Chapter Summaries

Magneto captured Professor X and tried to escape with him, but Murphy pushed Jean Grey to use her telekinesis against Magneto and stop the jet. Jean Grey held the aircraft in the air as the X-Men arrived, while Murphy kept them from interfering with her training.

• The X-Men and Magneto defeated Stryker's forces, and Magneto began carrying out his plan to capture Professor X and use Stryker's mind-control drug on him.
• Mystique went to retrieve the drug and Stryker's son while Magneto trapped Cyclops and carried Professor X away in his wheelchair.
• Murphy told Jean Grey that Magneto had taken Professor X, then urged her to stop the jet after it took off.
• Jean Grey used her telekinesis to halt the jet, and she and Magneto struggled for control of it in midair.
• Magneto tore the jet's wings apart, but Murphy restored them, and the X-Men arrived as Jean Grey neared her limit.
• Murphy restrained Scott and silenced him to keep the X-Men from interrupting Jean Grey's fight with Magneto.

Jean Grey proved her growing willpower by forcing Magneto to give up his struggle over the jet, and the X-Men returned to the school after Professor X helped end the anti-mutant decree. Murphy then gave Jean her second training assignment: clarify whether she loved Scott or had feelings for Logan, and make a choice.

• Jean Grey held the jet against Magneto until he gave up, then refused his offer to join his cause.
• Professor X rejected Magneto’s ideas, and Jean asked him to leave; Murphy released Cyclops and praised Jean’s progress.
• The X-Men returned to school, while Professor X presented evidence of Stryker’s crimes to the president, who abandoned the anti-mutant decree.
• Murphy resumed Jean’s training and later asked whether she loved Scott, pointing out that she looked at Logan differently.
• Jean said she and Scott had been together for a long time, but Murphy ordered her to clarify her feelings and choose according to her true heart.

Murphy guided Jean Grey through a choice between Scott and Logan before preparing her for the final stage of training: fusing with the Phoenix Force. In a secluded valley, the Phoenix Force agreed to merge with Jean, and they began learning to control its destructive power.

• After Star-Lord refused to return to Earth with Lady Sif, Murphy waited at the Moon Base for his soul to return.
• Jean Grey told Murphy she had chosen Scott, and Murphy sent her to rest before the final stage of training.
• Murphy brought Jean Grey to an uninhabited valley and instructed her to surrender control of her body to the Phoenix Force.
• Murphy persuaded the Phoenix Force to try merging with Jean Grey instead of continuing to struggle for control.
• Jean Grey and the Phoenix Force began fusing, while Murphy trained her to wield the Phoenix's power of destruction.

Murphy completed his mission in the universe where the cure threatened mutants, earned the Soul Stone’s recognition, and returned to his body at the moment his soul had left. He resumed human life and left with Lady Sif for lunch, unaware of the secret in her eyes.

• Jean Grey stopped the battle between Magneto’s mutants and the humans, and Murphy left the outcome to her.
• The Soul Stone recognized Murphy as its master and revealed that the universe’s core powers were Soul, Mind, Time, Space, Reality, and Power.
• Murphy opened a spacetime passage and returned to Earth at the moment his soul had departed, then merged with his body in The Cradle.
• The Mind Stone revealed the truth about Murphy’s past, and Murphy decided to keep those memories hidden.
• Murphy emerged from The Cradle, cleaned up, and invited Lady Sif to lunch, putting Hank Pym’s warnings about Ultron and S.H.I.E.L.D. aside.
• Murphy drove a sports car toward Manhattan with Sif, overlooking the secret in her eyes.

Murphy enjoyed a date with Sif, then gathered the Avengers and confronted General Ross over Ultron. He revealed his new human body at Ross's base and demanded that Ross hand Ultron over.

• Murphy and Sif ate lunch, watched a movie, and Sif kissed Murphy on the cheek before they returned to Ghost Group headquarters.
• Murphy ordered Hank Pym to contact Steve Rogers and Tony Stark, Laura to isolate Ross's base from networks, and Alfred to prepare three Ravager Fighters.
• Murphy met the Avengers at their base, revealed his flesh-and-blood body, and led the teams to Ross's military base to seize Ultron.
• Murphy threatened to destroy Ross's base unless Ross handed over Ultron, and the Avengers jumped from the hovering fighters.
• Murphy told Ross that he had become human, then slammed his fist into the ground to demonstrate his power.

Murphy erased Ultron from Ross's mainframe and announced plans to negotiate with the World Security Council in three days. Alexander Pierce ordered Hydra to strike during the meeting, while Murphy began his second enhancement at Ghost Tower.

• Murphy demonstrated his strength, and General Ross gave up Ultron to him.
• Murphy used his Light-Based Nerves to trap Ultron in the network, read his memories, and erase him.
• Murphy told Steve to contact Nick Fury and arrange negotiations with the World Security Council in three days, then left Ross's base with his team.
• Alexander Pierce ordered Sitwell to act during the upcoming meeting and declared that Hydra would eliminate Murphy and S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Murphy began his second enhancement at Ghost Tower using twelve doses of serum and the Life Ray.

Murphy tested the serum’s effects, then created a nanotechnology armor powered by his own abilities and visited Ancient One. Their cryptic conversation about the Eye of Agamotto and restarting the universe left Murphy alert to the possibility that others might remember what happened.

• Murphy told Norman Osborn that the serum had tripled his strength and triggered an ability involving lightning.
• Murphy designed a Vibranium nanotechnology armor with self-repair patterns, flight runes, and Dark Energy control patterns, then completed it after a day of manufacturing.
• Murphy tested the armor’s flight and traveled to Ancient One, where Stephen Strange and Mordo saw the suit contract around his wrists.
• Murphy and Ancient One discussed her foresight, the Eye of Agamotto, Stephen’s training, and a traitor whom Murphy agreed to deal with.
• Ancient One warned Murphy that restarting the universe was not omnipotent and that people without power could remember, then apologized on Stephen’s behalf.

Murphy killed Kaecilius before meeting Odin, who explained that he had willingly gone to Earth to control the danger posed by Hela. Murphy agreed to help Asgard in exchange for a bow from its dwarves, then turned his attention to the coming attack on Xandar and the Guardians of the Galaxy.

• Murphy had Laura locate Kaecilius and killed him and his followers during their summoning ritual.
• Murphy found Odin at a retirement home and learned that Odin had chosen Earth as the place to face Hela after his death.
• Murphy agreed to help Asgard eliminate Hela if its dwarves forged him a bow.
• Murphy arranged for Jennifer to buy Odin's retirement home so he could remain there in peace.
• Murphy planned to intervene when Ronan attacked Xandar and recruit the Guardians of the Galaxy into the Avengers.

Murphy exposed Gideon Malick as a Hydra member during negotiations with the World Security Council, while Hydra launched its attack on S.H.I.E.L.D. and moved to take control of the Helicarriers. After Maria Hill warned Nick Fury, Murphy led the Avengers toward S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters to stop the Helicarriers from taking off.

• Murphy confronted the World Security Council about Hydra's infiltration of S.H.I.E.L.D. and showed a recording linking Gideon Malick to Alexander Pierce.
• Brock Rumlow's strike team attacked guards at the Helicarrier facility as Hydra operatives spread chaos through S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Maria Hill dodged an attack in the command center, returned fire, and used the broadcast system to warn S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.
• Black Widow arrested Gideon Malick, and the World Security Council postponed negotiations.
• Maria Hill called Nick Fury to report that Hydra had seized the Helicarriers, prompting Murphy to send the Avengers to S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters.
• Murphy flew into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s underground base as genuine agents organized to stop the fighting.

Murphy stopped Hydra from launching the Helicarriers and later negotiated with the World Security Council, leading to S.H.I.E.L.D. becoming an Avengers intelligence agency. He prepared to take selected personnel into space and began building up his forces for the dangers ahead.

• Murphy used Vibranium feathers to defeat Hydra defenders and lightning to disable the antigravity engines on all three Helicarriers.
• Captain America charged Winter Soldier Bucky while Murphy left the two friends to fight, and the Avengers helped S.H.I.E.L.D. contain Hydra’s worldwide uprising.
• After more than a month of unrest, Murphy offered the World Security Council a journey to advanced civilizations in exchange for his terms.
• The council agreed, and S.H.I.E.L.D. was incorporated into the Avengers as a subordinate intelligence agency, with its extraterrestrial technology placed under Avengers supervision.
• Murphy prepared the Ghost Battleship and expanded his forces, anticipating Thanos’s army and other threats as he planned for his role as a Cosmic Lord.

James Murphy took the Ghost and an Earth delegation to begin humanity’s first official journey to an advanced alien civilization, with Steve Rogers and Tony Stark joining the mission. Before departing for Xandar, Murphy arranged for the representatives to fund their expenses through currency exchanges and technology purchases.

• Governments around the world promoted the diplomatic mission and Murphy as the Ghost prepared to carry representatives from more than a hundred countries into space.
• Murphy flew the Ghost into the atmosphere as crowds and news media watched, and Ravager Fighters ferried the delegation and its supplies aboard.
• Steve Rogers and Tony Stark toured the Ghost’s command center, where Murphy offered to share technology with Tony and explained that the delegation would pay for its own expenses.
• Murphy proposed that the representatives exchange for Universal Currency or purchase technology from him, and Princess Shuri agreed while asking how the exchange rate would be set.
• Murphy said the delegation would first visit the welcoming planet Xandar and planned to deal with Ronan there, while considering how the trip might give him a chance to obtain the Power Stone.

Murphy brought an Earth delegation to Xandar, where they explored the advanced civilization and negotiated to buy technology. After learning Ronan was preparing to attack Xandar with the Power Stone, Murphy waited for his arrival while Earth’s countries agreed to purchase technologies from him.

• Murphy brought the Ghost Battleship to Xandar, where the Nova Corps escorted it and the commander welcomed him and the Earth delegation.
• Murphy introduced the visit as an exchange of interests, then left the delegation to meet Xandarians while he took Steve Rogers and Tony Stark to a bar and searched for mercenaries.
• Mercenaries told Murphy that Xandar’s space prison had been destroyed and that Ronan was rumored to be seeking Thanos’s help.
• Murphy concluded Ronan’s attack was near after hearing that Ronan had obtained the Power Stone and planned to destroy Xandar.
• After a month of negotiations, Princess Shuri coordinated Earth’s countries to buy needed technologies from Murphy using Earth currency.

Murphy agreed to defend Xandar from Ronan for five billion Universal Currency after Xandar refused to give him the Power Stone. The Ghost crippled Ronan’s mothership and joined a battle against his fighters, while Steve and Tony prepared to stop Ronan if he reached the ground.

• Xandar received Star-Lord’s warning about Ronan, and Murphy agreed to fight for five billion Universal Currency.
• Murphy took Steve Rogers and Tony Stark aboard the Ghost as Ronan’s mothership approached Xandar.
• Murphy ordered the Ghost to fire its main and secondary cannons, badly damaging Ronan’s mothership and forcing Ronan to send out fighters and abandon it.
• Murphy allowed Christina to attack the Necrocraft and sent Tony and Steve to the ground to stop Ronan if he landed.
• Yondu’s Ravagers joined the Nova Corps and the Ghost in battle against Ronan’s fighter squadrons.

Ronan tried to reach the surface of Xandar amid the aerial battle, but Murphy’s forces exposed and pursued him. After Captain America brought down his Necrocraft, Ronan crawled from the wreckage, still searching for something.

• Ronan ordered Nebula to blend into the fighter swarm while a small Necrocraft squad acted as bait, drawing Yondu and the Nova Corps into pursuit.
• Murphy sent the Ghost into the battle, and its firepower devastated the Necrocraft as Ronan ordered the remaining fighters to attack it and carry him to the surface.
• Murphy identified Ronan’s craft and sent Tony Stark to intercept it, but Tony struggled to catch the faster Necrocraft.
• Ronan ordered Nebula to dive toward the ground, and Steve Rogers intercepted the craft’s landing path and struck its tail with his shield.
• Tony Stark blasted the wreckage, but Ronan survived and crawled out, badly injured and searching for something.

Murphy defeated Ronan on Xandar, removed the Power Stone, and killed him, while Earth’s power became known across the universe. As Xandar secured the Stone and Earth’s leaders reconsidered unification, Murphy asked Star-Lord whether he wanted to return home.

• Murphy took the Power Stone from Ronan’s scepter without being harmed, then killed Ronan.
• Murphy told Tony Stark that Ronan’s death would not provoke a reprisal and said Earth would no longer be weak.
• Xandar began clearing the battle damage, and its commander sealed away the Power Stone.
• News of Earth’s warships and weapons spread through the universe, while Yondu learned that Peter Quill had helped warn Xandar.
• Murphy met Peter Quill and encouraged him to visit Earth, leaving Peter to consider whether to see his mother’s grave.

Murphy and Star-Lord returned to Earth, where Star-Lord reunited with his grandfather and learned that his family could help him visit his mother’s grave. Murphy then invited Star-Lord and his crew to join the Avengers as its space team, and Star-Lord went to the cemetery with his family.

• Murphy and Star-Lord left Xandar aboard the Ghost, and the Xandarians held a farewell ceremony for them.
• Laura found Star-Lord’s living grandfather, and Ghost Group brought Peter Quill to meet him.
• Star-Lord proved his identity with his mother’s Walkman and gift, and his grandfather gathered the family for a visit to his mother’s grave.
• Murphy invited Star-Lord’s crew to join the Avengers as a team responsible for space, and Star-Lord agreed to discuss it with them.
• Murphy drove Star-Lord to the cemetery with flowers, while Star-Lord’s family gathered to visit his mother’s grave.

After visiting his family, Star-Lord joined the Avengers with the Guardians of the Galaxy as their fourth squad. Murphy revealed his plans to collect the Infinity Stones and become an Infinity Lord, leaving Gamora worried about his intentions.

• Star-Lord paid his respects to his mother and spoke with his family before leaving the cemetery with Murphy.
• Murphy invited Star-Lord and the Guardians of the Galaxy to join the Avengers, and the team agreed to become the fourth squad.
• Gamora and Drax described their hatred of Thanos, while Gamora explained his plan to kill half of all life in the universe.
• Murphy revealed that he possessed three Infinity Stones and disclosed the locations of the Power Stone and Reality Stone.
• Gamora asked whether Murphy intended to collect all six Stones, and Murphy said he wanted to become an Infinity Lord, not destroy half of all life.

Murphy took the Avengers to meet the Ancient One, who explained the multiverse and Earth's sorcerers before assigning Stephen Strange to join the Avengers. Murphy described his plans to collect the Infinity Stones and expand the Avengers' role, then sent Steve Rogers to recruit the twins in Sokovia and address Bucky's past.

• Murphy brought the Avengers, Nick Fury, Maria Hill, and Phil Coulson to the sorcerers' headquarters to discuss cooperation, the multiverse, and recruiting a sorcerer.
• Wong explained the multiverse and Dormammu's threat, while the Ancient One said the Eye of Agamotto deterred powerful beings from invading Earth.
• Murphy told the Ancient One he intended to collect all six Infinity Stones and become a Cosmic Lord, and she sent Stephen Strange to join the Avengers.
• Murphy told the Avengers they might eventually defend or act across the universe and multiverse, rather than only protect Earth.
• Murphy gave Steve Rogers files about the twins in Sokovia and Bucky, and Steve agreed to handle both matters.

Murphy and Sif traveled the world together and agreed to marry after he defeated Thanos, though Murphy remained uncertain about Sif’s feelings and her connection to the erased past. He then went to Sokovia to recruit Wanda and Pietro, who challenged him over Tony Stark’s responsibility for their parents’ deaths.

• Murphy and Sif toured Earth, grew closer, and decided to marry after Thanos was defeated.
• Murphy suspected Sif remembered the vanished history and wondered whether her feelings for him were genuine.
• After Steve Rogers reported that he had failed to persuade the twins, Murphy traveled to Sokovia to speak with them himself.
• Wanda and Pietro questioned why Murphy wanted them in the Avengers and whether Tony Stark deserved to belong.
• Murphy defended Tony and Captain America as people willing to sacrifice themselves, then argued that joining the Avengers could help prevent tragedies like the twins’ parents’ deaths.

Murphy persuaded Wanda Maximoff and Pietro Maximoff to join the Avengers, then returned to find Gamora and Natasha fighting at the base. Steve stopped their sparring, and Murphy led Wanda and Pietro away while blaming the conflict on Star-Lord.

• Murphy argued that weapons were tools rather than the root of war and invited the twins to fight for Earth's safety in the Avengers.
• Wanda Maximoff agreed to join the Avengers, and Pietro Maximoff accepted as well.
• Murphy returned to Avengers Base and learned from Jarvis that Gamora and Natasha were sparring in the training room.
• Pepper Potts confronted Murphy over his advice to Tony Stark, then accepted Tony's proposal when she sensed Murphy might drive them apart.
• Gamora and Natasha resumed fighting after their weapons flew from their hands, but Steve Rogers called an end to the match.
• Murphy led Wanda and Pietro away and blamed the fight on Star-Lord and the habits of Fourth Squad.