Chapter Summaries

At lunch, Rosa teased Bayonetta and Jeanne about the Emperor’s elaborate security measures and their affection for him. After speaking with the Emperor about Kamar-Taj and their past, Balder offered him a divine Sage Clan weapon in exchange for a blood oath.

• Rosa joined Bayonetta, Jeanne, and Milia for lunch and questioned why the Emperor and other men had kept them waiting.
• Rosa commented on the manor’s military defenses and teased Bayonetta and Jeanne for allowing the Emperor to protect them.
• The Emperor and Balder arrived together after discussing Artificial Humans, alchemy, and Balder’s plans to study modern science.
• Balder asked the Emperor how he had met Bayonetta, and the Emperor explained that Kamar-Taj had taken the witches’ and Sage Clan’s legacies for sorting.
• Balder offered the Emperor a divine double-bladed spear called the Moon Wolf Sacred Spear, on condition that they swear a blood oath.

The Emperor joined the Witches’ barbecue party and discussed Latveria’s nuclear dispute with his Praetorian Guards. He ordered a secret contact with Ruby, but assigned Amon to go in his place.

• Dinah explained how the kitchen had prepared a huge barbecue spread to meet Rosa’s appetite.
• The Emperor shared barbecue and beer with Balder, while Rosa persuaded Balder to tell her how he had met Bayonetta.
• The Emperor said Victor von Doom could handle the International Atomic Energy Agency’s attempt to inspect Latveria’s fusion reactor.
• Constantine relayed Supiluliumas’s suggestion to strengthen Ruby’s resolve, and the Emperor ordered Stephanie to activate the secret contact route.
• When Hammurabi asked whether the Emperor would go personally, the Emperor appointed Amon as the messenger.

Amon and Stephanie Malik flew through flood-ravaged Florida toward a military base to contact Ruby Hale and draw out Kree soldiers tracked by Kamar-Taj. The operation depended on Stephanie’s family removing General Hale’s loyalists, while Amon prepared to take Ruby by force if their approach was exposed.

• Amon surveyed the flooded city from the Eraser fighter and ordered the pilot to turn off the searchlight and climb to avoid raising false hopes or attracting patrols.
• Stephanie Malik explained that Ruby Hale might remain attached to the possibilities opened by meeting Amon’s master, despite the consequences of her choices.
• Amon warned Stephanie that a firefight with General Hale’s Hydra-loyal soldiers would expose their attempt to reach Ruby and force them to abduct her.
• Amon’s briefing revealed that Kamar-Taj had tracked the Kree outpost through signals from General Hale’s crude communication device and planned to lure its soldiers to Earth and eliminate them.
• Stephanie urged Amon to trust the Malik family and suggested his role as an envoy would bring him into closer contact with ordinary people.

Stephanie Malik and Amon entered the Hydra base under her authority and made their way to the training center to meet its only trainee. Ruby awoke from a vivid fantasy to find Stephanie and Amon at her door, with Stephanie declaring that Ruby’s master had something to tell her.

• Stephanie Malik used her Hydra clearance code to stop the base’s anti-aircraft weapons and landed with Amon at the military base.
• Major Arkham demanded identification, but Stephanie revealed her Hydra allegiance and persuaded him to escort them to the training center.
• Stephanie told Major Arkham that Amon was a top-secret Hydra product and that they had come to see the base’s only trainee.
• Ruby woke from a dream and realized she remained imprisoned in the training facility.
• Stephanie entered Ruby’s room with Amon and told her that her master had something to say.

Stephanie Malik and Amon found Ruby Hale in her room and told her that the man who had given her a knife and pistol was her master, who had a mission for her. Ruby received a ruby pendant containing a hidden receiver and was left to decide whether to accept a mission that would require her to shed blood.

• Ruby Hale confronted Stephanie Malik and Amon with a knife and reached for her pistol when they entered her room.
• Stephanie told Ruby that the man who had given her the weapons was her master and that they had brought her a mission.
• Stephanie explained to Amon that Hydra's adolescent training camp had produced influential figures, while Dr. Whitehall's greed and mortality had contributed to Radical Hydra's decline.
• Amon said they would simply announce the order, and revealed his Golden Power Armor as he prepared to address Ruby.
• Ruby accepted the ruby pendant and learned that it contained a miniature receiver she had previously hidden away.
• Stephanie warned Ruby that the mission would test her worth and leave her hands stained with blood, and Ruby considered whether to accept it.

Stephanie Malik and Amon persuaded Ruby to accept a secret mission to gather intelligence on General Hale’s dealings with the Kree. Ruby agreed in exchange for rewards and help leaving the base, and Amon promised the Emperor would meet with her and her mother after the mission.

• Stephanie Malik gave Ruby a pendant from the Emperor, and Amon asked her to swear she would oppose anyone betraying humanity, even her mother.
• Amon used Ruby’s genetic information to seal a scroll containing the mission, which accused General Hale of selling out humanity to the Kree.
• Ruby questioned why they could not warn General Hale, and Stephanie explained that the Kree’s intelligence was useful despite their deception.
• Ruby agreed to send intelligence through the pendant and demanded a way out of the base, assistance, and a forward-swept-wing fighter jet as payment.
• Stephanie accepted Ruby’s terms, and Amon said the Emperor would meet Ruby and General Hale after the mission.

Amon and Stephanie Malik secured access to the base’s communications, but their disagreement over Stephanie’s deception of Ruby made Amon suspect the Malik family’s loyalty. Back at Oxfordshire Manor, Constantine urged the Emperor to tighten control over Conservative Hydra families by educating their heirs in Latveria.

• Stephanie Malik locked Ruby in her bedroom while Amon implanted backdoor software in the base’s systems and altered its operation logs.
• Amon challenged Stephanie for deceiving Ruby into accepting the mission, and Stephanie defended her lies as necessary to secure Ruby’s cooperation.
• Amon argued that the Emperor’s concealments involved dangerous information rather than trivial lies, while Stephanie questioned whether Amon truly knew the Emperor’s intentions.
• Amon decided to negotiate with the base’s soldiers alongside Stephanie and considered raising the priority of contingency plans against the Malik family.
• At Oxfordshire Manor, Constantine reviewed Amon’s report and warned the Emperor that Conservative Hydra might demand greater benefits as the crisis eased.
• Constantine proposed purging Conservative Hydra families down to one heir each and educating every heir in Latveria to ensure their submission.

The Emperor explained how to divide Conservative Hydra families and use their rivalries to strengthen his allies. Meanwhile, Kamar-Taj arcanists assessed the danger beyond the Silver Stone Gate and feared that opening it could invite predators from the Outer Dimensions.

• The Emperor told Constantine, Hammurabi, and Balder that Conservative Hydra’s hidden bloodlines made its heirs impossible to eliminate, and that the Malik and List families had been elevated to undermine the other families.
• Constantine agreed that the Malik family’s purge had broken the Conservative Hydra faction’s trust, while the Emperor planned to encourage further divisions through Stephanie and Gideon Malick.
• Constantine departed for Latveria with supplies for Victor von Doom and Diana List, while continuing his military campaign against extremist terrorists.
• Laura Croft, Wanda Maximoff, and Kamar-Taj arcanists assembled a mythological account of Queen Yaaxil’s legends and assessed the threats connected to them.
• The Kamar-Taj arcanists concluded that the Silver Stone Gate might lead beyond the real universe and attract supernatural predators, leaving them fearful of what waited behind it.

As Kamar-Taj and the Praetorian Guard prepared to open the Silver Stone Gate, Wanda Maximoff told Laura Croft about her dangerous past encounters with supernatural threats and her teacher’s power. The gate-opening ritual was only hours away, and Wanda did not know whether her teacher would appear.

• Kamar-Taj sent more Arcanists to help Mordo and Supiluliumas supervise protective formations and consecrate weapons while Queen Yaaxil remained under watch.
• Supiluliumas arranged for the Yaaxil people and their supplies to return to the surface, but he did not prioritize Queen Yaaxil’s request to see the Emperor.
• The Praetorian Guard arranged for a light rail line to carry heavy weapons underground because widening the passages for Main Battle Tanks would take too long.
• Wanda Maximoff reassured Laura Croft that they had to open the stone gate and deal with whatever lay beyond it, while Laura asked whether they could withstand the danger.
• Wanda recounted past encounters with supernatural beings and praised her teacher’s abilities, then admitted she did not know whether he would join the coming ritual.

Victor von Doom instructed Stephanie Malik to prepare Latveria to demand custody and local trials for Yugoslav war criminals, warning that the dispute could escalate into conflict with NATO. He authorized Stephanie to read a classified dossier about an operation in Peru, revealing that the Emperor’s greater concerns lay beyond Latveria’s political struggle.

• Victor von Doom said Karadžić and Slobodan Praljak had to face trials in Latveria and ordered officials to pursue custody of the war criminals.
• Victor von Doom directed Stephanie Malik to organize a press conference, expand the war-crimes court, revise the laws, and coordinate with judges.
• Victor von Doom said the First Secret Regiment would retrieve suspects and warned that Latveria would launch nuclear war if NATO intervened in Kosovo.
• Stephanie Malik agreed to coordinate the departments, then asked whether the Emperor would personally confront the international backlash.
• Victor von Doom told Stephanie that the Emperor valued her more than the Malik family and authorized her to read the classified information on a storage chip.

The Silver Stone Gate’s Outer Dimensions energy surged as a supernatural insect swarm attacked the underground defenses in Peru. Laura Croft reached a firing position while Wanda Maximoff, Supiluliumas, and the Kamar-Taj Arcanists confronted the gate, which opened and spilled dark crimson blood.

• Victor von Doom urged the Emperor to travel to Peru as the Silver Stone Gate’s threat increased, while the Regent doubted Kamar-Taj’s ability to handle it.
• Supiluliumas ordered the defensive line to retreat as the Kamar-Taj Arcanists’ magic array contained the rising pressure, and Laura Croft woke to an evacuation alarm and a glowing warning amulet.
• A supernatural insect swarm poured into the cavern, and First Secret Regiment soldiers and defense platforms burned it back as Laura Croft escaped to the safety line.
• Laura Croft took a .50-caliber anti-materiel sniper rifle to Delta 3 Defense Platform and observed Wanda Maximoff and Supiluliumas standing beside the Silver Stone Gate.
• The Arcanists’ incantations accompanied the gate opening a narrow crack, from which dark crimson blood flowed as an incomprehensible voice sounded.
• Supiluliumas activated the Spear of the Garrison and aimed it at the Silver Stone Gate.

Laura Croft and the defenders fought a blood tide and the bone reefs it carried while Wanda Maximoff and the Kamar-Taj Arcanists struggled to contain the tear behind the Silver Stone Gate. The chapter ended as Mordo attempted to seal the scar and the defenders fired on creatures emerging through the gate.

• Laura Croft and the First Secret Regiment retreated to the Beta Defense Works as the blood tide and black beetles overwhelmed the first defensive line.
• Laura Croft confirmed that the reefs in the tide were made of human remains, and the defense platforms opened fire on them.
• Wanda Maximoff struck the enormous eye beyond the Silver Stone Gate with crimson lightning, making it disappear.
• Praetorian Guard Supiluliumas killed malformed creatures and an Arcanist whose ears had sprouted tentacles while monitoring Wanda Maximoff.
• Mordo led the Kamar-Taj Arcanists in an attempt to seal the spacetime scar as creatures stirred behind the gate.
• Praetorian Guard Supiluliumas called out firing coordinates, and the officer ordered the Laser Cannons to fire and sent soldiers to retrieve the primitives.

Queen Yaaxil led her people across the blood tide toward the stone gate, prompting Laura Croft to plead for their lives while the First Secret Regiment prepared to stop them. Supiluliumas ordered the soldiers to let the queen reach him because he needed her Obsidian Spear.

• Queen Yaaxil led the Yaaxil Tribe down from the sandbags and across the blood-soaked bones toward the stone gate.
• Laura Croft warned the Yaaxil about the blood tide, but a First Secret Regiment marksman shot one of them as Queen Yaaxil leapt down.
• Laura Croft persuaded the captain to give her three minutes to learn Queen Yaaxil's intentions, while he ordered his troops to keep the tribe under lethal watch.
• Supiluliumas fought the transformed Extra-dimensional Beings before the Shield of Seraphim and ordered his forces not to stop Queen Yaaxil.
• Supiluliumas told the knights to bring jump packs and ammunition, then urged them to fight for humanity.

The Imperial Guard and knights held the Silver Stone Gate while Mordo and the Arcanists tried to repair the Spacetime Structure Wound. After Supiluliumas stopped Mordo from attacking Wanda Maximoff, the Emperor took over the spell and removed Mordo from his position.

• The knights descended through the smoke and helped the Imperial Guard hold the area before the Silver Stone Gate.
• Mordo directed the Arcanists as they worked to repair the Spacetime Structure Wound while the Imperial Guard and Wanda Maximoff fought the creatures beyond the gate.
• Supiluliumas noticed Mordo aiming a spell at Wanda Maximoff and warned him to resist the malice affecting his mind.
• Laura Croft pursued Queen Yaaxil through the corpse reefs as Yaaxil led her people toward the Silver Stone Gate.
• The Emperor took control of the spell, told Mordo to return to Kamar-Taj for further study, and appointed Master Hamir to take over his position.

The Emperor sealed the Silver Stone Gate and entered it with Queen Yaaxil and her people, leaving Wanda Maximoff and Laura Croft behind. After the gate collapsed, Wanda concluded that the Emperor had gone to Kamar-Taj, where another Spacetime Structure Wound existed.

• The Emperor used golden chains to force the Silver Stone Gate to close while Queen Yaaxil and Laura Croft crossed a blood bridge to reach him.
• The Emperor thanked the knights, then led Queen Yaaxil, the Praetorian Guard, and the Yaaxil people through the gate despite Wanda Maximoff's objections.
• The gate slammed shut after the group passed through, and its slabs collapsed as the monsters, blood tide, and Bone Reefs vanished or changed.
• Wanda Maximoff told Laura Croft that the Emperor had left her behind, and the knight officer said he had encountered similar enemies but not a Spacetime Structure Wound.
• Wanda Maximoff realized that the Emperor was likely at Kamar-Taj, where he had told her a stable Spacetime Structure Wound was hidden beneath the mountain.

Master Wong rushed Stephen Strange from the library to assist with an emergency operation on the badly wounded Praetorian Guard Supiluliumas. The Emperor prepared to lead the surgery and demanded Stephen’s creativity as his assistant.

• Master Wong summoned Stephen Strange from the library and told him to study medical files during their urgent trip.
• A Praetorian Guard gave Stephen a detailed model and diagnostic information about an unfamiliar organ, then ordered him aboard the Eraser Fighter Jet.
• The Emperor carried the gravely injured Supiluliumas into a prepared operating chamber, determined not to let him die.
• The Emperor appointed Stephen as his surgical assistant and explained that he needed Stephen’s creative judgment because the automated surgical robot was unavailable.

The Emperor operated on the critically injured Supiluliumas with Mary monitoring his vital signs and Stephen Strange assisting with the surgical machinery. Wanda Maximoff and Laura Croft arrived at Kamar-Taj, where they learned the Emperor had returned but could not meet with them.

• Mary told the Emperor that spare organs selected by Ms. Maya Hansen were ready and explained how they could become Supiluliumas's true organs.
• The Emperor began operating on Supiluliumas and ordered Mary to monitor his vital signs and prepare enough meningeal anesthesia.
• Stephen Strange panicked at the unfamiliar operating room until the Emperor ordered him to assist with the nerve sutures, and Stephen began operating the surgical controls.
• The Emperor explained that one of Supiluliumas's organs filtered toxins and broke down genomes, then told Stephen to focus on the operation.
• Wanda Maximoff and Laura Croft arrived at Kamar-Taj, while Mordo returned with the exhausted Arcanists and went to his room.
• A Praetorian Guard jailer told Wanda Maximoff that the Emperor had returned but had no time to see her or anyone else.

After Supiluliumas survived a nearly fatal operation, the Emperor struggled with anger over what he had learned beyond the Silver Stone Gate and buried himself in government and military decisions. He finally told Bayonetta and Jeanne about the revelation, and they urged him to heed the Venerable One’s warning not to share it further.

• Dinah tended to the Emperor’s bloodied hand as he brooded over Supiluliumas’s injuries and the Yaaxil people’s passage into the underworld.
• The Emperor recalled that higher-dimensional entities had revealed shocking information, but told Laura Croft only that the Yaaxil were naturally evolved humans and Goddess Xquic was not a deity.
• He calmed himself by reviewing political, economic, and military matters, then ordered a pork chop and whiskey to be brought to the study.
• After dinner, the Emperor told Bayonetta and Jeanne what he had seen and heard beyond the Silver Stone Gate.
• Jeanne advised the Emperor to obey the Venerable One’s prohibition against revealing the information, and offered to comfort him with Bayonetta.

The Emperor visited the recovering Supiluliumas and spoke with Stephen Strange, who noticed his hands had steadied after the surgery. At Kamar-Taj, the Emperor discussed Mordo and plans to bring Earth’s magical schools into order, then showed Laura Croft a Pallas’s Cat and described his ability to communicate with animals.

• Hammurabi told the Emperor that Supiluliumas was improving after Gene Alchemy and the Emperor’s Gene Code helped him survive.
• Stephen Strange woke after the operation, ate the meal the Emperor had brought, and asked why his hands had become steadier; the Emperor told him to seek the answer in his dreams.
• Master Hamir warned the Emperor that Mordo had isolated himself and urged him not to waste Mordo’s talent, while the Emperor explained that the Praetorian Guard was monitoring him and that magical schools needed to be brought into order.
• Laura Croft explored Kamar-Taj’s wildlife with Wanda Maximoff and listened as the Emperor described his dream of becoming a wildlife biologist and his ability to communicate with animals.
• The Emperor gave Laura Croft a Pallas’s Cat, and she challenged him for using stories to persuade people.

The Emperor explained to Laura Croft how fixed outcomes could still allow people to shape their fates, then promised to introduce her to Athena. He told Wanda that the coming time jump was tied to the Sorcerer Supreme’s death and his destined battle with Shuma-Gorath, and urged her to prepare for battle.

• Laura Croft challenged the Emperor about Kitezh, Jacob, and whether his plans denied free will, and he explained how people could choose how to fulfill their fates.
• The Emperor showed Laura two possible versions of Wanda’s life and praised the people of Latveria for reclaiming their destinies.
• The Emperor promised to introduce Laura to Athena and preserve her archaeological work for the future.
• The Emperor told Wanda that the Sorcerer Supreme knew of the prophecy and that he had to let events proceed to defeat Shuma-Gorath.
• The Emperor told Wanda that they were already part of the coming fate and instructed her to prepare for battle.