Chapter Summaries

Miao Mu and his companions worked to convince Coulson that they were dead S.H.I.E.L.D. agents returning from a secret mission, while Batman planted supporting evidence. As the group joked about their plans, Batman spotted that Tony was about to face trouble.

• Coulson entered Tony's home and found Deathstroke holding a greatsword to his throat.
• Tony dismissed Coulson, and Miao Mu recognized him as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and claimed to be a long-lost colleague.
• Miao Mu threatened Coulson and told him to ask Nick Fury about the team's completed mission, a frozen hero in the North Atlantic, and Hydra's final mission.
• Batman used JARVIS to plant fragments of evidence in databases around the world to support Miao Mu's story.
• Wade joked with Miao Mu and Deathstroke, and Batman warned that Tony was about to have trouble.

Nick Fury ordered an Arctic search to verify Coulson’s report about Captain America and Hydra. Tony Stark set out to protect Pepper Potts and announced he would shut down Stark Industries’ weapons division.

• Nick Fury doubted Coulson’s report but ordered Black Widow to lead a search from the North Atlantic to the Arctic Circle for Captain America.
• Nick Fury decided he would investigate personally if S.H.I.E.L.D.’s archives and the search yielded nothing.
• Tony Stark went to Stark Industries Tower with Batman, Deathstroke, and Miao Mu to deal with the surveillance and illicit weapons trade.
• Tony told Batman he would shut down Stark Industries’ weapons division and stop producing weapons.
• Tony’s decision improved Miao Mu and the others’ opinion of him.

Tony returned to Stark Industries in his armor and, suspecting Obadiah Stane of arranging his disappearance and attack, summoned him to a meeting. Pepper welcomed Tony back while Batman and the others tracked Obadiah’s movements, leaving the confrontation pending.

• Tony summoned Obadiah Stane to the conference room after realizing Batman’s deductions implicated him in Tony’s disappearance and attack.
• Obadiah learned Tony had summoned him, asked whether Tony was alone, then claimed he needed to use the restroom and headed back toward the new technology department.
• Pepper arrived, joked with Tony about his spending and past relationships, and hugged him when she saw he was safe.
• Tony told Pepper he was no longer interested in finding women and joked that his armor made him a knight who protected her.
• Pepper noticed Miao Mu and the others in the room, while Batman warned that Obadiah and another person were on their way.

Tony Stark confronted Obadiah Stane over the weapons division and the attempt on his life, then exposed Obadiah’s treachery. Deathstroke stopped Obadiah from attacking Tony, while Miao Mu warned Tony about a threat in the New Research Department before Tony flew toward the armed crowd outside.

• Obadiah Stane rejected Tony Stark’s proposal to shut down the weapons division, and Tony revealed his Mark Armor and Arc Reactor.
• Tony accused Obadiah of arranging his kidnapping and attempted murder, and Obadiah admitted he had done it because Tony was in his way.
• Obadiah tried to use a neural paralyzer, but Deathstroke’s thrown pen struck his arm and Happy Hogan tackled him.
• Miao Mu gave Tony Stark Batman’s computer and warned him about a dangerous device in the New Research Department.
• Tony saw armed Stark Industries personnel gathered outside and flew out to confront them.

Natasha Romanoff’s team discovered Captain America’s crashed Nazi bomber beneath Arctic ice, prompting Nick Fury to halt the excavation and bring in Agent Coulson. Fury also prepared to investigate a possible Hydra connection and sent Clint on a mission to gather intelligence.

• Natasha ordered the search team to secure a suspected plane wreck before she arrived.
• Natasha identified the frozen wreck as a Nazi German Go-229 bomber associated with Captain America.
• Nick Fury ended a video call after Natasha unexpectedly saw his alien cat eating S.H.I.E.L.D. safes.
• Nick Fury ordered Agent Coulson to take over the Arctic mission and asked Director Pierce to organize a meeting.
• Nick Fury called Clint and ended his recovery leave, assigning him to catch someone and obtain intelligence.

Batman caught and defeated Hawkeye after Clint Barton infiltrated the villa, while Miao Mu and Wade discussed forming an Avengers team to take down S.H.I.E.L.D. The story left Wade preparing to capture Nick Fury as the team’s first move.

• Clint Barton infiltrated the villa before dawn, but Batman had been watching him and confronted him inside.
• Batman caught Clint’s arrows, defeated him in close combat, and paralyzed him with a neural paralyzer.
• Miao Mu woke Wade and told him Hawkeye was outside; Wade ran out and began stripping the immobilized Clint for his gear.
• Miao Mu invited Wade to become the Avengers’ captain and proposed forming a team to take down S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Wade agreed to lead the team, and Miao Mu asked him to capture Nick Fury.

Tony Stark agreed to join Miao Mu’s group in exchange for a secret about his future, and they set off for the Arctic. Meanwhile, Wade caused chaos at S.H.I.E.L.D.’s headquarters and confronted Natasha Romanoff, surviving her attacks.

• Tony Stark examined the Iron Monger armor and hesitated to help Miao Mu’s group until Miao offered to reveal a secret about his future.
• Tony activated his new Mark III Armor, and JARVIS identified Miao Mu as an unknown person named Miao Mu.
• Tony accepted Miao Mu’s deal, and Miao said they would head to the Arctic after arranging a distraction at S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Wade crashed into the Triskelion’s glass wall, revived on a stretcher, and protested that the group should be called X-Force instead of the Avengers.
• Natasha Romanoff shocked Wade with her Widow’s Bite bracelets, but he survived and raised his middle finger at her.

Tony Stark, Deathstroke, and Miao Mu seized a S.H.I.E.L.D. Arctic site and dug through the ice to reach a crashed bomber. Miao Mu found Captain America alive in hibernation and began thawing him, planning to recover his shield and cause trouble.

• Tony Stark spotted the Arctic base and led Deathstroke and Miao Mu there by air.
• Tony, Deathstroke, and Miao Mu forced Coulson and the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to surrender and boarded them onto the Quinjet.
• Deathstroke sealed the Quinjet's engines while Tony melted the ice above the buried bomber.
• Miao Mu broke through the bomber's windshield and found Captain America frozen in hibernation.
• Miao Mu began thawing Captain America and said they would recover his shield and cause trouble.

Miao Mu and Tony Stark retrieved the frozen Captain America while Deathstroke prepared a S.H.I.E.L.D. Quinjet. In S.H.I.E.L.D., Wade named Hydra agents to Nick Fury, and Batman freed him before gunfire erupted through the interrogation room glass.

• Miao Mu climbed out of the water frozen, and Tony Stark helped warm him while Captain America remained encased in ice.
• Tony Stark said he had arranged a S.H.I.E.L.D. Quinjet, and Miao Mu carried Captain America toward it as Deathstroke waited in the cockpit.
• Wade told the interrogators that Hydra had infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. and identified Brock Rumlow and Alexander Pierce.
• Nick Fury treated Pierce as a suspect, while Pierce took a young agent's phone and sent Crossbones a warning.
• Bruce, disguised as a young agent, paralyzed the interrogators and tossed Wade the key to his restraints.
• Bruce flipped over the table for cover when four bullets tore through the one-way glass toward him.

Bruce and Wade kidnapped Nick Fury from S.H.I.E.L.D. and escaped in a bulletproof truck, but Natasha Romanoff and Taskmaster caught up with them. Wade recognized Taskmaster as someone he had fought alongside in another timeline.

• Wade broke free of his handcuffs, and Bruce and Wade subdued Nick Fury and demanded to know where the Tesseract was.
• Wade took Nick Fury hostage as Bruce and Wade escaped S.H.I.E.L.D. in an autonomous bulletproof truck.
• Wade used an electromagnetic disruptor and smoke generators to slow the pursuing agents while Bruce drove through side roads to a hidden equipment cache.
• Natasha Romanoff and Taskmaster caught up with Bruce and Wade on motorcycles.
• Wade recognized Taskmaster and brushed off Natasha when she asked where Nick Fury was.

Wade fought Natasha and Taskmaster, injuring Natasha and trading brutal blows with Taskmaster before Batman captured him. Taskmaster tried to escape Batman’s restraints, but a sniper shot dropped him, and Wade collapsed shortly afterward.

• Wade attacked Natasha, stabbed her calf, and shocked her through the wound until she lost consciousness.
• Taskmaster struck Wade with his shield, but Wade fired at him and accidentally used the Widow’s Bite to shoot Natasha.
• Wade and Taskmaster copied each other’s twin-blade techniques, and Wade’s willingness to trade injuries forced Taskmaster to retreat.
• Batman ambushed Taskmaster, trapped him in a capture net, and weakened him with a liquid-nitrogen sprayer carrying anesthetic.
• Taskmaster broke free and tried to flee, but a sniper shot dropped him; Batman began evading as Wade collapsed.

Batman forced Nick Fury to escape S.H.I.E.L.D. forces and follow a map to the Tesseract, warning him about Hydra and a special protocol. As they came under attack from armed vehicles and helicopters, a Quinjet arrived to help them.

• Batman dodged S.H.I.E.L.D. sniper fire, gave Nick Fury a computer and an Unlocker, and urged him to escape with Wade.
• Nick Fury freed himself, drove away with Batman and Wade, and followed the map toward the Tesseract despite doubting Batman’s claims.
• Nick Fury contacted Maria Hill, who reported that S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters was in defense mode and that she could not reach Pierce.
• Batman warned Nick Fury that Hydra might reach the Tesseract first, and Nick ordered Hill to find the F Plan laboratory directory.
• Nick Fury drove through an encirclement and fled armed vehicles and helicopters until a red figure destroyed the helicopters and a Quinjet arrived.

Miao Mu brought Captain America, Tony, and Wade to Nick Fury and pushed him to abandon S.H.I.E.L.D. in favor of forming the Avengers. Fury agreed to pursue the Tesseract and equip Steve, while Wade was unexpectedly named leader of the new team.

• Nick Fury saw Steve Rogers emerge from the Quinjet and learned that Miao Mu had brought him back to help fight Hydra.
• Miao Mu brought Nick Fury and Wade aboard, told Fury that Hydra had infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D., and urged him to replace it with the Avengers.
• Nick Fury agreed to retrieve Steve's equipment from a sealed base and asked who would lead the Avengers.
• Miao Mu presented Wade as the Avengers' leader, and Nick Fury, Tony, and Steve all accepted him for the role.
• Steve boarded the Quinjet and asked what the mission required, while Wade collapsed from excitement at being named captain.

Miao Mu kept Nick Fury from resisting the F-35 escorts and questioned Steve about choosing between America and the world. Wade presented a ridiculous plan to raid a Hydra base and turn a destroyer into Avengers headquarters, and the team agreed to begin the mission without him.

• Miao Mu threatened the F-35 pilots over the radio while Nick Fury flew the Quinjet, and the team gathered aboard as JARVIS took photos.
• Miao Mu challenged Steve to decide whether America or the world mattered more and urged him to learn about the present-day United States.
• Wade presented a crude plan to raid a Hydra base, seize its supplies, and convert a nearby destroyer into a flying Avengers headquarters called the Air Cannon.
• Steve asked how they would handle the base's innocent soldiers, and Miao Mu said they would knock them unconscious.
• Tony revealed that he had transferred Stark Industries to Obadiah Stane and shorted its shares, while Batman and Deathstroke agreed to start the mission and send Wade home.

Miao Mu, Wade, and their allies raided Military Base 6311 to seize the Tesseract, with Nick Fury piloting the Quinjet and Tony Stark fighting off pursuing aircraft. After crashing into the base, the group confronted its defenders, and Tony destroyed their armored vehicles to demand their surrender.

• Nick Fury flew the Quinjet at low altitude toward the base while Miao Mu urged him to seize the Tesseract before nightfall.
• Tony Stark deployed flying mechanical parts that destroyed one pursuing F-35 and forced the other to evade.
• The Quinjet crashed through the roof of Military Base 6311's command center, and Wade led the group into the base.
• Miao Mu shot a machine gunner while Tony assembled his upgraded Mark III Armor from airborne components.
• Tony threw a Spherical Lightning at the base's armored vehicles, destroying them, then demanded that the defenders surrender.

Nick Fury, Miao Mu, and Wade searched the base warehouse for the Tesseract while Batman, Captain America, Tony Stark, and Deathstroke fought the soldiers outside. They escaped with the Tesseract and a haul of stolen equipment, and Wade proposed robbing a destroyer next.

• Nick Fury, Miao Mu, and Wade entered the base’s underground warehouse while Deathstroke held off the soldiers at the door.
• Tony Stark destroyed three helicopters, while Batman and Captain America fought soldiers for control of the surveillance room and command center.
• Nick Fury searched for the crate marked F331254G as Miao Mu and Wade pried open crates and stole equipment, specimens, and dinosaur meat.
• Nick Fury found the Tesseract and urged Miao Mu and Wade to leave the warehouse.
• Miao Mu froze the railing with a magical item, and Wade pulled out a plan to rob a destroyer as they rode the elevator out.

After destroying a missile aimed at them, Miao Mu and his allies escaped the military base with the Tesseract and prepared to use Magneto as leverage against the government. The group split up in flight, with Steve and Nick Fury heading toward the Capitol Building as the Avengers planned to expose Hydra and establish themselves as a force protecting the world.

• Tony Stark destroyed the incoming missile with a laser, while Miao Mu asked Deathstroke whether they should steal a warship or escape.
• Miao Mu took the Tesseract and recruited Nick Fury into the Avengers, and Nick suggested using Magneto in the Glass Prison as a bargaining chip.
• Miao Mu and his allies left the base after Batman and the others disabled its core, while Tony dismantled his mech and prepared thrusters to carry them into the sky.
• Tony used his armor and the makeshift aircraft to provide cover as the group flew away from the military forces.
• Miao Mu ordered Steve and Nick Fury to head for the Capitol Building, while Captain America resolved to help keep the Avengers and the United States from becoming enemies.

After the Avengers were reorganized under a council and Captain America became their public face, Miao Mu prepared to leave for another world with Tony and Steve. Batman activated the Tesseract with the Time Watch, Smile Pocket, and Teleportation Fluid, though they still did not know where they would arrive.

• The U.S. government agreed to form the Avengers under a council, abolish S.H.I.E.L.D., and make Captain America its public spokesperson while blaming Hydra for past abuses.
• Pepper Potts bought Stark Industries, while Wade interviewed new recruits and Nick Fury watched him closely, unable to contact Miao Mu or Tony.
• Steve Rogers secretly returned to the underground headquarters, where Tony tested his Mark VII armor and Miao Mu prepared to depart through a machine built to reach another world.
• Steve and Miao Mu exchanged farewells, and Miao Mu joked that he wanted to go home to his wife while Steve said he would remember them.
• Batman activated the pale blue energy of the Tesseract with the Time Watch, Smile Pocket, and Teleportation Fluid as the group prepared for an unknown destination.

Wade was sent by Loki to guard the altered timeline after throwing the Tesseract into an unknown world. Batman, Deathstroke, and Miao Mu returned to the Batcave, where a fight broke out when Miao Mu learned Deathstroke's target was Batwoman.

• Wade emerged in the Time Variance Authority and met Loki, who confronted him about the missing Tesseract.
• Loki sent Wade through a portal to keep the altered world alive and tossed in Wade's broken watch as well.
• Batman, Deathstroke, and Miao Mu arrived in the Batcave and checked that they had returned to their own world.
• Deathstroke said his target was Batwoman, prompting Miao Mu to fire at him.
• Deathstroke blocked Miao Mu's bullets with his alloy greatsword, then reacted with confusion when Miao Mu called Batwoman his wife.

Miao Mu and Deathstroke teased Batman about a parallel-universe Batwoman who had married Miao Mu, then nearly came to blows. Deathstroke agreed to postpone his contract, while Batman warned Miao Mu he would visit him.

• Miao Mu pointed his revolver at Deathstroke after revealing that Batwoman was his wife, and Batman demanded to know her identity.
• Deathstroke told Batman that Miao Mu's wife was the other world's version of him, named Brucie Miao, and that they planned a small wedding in Metropolis.
• Miao Mu attacked Deathstroke after he mocked Batman, but Batman ordered them to take their fight outside.
• Miao Mu demanded that Deathstroke abandon his job; Deathstroke postponed the mission until he could check whether his client was alive and collect his payment.
• Miao Mu asked to borrow a Batmobile, but Batman told him to use his own car and warned that he would visit him.