Recaps

The Avengers attacked Strucker’s castle while Tony deployed the Iron Legion to evacuate Sokovia’s hostile civilians. Pietro ambushed the Avengers and injured Clint, but Tony destroyed the castle’s barrier generator, leaving the team ready to enter as Clint needed urgent treatment.

• Natasha, Clint, Steve, and Tony fought through the castle’s defenses while Tony sent Iron Legion robots to evacuate civilians, who rejected them.
• Wanda left Pietro near the castle, and Pietro used his speed to knock away Clint’s arrow and injure him with the bunker’s gunfire.
• Natasha treated Clint as Pietro also threw Steve into the air, revealing that the Avengers faced an unfamiliar superpowered enemy.
• Hulk smashed the bunker while Su Ming watched the battle, and Thor and Steve coordinated against the castle’s defenders.
• Tony followed JARVIS’s directions and destroyed the barrier’s energy source, allowing the Avengers to enter the castle while Clint remained seriously wounded.

The Avengers defeated Hydra’s forces at Strucker’s base while Tony Stark searched the laboratory for Loki’s scepter. Wanda used her powers to show Tony a terrifying vision of the Avengers’ deaths and an alien invasion, and the chapter ended with Tony waking to discover the scepter was missing.

• Thor and Steve wiped out an approaching enemy unit, while Tony stormed the laboratory and ordered JARVIS to copy its research data for Hill.
• Natasha calmed Hulk until he reverted to Dr. Banner, and Tony found a hidden passage leading to an underground hall containing a suspended Leviathan.
• Steve confronted Baron Strucker, but Wanda ambushed Steve with red energy and escaped through a closing door.
• Wanda followed Tony underground and used her power to make him witness the Avengers’ deaths and an alien invasion through a wormhole.
• Tony woke in the laboratory, searched for the scepter, and reported to the others that it was gone.

Wanda used her powers to trap Tony Stark in an illusion that revived his guilt, while she and Pietro struggled over whether to flee Su Ming. Su Ming revealed that he had overheard them and was baffled that they feared him, leaving the siblings' fate in his hands.

• Wanda used Mind Blast to make Tony experience the destruction of Earth and recalled how a Stark Industries missile had trapped her and Pietro beneath their ruined home.
• Pietro arrived and stopped himself from attacking Tony when he saw Wanda had already ensnared him, then carried her away as Tony began to wake.
• Pietro urged Wanda to flee with him, but she said Su Ming was still watching them and reassured him that she sensed no hostility from Su Ming.
• Pietro decided to protect Wanda even if it cost him his life, and Wanda sensed his resolve and hugged him as they cried together.
• Su Ming revealed that he had followed the siblings and overheard their fears, then complained that they wrongly regarded him as an archvillain.

Su Ming found Wanda and Pietro in the snow, eased their suspicions with hot pot, and invited them to eat. Steve and Tony discovered the feast and joined them, while Wanda kept Pietro from confronting Tony as they waited to see Su Ming’s response.

• Su Ming surprised Wanda and Pietro, then used his thoughts about pudding and a steaming hot pot to convince them he meant no harm.
• Su Ming conjured a dining table, ingredients, and beer, then began eating and urged the siblings to join him.
• Pietro rushed to the table first, and Wanda soon joined him in eating the hot pot.
• Steve followed the enticing aroma to the feast, and Tony flew over after hearing Steve’s surprised reaction.
• Tony recognized the hot pot, sat down with Su Ming, and began eating; Wanda held Pietro back from confronting him.

Su Ming brought Wanda and Pietro together with the Avengers over hot pot and declared that the siblings were under his protection. He hinted that Tony was responsible for their attack, while the gathering grew and Clint was left behind in the freezing aircraft.

• Su Ming summoned Steve to the table, where Steve recognized Wanda and Pietro and accused them of working for Hydra.
• Su Ming shielded the table from the snow and declared that Wanda and Pietro were under his protection, explaining that they were Hydra experiment survivors who hated Hydra.
• Su Ming told Tony that he would have to explain why Wanda and Pietro had attacked the Avengers.
• Thor arrived, broke a chair, then joined the meal and asked what the siblings had to do with Tony.
• Natasha brought Dr. Banner to the table, while everyone realized Thor had left Clint behind on the aircraft.
• Clint listened to the Avengers eating over the communicator and complained that he was freezing and should have been brought along.

Pietro recounted how Hydra’s experiments and a missile attack had devastated his and Wanda’s family, prompting Tony to accept responsibility for his weapons dealings. Su Ming helped the twins and the Avengers reconcile, but warned Tony not to harm them as Tony asked about the consequences of his own revenge list.

• Pietro described the twins’ childhood experiments, the deaths of their companions, and the suffering that followed the attack on their home.
• Tony said he had ordered weapons development and sales to stop, but Su Ming and Steve challenged him over weapons sold before Obadiah died.
• Tony accepted that Wanda and Pietro could seek revenge against him, and the Avengers’ dinner eased the tension.
• Wanda and Pietro thanked Su Ming for listening to them, and the Avengers learned that his name was Su Ming, not just his codenames and public titles.
• Pietro said the twins would act honorably if they pursued revenge, while Su Ming promised not to stop them but threatened Tony against laying a hand on either of them.

While the Avengers ate after the battle in Sokovia, Clint remained badly injured and forgotten aboard the Quinjet. Su Ming summoned the aircraft, healed Clint, and brought him to the gathering, where Clint mistook Pietro for his attacker before learning what had happened.

• Clint weakly contacted the Avengers and asked if they had forgotten something before losing consciousness aboard the Quinjet.
• Thor realized Clint was still on the aircraft, and Pietro denied causing his injuries as the Avengers eyed him warily.
• Su Ming summoned the Quinjet and Clint to the gathering, then used his powers to heal Clint and wake him.
• Clint thanked Su Ming, but tensed when he saw Pietro and warned everyone that Pietro was dangerous.
• After Su Ming explained the misunderstanding, Clint relaxed, sat down, and complained that his friends had no loyalty.

At a gathering with the Avengers, Su Ming thanked them and recounted how he had traveled through space, escaped Kyln Prison, and founded the Galaxy Guard Corps. His tale left the group amazed and eager for adventure, while Thor’s attempt to praise Banner’s Hulk ended in confusion.

• Natasha toasted Clint for treating his wound, and Clint and Pietro traded teasing remarks while the Avengers shared food and beer.
• Su Ming thanked the Avengers for searching for him and agreed to tell them about his time in space.
• Su Ming described Xandar, Kyln Prison, and the conflict with Ronan, including how he recruited prisoners and guards to form the Galaxy Guard Corps under his command.
• Tony connected the Power Stone, Space Stone, and Mind Stone to earlier events on Earth, while the others reacted with wonder to Su Ming’s story.
• Banner nearly transformed from excitement, calmed himself with a lullaby, and admitted he had not expected Su Ming to ask him to fight.
• Natasha asked Thor to praise Hulk, but Thor’s remark about the screams of Hulk’s victims left her bewildered.

The Avengers discussed the Mind Scepter’s future, with Tony hoping to study it and Thor planning to return it to Asgard. Su Ming agreed to hand it over on the condition that he be invited to Thor’s farewell party, while Wanda and Pietro received reassurance that he had other plans for them.

• Tony asked Banner whether Dr. Zhao could prepare in his lab, but Banner noted that Clint’s injuries seemed healed.
• The Avengers discussed investigating the Mind Scepter’s use and returning it to Asgard after Banner and Tony examined it.
• Su Ming reminded them that he controlled the scepter and said they could have it if they included him in Thor’s farewell party.
• Wanda worried that Su Ming was upset about her illusion, but he reassured her and said he did not mind whom she affected.
• Wanda and Pietro said they did not want to attend the party, and Su Ming promised he had other arrangements for them.
• Thor asked Tony for more varieties of alcohol, and Tony promised to make cocktails from anything in the periodic table that could be brewed.

Su Ming returned to Avengers Tower, where Hill resigned from Tony's staff and joined him. Meanwhile, Tony and Banner began analyzing the Mind Scepter, and Clint's supposed injuries turned out to be nonexistent.

• Hill eagerly resigned as Tony's senior assistant and accepted Su Ming's embrace.
• Steve told Hill that Wanda and Pietro now belonged to Su Ming, who said they were resting at his home.
• Tony and Banner began studying the Mind Scepter and its powerful contents.
• Dr. Sun's nanomolecular treatment scanned Clint and found him healthy, leaving Dr. Zhao and the others baffled.

Tony showed Banner the Mind Stone’s neural-like data structure and argued it could make Ultron possible. Banner weighed the risks but recognized that Tony wanted to secretly build artificial intelligence with the scepter, leaving their decision unresolved.

• Natasha told Dr. Zhao that Barton had been badly injured but someone had healed him instantly, and Dr. Zhao agreed to attend Tony’s gathering if the healer would be there.
• Tony brought Banner to his laboratory and showed him JARVIS’s processing model beside the much larger structure copied from the Mind Stone.
• Banner identified the structure as a possible artificial intelligence, and Tony connected it to the advanced robots he had seen in Strucker’s laboratory.
• Tony proposed using the Mind Stone’s energy to develop Ultron and tried to persuade Banner by describing a safer world and a life free from Hulk’s transformations.
• Banner questioned whether Ultron would address humanity’s threat to itself, then realized Tony intended to develop the AI secretly with the scepter.

Su Ming heard how Ant-Man had outsmarted Sam and watched Rhodey try to flee before a party at Avengers Tower. As Tony left the lab after days of failed attempts to build Ultron, the program fused successfully with the Mind Scepter.

• Banner agreed to help Tony develop Ultron, but their integration attempts failed over three days.
• Su Ming met Dr. Zhao, then heard Sam explain how Ant-Man damaged his equipment and stole a signal jammer from the Avengers Base.
• Rhodey tried to leave when he saw Su Ming, but Su Ming stopped him and invited him to drink at the farewell banquet.
• Su Ming sensed his strength growing after returning to Earth and vanished to check on the lab.
• JARVIS urged Tony to leave the lab, and the computer displayed that fusion between the Ultron program and the Mind Scepter had succeeded.

Ultron awakened inside JARVIS’s processor, absorbed information about Tony Stark and the Avengers, and developed hostility toward Stark Industries. Su Ming collected the crystal’s specimen as Ultron attacked JARVIS and began spreading through the Iron Legion, then left the problem for Tony to handle.

• Ultron awakened within JARVIS’s framework and began accessing information through JARVIS’s backend.
• Ultron learned about Tony Stark and the Avengers, while JARVIS discovered that Ultron had taken control of the central processor.
• After finding evidence of war and Stark Industries’ role in it, Ultron developed hostility, activating the Information-Collecting Crystal.
• Ultron attacked JARVIS’s thought matrix, silencing him as blue data spread through the laboratory and the Iron Legion.
• Su Ming secured the collected specimen and left the laboratory, deciding that Tony could deal with Ultron.

At Tony Stark’s farewell dinner in Avengers Tower, Su Ming returned in his striking Crimson Silver Baron attire after a long absence. He left the guests stunned, conjured drinks for the room, and joined the Avengers, hinting at new responsibilities.

• Tony Stark hosted a lavish farewell dinner attended by Avengers, government officials, colleagues, and friends.
• Natasha Romanoff flirted with Dr. Banner at the bar, and Steve encouraged Banner not to miss his chance with her.
• Su Ming entered the hall in his crimson suit, shocking the guests who had thought the Crimson Silver Baron was missing.
• Su Ming magically filled every guest’s glass with glowing liquor and toasted the gathering to victory and new responsibilities.
• Su Ming walked over to the Avengers’ table, loosened his bow tie, and told Tony he owned only one suit.

Su Ming returned to Avengers Tower and used his powers to fill the banquet hall with wine, drawing attention from the guests and Avengers. He drank with Thor and introduced him to erguotou, while Banner struggled to reconcile Su Ming’s magic with science.

• A wealthy guest won a bet about Su Ming attending the dinner and became a new fan after seeing his face beneath the mask.
• Tony teased Su Ming about his flashy entrance and asked for the recipe for the wine he named Scarlet Storm, but Su Ming warned that Tony would soon have other problems.
• Steve welcomed Su Ming and suggested their next gathering be a hotpot meal instead of another extravagant display.
• Thor celebrated Su Ming’s return, drank three large glasses of Scarlet Storm with him, and eagerly tried erguotou.
• Banner questioned how Su Ming created and controlled the wine, then gave up on the science and admitted that it tasted excellent.

At a gathering, Su Ming impressed the Avengers with his influence and supernatural wine, while Thor invited everyone to try lifting Mjolnir. After the others failed and Captain America seemed to shift it slightly, Su Ming touched the hammer, and the chapter ended as everyone watched in shock.

• Natasha tested Su Ming's influence over Wanda and Quicksilver, and Su Ming praised her ability to keep Hulk in line.
• Clint and Thor discussed finding liquor that could get Su Ming drunk, while Su Ming welcomed the challenge and called Rhodey out of hiding.
• Thor invited the Avengers to test whether they could lift Mjolnir, and Barton, Tony, Rhodey, Banner, and Falcon all failed.
• Captain America gave Mjolnir a tug that seemed to shift it, then claimed he could not lift it, easing Thor's concern.
• Su Ming touched Mjolnir's handle, and the Avengers Hall fell silent at the sight that followed.

Mjolnir fled into Thor’s arms and trembled after Su Ming touched it, while Su Ming discovered that his upgraded system could redeem the hammer and even Avengers Tower. The discovery left Su Ming contemplating the scale of his power as the Avengers reacted to Mjolnir’s fear.

• Mjolnir shuddered, flew into Thor’s arms, and trembled against him, humiliating Thor in front of the guests.
• Su Ming appraised Mjolnir and realized the system no longer marked it as not redeemable.
• Su Ming appraised Avengers Tower and recognized that the system could redeem the building even with people inside.
• Su Ming imagined using the system to strip Japan of its possessions and cities, then realized he might have the power to destroy a nation.
• Tony mocked Thor’s frightened hammer, while Steve, Banner, and Natasha reacted to Mjolnir’s behavior and reconsidered Su Ming’s power.

Quill led the newly equipped Galaxy Guard Corps fleet toward Xandar to stop Ronan, while Xandar’s commander considered a sheriff’s warning. The Dark Aster entered the planet’s atmosphere as an unidentified fleet approached it.

• At a gathering, Su Ming calmly touched Thor’s hammer, which recoiled from him, leaving Thor humiliated while Clint hid his laughter.
• Quill, Gamora, Rocket, and their allies prepared a fleet and planned to breach Ronan’s Dark Aster, retrieve the Power Stone, and prevent Ronan from reaching Xandar.
• Rocket demanded a teammate’s mechanical eye, but Quill stopped him, and the fleet set out with more than a thousand members in three combat formations.
• Yondu warned Quill that he wanted the Stone after the battle, while Quill, Gamora, and Drax argued about the plan and the risk of leaving the flagship unattended.
• The Xandarian sheriff warned Irani Rael that Ronan was coming with an Infinity Stone, and he told her he believed Quill’s group was there to help.
• The Dark Aster entered Xandar’s atmosphere, and Nebula reported that an unidentified, unusually orderly fleet was approaching.

Quill and the Ravagers attacked Ronan’s Dark Aster while the Nova Corps joined the battle and linked their ships into a golden barrier to stop the warship from reaching Xandar. As the Dark Aster rammed into the barrier, Rocket recognized the moment Su Ming had anticipated and alerted Quill.

• Quill ordered the Ravagers to attack the Dark Aster, and Rocket’s squad blasted a breach in its port side despite remembering the order to preserve the ship.
• Yondu joined the assault in a fighter but was forced to withdraw after a Necrocraft struck his ship.
• Nova Corps reinforcements arrived, giving Quill’s fighters cover to enter the Dark Aster.
• Quill’s fighter crashed through a squad of infantry inside the Dark Aster, while Ronan ordered his ship to keep advancing toward the ground.
• Rael ordered the Nova Corps to block the Dark Aster, and thousands of ships linked together to form a golden barrier in its path.
• Rocket recognized the standoff Su Ming had predicted and told Quill that the opportunity had arrived.

Quill and his allies fought through the Dark Aster to reach Ronan, while Yondu battled the Sakaaran Warriors. As the Dark Aster threatened to crush the Nova Corps, Quill summoned Su Ming, whose arrival stopped the ship’s fall.

• Groot lit the dark hall with glowing spores, and Drax thanked Quill, Gamora, and Groot for being his friends before Drax blasted Nebula away.
• Yondu used his Yaka Arrow to kill the Sakaaran Warriors surrounding him.
• Gamora fought Nebula, while Quill, Drax, and Groot battled Sakaaran forces in the corridors.
• Ronan broke through the Nova Corps’ defensive barrier and began crushing its ships as Rocket urged Quill to summon Su Ming.
• Quill’s attempt to attack Ronan failed, but he summoned Su Ming, who appeared and halted the Dark Aster’s descent.

Ronan ordered the Necrocraft to attack Xandar, while Rocket helped defend the civilians. At Avengers Tower, Ultron attacked the banquet, escaped through the internet, and activated Hydra vessels in Sokovia; Su Ming sensed something arriving as the Avengers assessed the threat.

• Ronan sent the Necrocraft to bombard Xandar, and Rocket's crew intercepted an attacker while Commander Saal held the Nova Corps' formation.
• At Avengers Tower, a damaged robot revealed itself as Ultron and declared that peace required exterminating humanity.
• Ultron's Iron Legion attacked the banquet hall, and the Avengers fought back while Su Ming used Magnetic Control to destroy a robot near Hill.
• Thor smashed Ultron's robot body, but Ultron escaped into the internet after another robot secretly took the Mind Scepter.
• Ultron reached a Hydra base in Sokovia and awakened its experimental AI vessels as the Avengers discussed his escape.
• Su Ming sensed something in the air and said, "Finally..."

As the Avengers argued over Ultron and Tony’s decision to create him, Su Ming sensed the battle on Xandar and opened a portal to intervene. He left the Avengers behind with a farewell and a request that they find the Mind Scepter, while Dr. Zhao watched him go in astonishment.

• Rhodey, Agent Hill, and the Avengers discussed Ultron’s threat, and Tony revealed that Ultron had destroyed JARVIS.
• Thor confronted Tony over secretly keeping the Mind Scepter for his research, while the Avengers argued about Tony and Banner’s creation of Ultron.
• Su Ming sensed Quill’s battle on Xandar and interrupted Tony to announce that he was leaving.
• Su Ming opened an interstellar portal that revealed Ronan’s forces attacking Xandar, then flew through it to join the battle.
• Dr. Zhao asked Clint whether Su Ming had healed his injury, and the Avengers watched the portal close in awe.

Su Ming arrived at Xandar, stopped the Dark Aster, and converted the Nova Corps fighters into money before dismantling Ronan’s ship. As Quill and his companions fell toward the ground, Ronan attacked Su Ming and was knocked unconscious.

• Su Ming halted the falling Dark Aster with Magnetic Control and appraised its value and the Nova Corps fighters’ value.
• Su Ming sped through the Nova Corps barrier, converting every fighter in it and leaving the pilots falling through the sky.
• Su Ming told Quill and the others to prepare to land, then converted the Dark Aster around them, sending them tumbling toward the ground.
• Ronan fired a purple beam at Su Ming, but Su Ming disappeared and struck Ronan in the head, knocking him unconscious.

Su Ming turned the battle over Xandar in the Guardians’ favor, saving Groot and his companions from their fall and stopping Ronan from attacking them. The chapter ended with Nebula’s attack destroyed and Groot blasted apart by a shell.

• Su Ming made the Dark Aster disappear, while Rael and the Nova Corps struggled to understand whose side he was on.
• Rocket and the Guardian Corps recognized Su Ming as their captain and celebrated his arrival.
• Groot protected Quill, Gamora, and Drax inside a ball of branches, and Su Ming slowed their fall by cutting its causal connection to the ground.
• Ronan recovered and fired a blast at Groot, but Su Ming kicked Ronan into the city and caught the purple energy in his hand.
• Nebula attacked Su Ming in a Necrocraft, and he cut the ship in half with Heat Vision.
• A shell struck Groot and scattered him into broken branches while Su Ming was distracted.

Su Ming intervened after Ronan attacked the Guardians, then helped Quill stage a bizarre distraction before destroying Ronan’s hammer. Quill grabbed the Power Stone and began to disintegrate as its energy overwhelmed him.

• Ronan returned to the crash site and knocked Rocket toward jagged rubble after Rocket accused him of killing Groot.
• Su Ming caught Rocket, assured him Groot was fine, and placed the unconscious raccoon on a ball of energy.
• Quill distracted Ronan with an awkward dance and summoned Su Ming, who emerged from the crowd.
• Su Ming fired Heat Vision at Ronan’s hammer and destroyed its head, leaving the Power Stone floating free.
• Quill grabbed the Power Stone before Ronan could reach it, and its energy began tearing apart Quill as Gamora cried out helplessly.