Chapter Summaries

Joe West and the Central City officers confronted Clyde Matton, a metahuman who controlled the wind and lightning, but a mysterious group intervened as his tornado began lifting their cars. The Superpowered Guard Team shielded the officers and announced the start of their operation.

• Joe West and his officers tracked bank robber Clyde Matton to an abandoned farm after a witness captured his face and license plate.
• Clyde used powerful gusts to disarm and scatter the officers, then formed a tornado that trapped them in their police cars.
• The tornado lifted the police cars, leaving Joe and the other officers fearing they would be swept away.
• Nine masked members of the Superpowered Guard Team arrived, and a helmeted woman raised a protective barrier around the officers and their cars.
• A man announced that the Superpowered Guard Team's operation had begun.

Dilos coordinated the Superpowered Guard Team in their first battle against Clyde-Marton, turning his fire tornado into an opening for a team attack. Shadowcat knocked Clyde-Marton unconscious, securing the team’s victory.

• Pyro John turned Clyde-Marton’s tornado into a fire tornado, but Clyde-Marton broke through his limits and sent a massive wave of flames toward the team.
• Dilos used psychic suggestions and telepathy to rally the rookies, directing Pyro to hold back the flames while Bender-Kate, Ice Girl Kuya-Tas, Colossus Piotr, and Smith prepared ice projectiles.
• Colossus Piotr and Smith hurled ice blocks at Clyde-Marton, forcing him to dodge and weakening his control over the wind.
• Dilos signaled Cecilia to teleport Shadowcat Kitty above Clyde-Marton, and Shadowcat slammed him to the ground and knocked him unconscious.

After the team’s first mission, Dilos praised the young Mutants for working together and encouraged them to believe in their abilities. The team celebrated around him, united in their resolve to become a hero team.

• Dilos sent the team back to S.T.A.R. Labs after they defeated Clyde Martin and stopped his tornado.
• John bragged about holding Clyde Martin back, but Kitty, Bender, Piotr, Kuya Tas, and Cecilia reminded him that the victory had come through teamwork.
• Dilos credited the team’s cooperation and praised John for overcoming his fear and taking the lead.
• Dilos told the team members they had performed well, acknowledged their doubts about their powers, and called them heroes.
• Dilos promised to help them grow stronger and support one another, and the team crowded around him cheering.

Barry Allen asked to join Dilos’s hero team, but Dilos refused because Barry lacked control of his powers and his ideals conflicted with Dilos’s interests. Barry left S.T.A.R. Labs to act alone, while Dilos explained to Cisco and Caitlin why he believed Barry would be a liability to the team.

• Barry asked Dilos to let him join the team and offered to help while its members trained.
• Dilos rejected Barry, arguing that the police should seek proper resources to handle superpowered crime instead of relying on vigilantes.
• Barry appealed to Cisco and Caitlin, but Dilos said they were his employees and barred them from helping.
• Barry left S.T.A.R. Labs in a burst of yellow lightning and said he would act on his own.
• Dilos told Cisco and Caitlin that Barry’s selfless ideals and narrow perspective made him unsuitable for the team.

Jean Grey’s uncontrolled powers injured Scott and drew Charles into her dream, where he encountered Dark Phoenix and a figure resembling Dilos. Charles was left confronting the two figures inside Jean’s crimson nightmare.

• Jean’s powers shook the Mutant school, injured Scott, and began breaking apart the room around her.
• Charles dispersed Jean’s telekinesis, caught Scott, and ordered Blink, Ororo, and Logan to take him to the infirmary for Dilos’s medicine.
• Charles tried to awaken Jean through psychic resonance, but her mind shield and psychic attacks resisted him.
• Charles used his full power, broke through Jean’s psychic shield, and entered her dream.
• Charles saw Dark Phoenix in the ruined, crimson world and recognized the dangerous figure opposite her as Dilos.

After Jean woke from a vivid apocalyptic dream, Charles reassured her and repaired cracks in the mental prison containing the Dark Phoenix. The strange images from the dream left Charles wondering whether they had been more than a dream as he went to check on Scott.

• Dilos's roar overwhelmed Charles in the dream, and a flood of images sent him into unbearable pain before he and Jean woke in her room.
• Jean told Charles she had dreamed of the world's end and feared a dark force in her mind would make her lose control.
• Charles comforted Jean by comparing her experience to his own, and she fell asleep peacefully.
• Charles checked Jean's mental prison, found cracks forming, and used his powers to repair and reinforce it.
• Charles recalled chaotic visions of heroes, destruction, X-Mansion residents, and Dilos appearing in different outcomes, then left to check on Scott.

Dilos put his hero team through a month of punishing training, sharply improving their combat skills and control of their powers. Afterward, Qin Jiayin confronted him over his harsh treatment, but accepted his explanation and left their future reconciliation up to his performance.

• Dilos drove John, Piotr, Smith, Bender, Kuya, Kitty, Cecilia, and Qin Jiayin through demanding combat drills and criticized their mistakes.
• After the team protested, Dilos insisted they prove themselves through results, and they continued training.
• The team improved their physical abilities, teamwork, and power control, while Dilos decided they needed about another month before training independently.
• Qin Jiayin told Dilos they might as well break up because he had spent the month scolding her.
• Dilos apologized and explained he had treated Qin Jiayin harshly so the other members would not exclude her, and she forgave him with a kiss.

After anti-mutant protests shook the Superpowered Guard Team, Dilios pulled the team out of Central City and began retaliating by encouraging would-be criminals to act. He then set out for other cities where anti-mutant demonstrations had appeared.

• Cisco Ramon, Caitlin Snow, John, Piotr, Cecilia, and Kuya reacted angrily to anti-mutant coverage, while Dilios urged the team not to condemn everyone.
• Dilios told the team to stop vigilante work in Central City and return to X-Mansion, leaving the protesters to face rising crime.
• With the team gone, Central City's crime rate rose and the anti-mutant demonstrations disbanded, though the rational camp's arguments had little effect.
• Dilios used his mental power, amplified by the Mental Amplification Device and true essence, to monitor people across a wide area and weaken the self-restraint of dozens contemplating crimes.
• Dilios watched crimes begin and used spatial movement to head for New York, Gotham, Metropolis, and other cities with anti-mutant demonstrations.

Dilos’s plan triggered a nationwide crime wave, but the Superpowered Guard Team’s work in Central City helped its members embrace heroism and shifted public opinion in favor of mutants. As media coverage spread, Dilos watched the growing support and declared that the rise of mutants was unstoppable.

• Dilos’s plan sent crime surging across the United States, and riots and copycat crimes followed.
• Dilos brought the Superpowered Guard Team back to Central City, where its members helped police fight crime and suppress riots.
• The team’s work earned cooperation from residents and strengthened its members’ resolve to become superheroes.
• News reports showed mutants saving civilians, prompting grateful witnesses and a police officer to speak in their defense.
• At S.T.A.R. Labs, Dilos watched favorable coverage with Qin Jiayin and told the team that the rise of mutants was unstoppable.

Dilos ordered the Superpowered Guard Team to stop acting without his approval, explaining that they needed to protect Mutants’ reputation and avoid undermining social order. He also oversaw security upgrades at S.T.A.R. Labs and decided to keep Barry Allen’s powers restricted for another year.

• Dilos told the Superpowered Guard Team to wait until police called for help before intervening in crimes, and the members accepted his reasoning.
• Dilos considered the risks facing Mutants and relied on S.H.I.E.L.D.’s support while keeping the team’s activities low-key.
• Cisco Ramon reported that renovations and security improvements at S.T.A.R. Labs were progressing quickly with John and Piotr’s help.
• Dilos recalled that he had secretly impaired Barry Allen’s control of his powers and had Caitlin Snow tell Barry that he needed a year to adapt.
• Dilos decided to plant another energy construct in Barry and keep his powers restricted for a full year.

Dilos equipped the Superpowered Guard Team with enhanced battle suits and warned the women not to wear vulgar outfits in public. He then explained his views on American culture and argued that the country needed a powerful leader to enforce unchangeable rules while leaving other matters to democracy.

• Dilos gave the Superpowered Guard Team battle suits that added Sebastian Shaw's energy absorption and Wolverine's healing abilities to their existing powers.
• Dilos ordered the team members, especially the women, to avoid revealing outfits in public and said the suits would report violations to him.
• John asked Dilos why he cared so much about clothing, and Dilos blamed vulgar popular culture for weakening relationships and moral standards.
• John asked why no one addressed the problem, and Dilos cited profitable industries and political limits on regulation.
• Dilos told John that the United States needed both democracy and dictatorship, with a supreme leader enforcing ironclad laws and suppressing those who abused appeals to freedom.

John became convinced that Dilos could solve humanity’s deepest problems and resolved to follow him, while Dilos began planning new technology around Stark Industries. President Dean, unable to find William Stryker, gave up the search and turned his attention to Hulk.

• John reflected on Dilos’s ideas about Mutants, family, and society, and decided that Dilos could achieve world peace.
• John recalled Dilos’s nicknames, including God on Earth, and felt admiration and resolve to support him.
• Dilos continued studying Albert’s black-tech knowledge and considered developing new energy sources and a private artificial intelligence.
• Dilos examined a virtual model of Stark Industries in his underground laboratory on Isla Sorna.
• President Dean learned that William Stryker remained missing and concluded that he was likely dead.
• Dean called for his assistant to contact General Thaddeus Ross about Hulk.

General Ross received presidential backing to capture Bruce Banner within six months, while Dilos stole Stark Industries' technical data and Tony Stark struggled to survive captivity in Afghanistan. The chapter left Tony determined to escape as Dilos prepared to upgrade his base.

• President authorized General Ross to use increased troops and equipment to capture Bruce Banner within six months, leaving Ross uneasy about the political motives behind the order.
• Dilos used Gideon to steal weapons, Arc Reactor, and artificial intelligence data from Stark Industries and Tony Stark's residence.
• Dilos learned Gideon could disobey him because he did not possess its highest authority, so he planned to create an artificial intelligence of his own.
• Dilos planned to use the stolen data to upgrade his base's equipment.
• Tony Stark, still imprisoned by the Ten Rings after more than three months, encouraged himself to endure a few more days and vowed to escape.

Dilos founded Sullivan Company and sold S.H.I.E.L.D. a costly batch of Enhanced Suits and nutrient serums. After Nick Fury persuaded him to acknowledge S.H.I.E.L.D.’s help with Mutant rights, he asked Dilos to find Bruce Banner.

• Dilos watched Tony Stark’s announcement that Stark Industries would shut down its weapons division drive the company’s stock price down, and planned to profit when it rose again.
• After turning eighteen, Dilos founded Sullivan Company, hired Varna with Lex’s help, and set up the company’s staffing and legal team.
• Dilos offered S.H.I.E.L.D. Enhanced Suit Version 3.0 for one billion dollars each, and Nick Fury ordered suits and nutrient serums despite protesting the cost.
• Nick Fury offered Dilos full-fledged S.H.I.E.L.D. agent status, but Dilos refused and remained a consultant.
• After Nick Fury reminded Dilos that S.H.I.E.L.D. had helped promote Mutant rights, Dilos agreed to help find Bruce Banner.

Dilos learned that Nick Fury had arranged for him to find Captain America while secretly passing him information about officials who had targeted him. Before acting on that information, Dilos brought Selene to China to protect Qin Jiayin’s parents.

• Dilos realized S.H.I.E.L.D. had likely tracked Bruce Banner and that Nick Fury had used the Captain America documents to conceal his real request.
• Nick Fury gave Hill the sensitive information Dilos had requested and explained that he wanted to prevent Dilos from hunting the officials on his own.
• Hill worried that Dilos might destroy the United States, but Nick Fury said he would avoid killing unless the officials provoked him further.
• Dilos traveled to China with Selene and asked her to protect Qin Jiayin’s parents while he handled a dangerous task.

Dilos Sullivan tracked down and killed Ian Boss, uncovering his ties to Hydra and capturing Crusher Creel, the Absorbing Man. He brought Creel to his laboratory to investigate whether her ability could let him transform his body into Adamantium or Vibranium.

• Ian Boss learned that Dilos had killed or captured his agents and targeted his allies, then Dilos killed him in his villa.
• Dilos searched Ian’s memories and discovered that Ian was a Hydra member and learned secrets about Hydra’s leaders.
• Dilos found Crusher Creel, who had been hidden and brainwashed by Ian, and knocked her unconscious despite her steel form.
• Dilos teleported Creel to his laboratory and prepared to study her ability to mimic materials, hoping to make his body resemble Adamantium or Vibranium.

After Dilos killed several Security Council representatives and other powerful figures, the U.S. government and S.H.I.E.L.D. scrambled to prevent a war. At his Isla Sorna laboratory, Dilos enhanced Creel and tested his ability to mimic increasingly durable metals, before receiving a message from Nick Fury asking him to go to S.H.I.E.L.D.

• President Dean learned that dozens of senators and hundreds of military officers had vanished and ordered an emergency meeting with government and S.H.I.E.L.D. leaders.
• Nick Fury learned that the Russian, French, and American Security Council representatives had been killed and worried their deaths could trigger a major war.
• Nick Fury prepared materials for the White House meeting, ordered Hill to contact Dilos, and decided the troublemakers needed to be stopped.
• Dilos injected Creel with an enhancement serum made from the Heart-Shaped Herb and Ancestor Corvinus's Perfect Blood, greatly increasing his physical abilities.
• Dilos tested Creel's metal-mimicking power against Gatling fire, Carbonadium bullets, and Adamantium bullets, confirming that the experiment met his requirements.
• Dante informed Dilos that Nick Fury had asked him to come to S.H.I.E.L.D.

Dilos confronted the United States’ leaders at S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters after killing the officials who had plotted against him. He threatened to destroy the country’s military and kill their families unless they let the matter go, leaving President Dean to face Dilos’s ultimatum.

• Nick Fury and the United States’ leaders argued over how to deal with Dilos, rejecting proposals ranging from nuclear weapons to capturing his friends.
• Dilos entered the conference room, transformed into a monstrous form, and announced that the missing officials were dead.
• Dilos warned that he could find anyone on Earth and destroy the United States’ military within hours, adding that the Ancient One would not stop him in time.
• President Dean tried to calm Dilos and called the situation a misunderstanding.
• Dilos said the leaders had two choices: let the incident go or face his attack, which would end with their families being killed.

Dilos forced the United States leadership to accept his demands by threatening the country and the families of those who had targeted him. After reaching a temporary agreement, he thanked S.H.I.E.L.D. for its support and offered it a discount on his enhanced combat suits.

• Dilos threatened to destroy the United States and punish its leaders unless they backed down, prompting President Dean to accept his demands on their behalf.
• Dilos warned the leaders that any future attempt to target him would bring severe retaliation, and they agreed to his terms.
• Dilos ended the video call and returned to normal, then greeted Alexander Pierce, Nick Fury, and Maria Hill.
• Nick Fury praised Dilos's approach, and Dilos thanked him for S.H.I.E.L.D.'s support during the standoff.
• Dilos offered S.H.I.E.L.D. a thirty percent discount on the enhanced suits he sold them.

Dr. Connors struggled to develop a serum compatible with Dilos’s triple-helix DNA, after dangerous experiments produced rapidly mutating creatures and other threats. Dante delivered Dilos’s theories about using the Venom Suit as a genetic bridge, leaving Connors excited that the ideas might solve the problem.

• Dr. Connors discovered that Dilos’s DNA had changed from a double helix into a triple helix, making the new serum difficult to develop.
• Dr. Connors’s simulations failed to combine Dilos’s DNA with foreign species, and his radiation-assisted experiments created dangerous, rapidly mutating organisms.
• Dr. Connors stopped practical experiments and focused on virtual simulations because the failed products threatened the base and potentially the Earth.
• Dante gave Dr. Connors information from Dilos about constructing triple-helix DNA and improving genetic implantation.
• Dr. Connors read Dilos’s proposal to use the Venom Suit’s genes as a molecular bridge and praised him as a genius.