Chapter Summaries

Su Ming imprisoned Quill and prepared to help Nick Fury eliminate S.H.I.E.L.D.'s traitors, while Pierce moved ahead with the Helicarrier launch. The heroes set out with Steve carrying his old combat suit, and the chapter ended as static interrupted Pierce's speech.

• Su Ming carried Quill to the detention area, where Quill accepted the comfortable cell, ate the meals, and fell asleep to music.
• Su Ming absorbed most of the Orb's energy and tossed it to Goose, while Nick Fury worried about Quill and Su Ming reassured him.
• Steve argued that Fury should keep the control chips as a backup, and the group finalized their plan against Hydra.
• Before leaving, Steve secretly took his old combat suit from the museum in hopes it might help Bucky remember him.
• At the Helicarrier production workshop, Pierce welcomed Gilmore Rodriguez and gave the council members biometric badges as the carrier neared launch.
• Pierce's speech was interrupted when piercing static burst through the S.H.I.E.L.D. broadcasting staff's headphones.

Steve Rogers exposed Hydra’s infiltration of S.H.I.E.L.D. in a broadcast, while Natasha’s livestream captured Pierce admitting his control of the situation. S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel began resisting Hydra’s launch order, and Su Ming continued waiting as the Helicarriers’ exchange remained unavailable.

• Steve Rogers took over the broadcasting station with Agent Hill’s help and told S.H.I.E.L.D. agents that Alexander Pierce and Hydra had infiltrated the agency.
• Natasha, disguised as Congressman Gilmour, livestreamed Pierce’s gathering, and Pierce’s admission that he was in charge reached people throughout the building.
• Steve’s broadcast persuaded many agents to trust him, while the STRIKE team moved against him and killed one of the original guards.
• Crossbones ordered the Helicarriers launched, but a technician refused, and Agent Kate confronted him as the control room erupted into a standoff.
• Su Ming learned that each completed Helicarrier was worth 320 billion dollars, but he still could not exchange for them.

As the Helicarriers launched during the Triskelion battle, Su Ming exchanged Helicarrier Three, making the massive carrier vanish before the stunned combatants. Meanwhile, Rocket and Groot accepted a bounty to find Peter Quill on Earth, while Gamora arrived there as well.

• Crossbones activated the Helicarrier launch sequence while his Hydra forces fought S.H.I.E.L.D. agents led by Kate.
• Rocket found a 40,000-unit bounty for Peter Quill, and he and Groot set out for Earth to claim it.
• Gamora arrived on Earth in a small spacecraft.
• Captain America replaced Helicarrier Three's targeting chip with a control chip, allowing Su Ming to exchange the carrier.
• Sam confirmed Helicarrier Three was clear, and Su Ming exchanged it for $380 billion, causing it to turn transparent and disappear.
• The battle halted as Crossbones, Sam, and the others stared in shock at the vanished Helicarrier.

Su Ming disabled and redeemed two Helicarriers and their weapons systems while Natasha exposed Hydra and S.H.I.E.L.D.'s secrets. Bucky destroyed Captain America's aerial support and flew toward the last Helicarrier as a green figure arrived at Su Ming's base.

• Natasha, disguised as Congresswoman Gilmour, knocked out Pierce's guards and revealed herself before holding him at gunpoint.
• Su Ming took Nick Fury's control chip from Sam, evaded a Quinjet's attack, and redeemed the jet and its munitions.
• Su Ming replaced Helicarrier No. 2's positioning chip with the control chip and redeemed the Helicarrier and its combat systems.
• Natasha began releasing Hydra and S.H.I.E.L.D. secrets online, while Pierce warned that the disclosures would expose their pasts.
• Bucky destroyed Captain Rogers's aerial support squad before it could take off, then flew toward the final Helicarrier.
• A graceful green figure stepped out of a small spacecraft that docked near Su Ming's base.

Gamora arrived at an underground base while the battle over the Helicarriers continued, and Su Ming helped Captain America survive his fall before leaving him to confront Bucky. Nick Fury and Natasha exposed Hydra’s Project Insight, just as Rocket Raccoon and Groot arrived above the remaining carrier.

• Gamora confirmed she had reached the hidden base and entered with her Godslayer Daggers.
• Bucky knocked Captain America and Falcon off Helicarrier No. 1, but Su Ming used a Sling Ring Portal to return Steve to its deck while Sam landed on the Triskelion rooftop.
• Steve charged after Bucky, while Su Ming handed him the last chip and went to the fighter jet parking area.
• Nick Fury used his damaged eye to pass Level A authentication, forcing Pierce to unlock the security protocols and expose Hydra’s plan.
• Agent Hill warned that the last Helicarrier had six minutes to reach its target, and Rocket Raccoon and Groot arrived in a spaceship looking for Star-Lord and the bounty.

Su Ming cleared the chip hub while Captain America and Bucky fought, but Rocket and Groot arrived on the Helicarrier and attacked everyone while searching for Star-Lord. The Helicarrier then vanished beneath them, leaving Steve relieved that he was no longer the only one in danger.

• Su Ming swept Steve and Bucky away from the chip hub so he could replace the chips.
• Rocket and Groot mistook the Helicarrier battlefield for Star-Lord’s location, and Rocket blasted Steve and Bucky with a massive weapon.
• Steve hid behind his shield while Rocket’s barrage drove Bucky into cover.
• Rocket and Groot landed and demanded that Star-Lord hand over the Orb, but Steve attacked them instead.
• Groot trapped Steve in a vine attack while Bucky shot at him, and Rocket prepared to fire again.
• The Helicarrier slowly vanished beneath everyone, giving Steve a moment of relief.

Su Ming crushed Project Insight and went to check on Steve after Bucky left him unconscious by a lake. Meanwhile, Gamora broke into Su Ming’s base, incapacitated Alisha, and found Peter Quill locked in a cell, where their first meeting ended with her kicking him.

• Su Ming exchanged the chip for $320 billion, then spotted Steve, Bucky, Groot, and Rocket falling from the sky.
• Bucky recalled his friendship with Steve, stopped beating him, and dragged the unconscious Steve to shore before leaving.
• Su Ming failed to reach Alisha, pulled Groot and Rocket through a portal to his base, and brought Steve with him.
• Gamora entered the base while its security was disabled, shocked Alisha unconscious, and found Quill in a holding cell.
• Quill introduced himself to Gamora and flirted with her, so she kicked him in the lower abdomen through the bars.

Su Ming subdued Rocket and Groot, then confronted Gamora after she attacked Quill in the detention room. The Orb resonated with Su Ming’s energies and the Starcore Fragment, causing Su Ming, Gamora, Rocket, and Groot to vanish.

• Su Ming woke Alisha, learned Gamora had ambushed her, and controlled Rocket and Groot to keep them close.
• Rocket recognized the Orb as it drifted past with an orange cat, while Su Ming headed toward the detention room with the two Guardians following him.
• Su Ming took the Orb from the orange cat and found Gamora confronting Quill about its whereabouts.
• Gamora attacked Su Ming, who blocked her strike with the Orb and kicked her into Quill and the detention room door.
• The Orb and Starcore Fragment resonated with Su Ming’s energies, and Su Ming, Gamora, Rocket, and Groot disappeared.

Su Ming and Star-Lord’s group were teleported to Broker’s home on Xandar when two Starcore Fragments resonated. Su Ming pocketed Broker’s fragment and confronted Quill’s attempt to claim the Orb, while Rocket went after a weapon in a display case.

• A Starcore Fragment at Broker’s home resonated with Su Ming’s fragment and transported Su Ming, Quill, Gamora, Groot, and Rocket to Xandar.
• Su Ming recognized Broker and spotted the Starcore Fragment on his table, while the others recovered from the rough landing.
• Broker recognized Quill, who pretended the Orb was his and tried to negotiate their deal.
• Su Ming pocketed the Starcore Fragment and told Broker that the Orb belonged to him, making Broker wary of Su Ming’s power.
• Rocket found a large weapon in Broker’s display case and reached for it as Broker shouted for someone to stop him.

Rocket triggered an explosion that destroyed the Broker’s shop, and the Nova Corps arrested him, Su Ming, and the others. At Nova Headquarters, officers identified the group as suspected accomplices of Ronan and ordered them sent to Kyln Prison.

• Rocket toppled the display case and fired the weapon loaded with Explosive Magma, causing it to explode and devastate the Broker’s shop.
• Groot shielded Rocket from the blast but lost both arms, while Su Ming absorbed some of the explosion’s energy and Gamora took cover.
• Nova Corps officers arrested Su Ming, Rocket, Groot, Gamora, Star-Lord, and the Broker, mistaking them for Ronan’s accomplices.
• At Nova Headquarters, Irani Rael received word that the Nova Corps had captured a suspected accomplice of Ronan.
• Officers reviewed the detainees’ identities, including Su Ming, then ordered the group escorted to Kyln Prison.

Su Ming and the others were processed at Kyln Prison, where Quill and Rocket endured the prison’s rough intake procedures. Su Ming proved immune to the guards’ electric weapons but was still caught in the automatic decontamination spray.

• Rocket traded insults with Quill while the group discussed Gamora’s betrayal of Ronan and Groot’s limited vocabulary.
• Quill attacked a guard who had taken his Walkman, and the guard shocked him with an electric baton.
• Quill and Rocket were sprayed during decontamination and shoved into the cell block.
• Su Ming ignored the guards’ orders to strip, and their electric nets failed to hurt him; a guard who touched the current collapsed.
• The guards decided to skip Su Ming’s wash, but he triggered the motion-activated spray and was blasted with orange-yellow water.

Su Ming and the others entered Kyln Prison, where he intimidated the guards and the prisoners quickly learned not to provoke him. The group was left facing Gamora’s hostile reputation among the inmates after Su Ming killed an alien who harassed him.

• Su Ming redirected the guards’ dirty shower water onto them, accepted a clean prison uniform, then stunned every guard with glowing energy orbs for shooting at him.
• Su Ming, Quill, Rocket, Gamora, and Groot entered the prison block, where inmates threw debris at Gamora and Rocket explained that many prisoners blamed her for Ronan’s crimes.
• Quill asked whether the guards would protect Gamora, but Rocket said they cared only about preventing escapes.
• A hulking alien threatened to eat Su Ming and reached for his face, so Groot lifted the alien by thrusting his fingers into its nostrils.
• Su Ming slapped the alien with enough force to send it crashing away, bleeding from its orifices, leaving the prison hall stunned.

Su Ming killed the alien who had harassed him, drawing the prison guards and their drones to the plaza. The guard captain recognized Su Ming and hesitated to confront him, while Su Ming considered the value of the prison and its contents; the captain then spotted Quill and came up with a plan.

• Su Ming killed the burly alien in the prison plaza, shocking the prisoners with the public murder.
• Prison alarms sounded, and guards and drones surrounded Su Ming, Star-Lord, Gamora, Rocket, and Groot; the group refused to squat.
• Quill pointed out Su Ming as the killer, but the guard captain recognized him and lost the nerve to threaten him.
• Su Ming appraised a patrol drone at $1 million and Kyln Prison at $1.2 trillion, then considered how to handle the prisoners and guards.
• The captain weighed the risks of confronting Su Ming, noticed Quill, and came up with a plan.

Su Ming intimidated the Kyln guards after killing a prisoner, then won the inmates’ support by asserting control over the prison block. He left the chapter as the prisoners’ new leader, while warning Gamora that he still held her responsible for taking down Alisha.

• The guard captain accepted Quill’s account, shot the dead alien’s corpse, and hurried away with the guards after warning the prisoners to behave.
• The prisoners applauded Su Ming for humiliating the captain, and he told them to call him Mr. Destiny and not provoke him or Quill, Gamora, Rocket, and Groot.
• When a prisoner objected to Gamora’s presence, Su Ming used Heat Vision to singe the man’s hair, silencing the crowd.
• The inmates knelt, pounded their chests, and shouted their word for leader, which sounded to Su Ming like “Big brother.”
• Su Ming privately warned Gamora that he still had a score to settle over her taking down Alisha, leaving her embarrassed.

Su Ming became the prisoners’ leader in Kyln, and their hopes awakened a faint, purifying power of faith within him. He spent $150 billion upgrading Sorcerer Supreme, but the transformation unleashed a storm of magic that wrecked his cell and stunned the guards.

• The prisoners welcomed Su Ming as their leader, gave him the largest cell, and kept two guards at its door.
• Su Ming’s new role let him sense the prisoners’ hopes, which formed a small, peaceful energy within him that he recognized as the beginnings of faith.
• Su Ming reviewed his status and spent $150 billion to upgrade Sorcerer Supreme to Level 2, gaining new magical abilities.
• The upgrade sent Runes spinning through Su Ming’s mind, causing intense pain as his spiritual power grew.
• Su Ming floated amid orange-red lightning, flames, debris, and a growing tornado, leaving the guards wondering whether he would still live in the cell.

Su Ming discovered that his upgraded abilities let him sense detection traps and project his consciousness across space, allowing him to contact Alisha on Earth from Kyln Prison. Alisha told Tony Stark that Su Ming had been found, and Tony regretted not joining him.

• Su Ming’s magic turned his cell into a flaming tornado, alarming the prisoners and drawing Quill, Rocket, Groot, and the Broker to watch.
• Su Ming cooled the overheated cell with freezing breath, accidentally freezing the crowd’s feet to the floor.
• Su Ming discovered his new ability to perceive detection traps and project himself out of his body, then saw Earth and Alisha searching for him.
• Su Ming entered Alisha’s computer and told her he was at Kyln Prison in outer space.
• Alisha called Tony Stark to report that Su Ming had been found, and Tony complained that Su Ming had not brought him along.

After the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D., its former agents scattered and Steve set out to find Bucky with Sam. At Kyln Prison, Su Ming slept after a disruptive talent upgrade, while Quill heard prisoners planning to take a woman to the shower room.

• Tony learned Destiny was in Kyln Prison, upgraded his armor and other technology, and hired Maria Hill, who began searching for Su Ming.
• Natasha exposed S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra's classified files, faced Congress, and went underground after becoming wanted by multiple countries.
• S.H.I.E.L.D. was dismantled, Fury began building a new intelligence network, and Coulson's team continued operating unofficially.
• Natasha gave Steve a file showing Bucky in a frozen container, and Steve agreed to seek him out with Sam.
• Su Ming's talent upgrade greatly expanded his spiritual power, exhausted him, and sent him into a deep sleep.
• Quill struggled to sleep in his crowded cell before hearing prisoners say they were taking a woman to the shower room to clean away blood.

Quill stopped Drax from killing Gamora, hoping she would help him sell the Orb. Gamora offered to take Quill and Rocket to her buyer, but Rocket pointed out that Su Ming had the Orb, and Su Ming emerged and agreed to sell it.

• Drax confronted Gamora and tried to kill her, but she argued that she was their best hope of stopping Ronan.
• Quill persuaded Drax to keep Gamora alive by pointing out that she could help him get revenge on Ronan.
• Quill revealed that he had saved Gamora because she knew who would buy the Orb, and Rocket said he could escape from prison.
• Gamora offered to take Quill and Rocket to her buyer, who would pay four billion units for the Orb.
• Rocket noted that Su Ming had the Orb, and Su Ming stepped from the shadows and agreed to sell it.

Su Ming agreed to help Quill, Gamora, Rocket, and Groot sell the Orb and split the reward, while planning to seek information from the Collector. As the group discussed escaping Kyln Prison, Rocket began explaining what they needed to reach the guard tower.

• Quill and Rocket were shocked when Su Ming emerged unharmed from the flames, while Gamora cautiously moved closer to them.
• Su Ming agreed to split the Orb's reward among the five of them, and Groot joined the group when he heard about the money.
• Ronan received word that Gamora had other plans and that Thanos wanted to see him, so he traveled to Sanctuary.
• Ronan killed one of Thanos's lackeys after the alien berated him, then Thanos demanded that Ronan retrieve the Orb and threatened him if he failed.
• Nebula urged Ronan to go to Kyln Prison with her, and he followed her out of Thanos's chamber.
• Back in the prison block, Rocket explained that they needed tools to enter the guard tower, and Su Ming asked what they needed.

Rocket and the Guardians began their prison escape after Groot took the energy battery, triggering alarms and a chaotic fight. Quill and Rocket stole the Broker’s fake leg but accidentally severed his real one before escaping.

• Rocket asked the group to get a guard’s wristband, the Broker’s fake leg, and an X-Stone Energy Battery.
• Groot tore open the guard tower and removed the battery, setting off alarms before the others had finished planning.
• Gamora went to get a wristband while Quill and Rocket rushed to take the Broker’s fake leg.
• Drones attacked Groot, who smashed one and started the prison break as Su Ming calmly watched and stopped a stray bullet.
• Rocket accidentally cut off the Broker’s real leg, then escaped with Quill, who carried away the fake leg.
• The Broker recognized Quill and passed out from blood loss.