Vatoum Temple and aimed their weapons at the wizards.
• The Emperor drew his blazing sword, revealed his armor, and told the gathered schools that Kamar-Taj was now a dictatorship.

The Emperor ordered the gathered wizards to separate those who supported his decision, but a wizard’s spirit entity attacked first and the temple erupted into battle. The Hellfire Knights fought through the wizards’ spells and creatures, while the Seventh Knight Captain destroyed the fire monster.

• The Emperor ordered supporters to lie along the sides of the hall as Hellfire Knight squads prepared their weapons.
• A wizard unleashed a purple flame creature and spectral hounds, and the Emperor shot the attacker as the creatures struck the defenders.
• The Hellfire Knights opened fire on wizards who opposed the Emperor, and magical attacks killed and wounded several soldiers.
• The tactical squads advanced through spells, snakes, and witchcraft, using guns and blades to crush their opponents.
• The Seventh Knight Captain charged the expanding flame monster, severed its charred limbs, and shot it in the head with his Plasma Handgun.

The Emperor crushed the Vatoum Council’s resistance, imposed Kamar-Taj oversight on the surviving magical schools, and ordered the Vatoum Temple burned. As the storm worsened around Enuratu’s rebel camp, the Hellfire Knights prepared to attack despite damage to their armored forces and uncertainty over the Emperor’s return.

• The Emperor’s forces killed more than one hundred and fifty resisting wizards in the Vatoum Temple while losing more than five men.
• The Emperor ordered the surviving Vatoum Council members to submit their schools, books, artifacts, and experiments to Kamar-Taj inspection and control.
• The Emperor’s soldiers drove the survivors from the temple and set the ancient building ablaze.
• Enuratu sheltered her gathered allies and San Juan residents in the rebel hall as the storm intensified.
• Aparajita prepared the Hellfire Knights for their planned offensive, knowing that worsening weather had already buried some vehicles and caused losses.