Chapter Summaries

Lin Du channeled the Cosmic Cube’s power, crushed it with his bare hand, and stunned Loki and Nick Fury. He then blocked Loki’s Mind Stone attack, took the Scepter, and removed the Mind Stone.

• Nick urged Lin Du to flee, but Lin Du said he could deal with Loki and reached for the Cosmic Cube.
• The Cube’s power flooded Lin Du as he grasped it, and he crushed it with his bare hand.
• Loki and Nick were shocked by Lin Du’s power, while Loki considered him a threat to Asgard.
• Loki raised his Scepter to control Lin Du, but Lin Du blocked its attack with an invisible barrier.
• Lin Du appeared before Loki, took the Scepter, and removed the Mind Stone into his palm.

Lin Du claimed the Mind Stone and fused it into the supreme Mind Law, awakening the power to perceive and control minds. As Loki prepared to escape with Hawkeye Barton and Dr. Selvig, Lin Du instead healed Nick Fury’s arrow wound.

• Lin Du blocked Loki’s attacks and touched the Mind Stone, starting its fusion process.
• Lin Du awakened the Mind Law, gaining the ability to sense and command minds.
• Loki tried to flee, while Nick Fury called out to Lin Du; Hawkeye Barton shot Nick in the shoulder under Loki’s control.
• Loki approached Nick and prepared to leave with Barton and Dr. Selvig.
• Lin Du appeared beside Nick and used his power to stop the bleeding and heal his wound.

Lin Du evacuated Nick and the S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel through a Portal before Loki’s use of the Mind Stone destroyed most of the base. With many agents missing and others trapped beneath the wreckage, Nick faced a worsening crisis as Loki escaped.

• Loki escaped with Dr. Selvig and the unconscious Hawkeye Barton, while Lin Du took the Mind Stone from him.
• Lin Du opened a Portal and sent Nick and the S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel to safety as their base began to collapse.
• The Time-Space Gate exploded, destroying more than half of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s base.
• Lin Du explained that Loki had used the Mind Stone to open the Time-Space Gate and cause greater chaos.
• A young agent told Nick that most agents were out of contact and many people remained trapped beneath the base.

Nick coordinated the rescue while Lin Du revealed that Loki would come after the Mind Stone and Space Stone he had taken. Loki regrouped with Hawkeye and the doctor, learning that the doctor also wanted the Cosmic Cube and proposing they work together against S.H.I.E.L.D.

• Nick ordered rescue procedures and sent an agent to find Thor, then asked Lin Du how they could track Loki.
• Lin Du said Loki would reveal himself to reclaim the Mind Stone and Space Stone, and assured Nick that he had prepared for Loki's moves.
• Loki fled through an alley with Hawkeye and the doctor, still furious that Lin Du had taken the stones and disrupted his plan.
• Loki questioned the doctor about the Cosmic Cube, and the doctor admitted he wanted to take it back too.
• Loki offered the doctor security in exchange for working together against S.H.I.E.L.D.

After Loki lost the Mind Stone and the two gems tied to time and space, he resolved to take them back. Lin Du experimented with the three gems and successfully fused the powers of the Mind Stone, Time Stone, and Space Stone into a new energy.

• Loki discarded the powerless Scepter and vowed to reclaim the gems.
• Lin Du used the Mind Stone to sense and influence the kitten’s thoughts.
• Lin Du began merging the Mind Stone’s power with the Time Stone’s energy.
• The Space Stone’s energy disrupted the fusion, pushing Lin Du’s mind to the brink of collapse.
• Lin Du’s willpower steadied the conflicting energies, and they fused into an unprecedented new energy.

Lin Du fused the Time Stone and Space Stone into a new power that let him manipulate time and space, while Loki planned an attack on S.H.I.E.L.D. and ordered his followers to strike the New York Sanctum. The chapter left Loki moving against Lin Du as Lin Du sat unaware of the impending attack.

• Lin Du created Time-Space Control and discovered that it could affect souls and memories as well as time.
• Lin Du fused the Time Stone and Space Stone, then froze time, opened a rift, and shaped an independent world with his will.
• Loki questioned Hawkeye Clinton about S.H.I.E.L.D.'s defenses, and Doctor Selvig warned him that Lin Du was a major obstacle.
• Doctor Selvig told Loki that Lin Du had defeated Dormammu, protected the Hong Kong Sanctum, and possessed the Time Stone.
• Loki ordered his followers to attack the New York Sanctum and break its guards.

Loki confessed to Thanos that he had lost the Cosmic Cube and Mind Stone, and that a mortal on Earth possessed three stones. Thanos gave Loki one final chance but set course for Blue Star himself, while Kamar-Taj learned that the New York Sanctum was under attack by powerful enemies.

• Loki contacted Thanos and admitted he had failed to retrieve the Cosmic Cube and had lost the Mind Stone.
• Loki told Thanos that a mortal had taken the Mind Stone and also possessed the Time Stone and Space Stone.
• Thanos granted Loki one final chance to recover the stones and warned him of the consequences of another failure.
• Thanos ordered his warship to head for Blue Star and activated its attack sequence.
• A young sorcerer reported to Wong and Mordo that powerful enemies had attacked the New York Sanctum and destroyed its defenses.
• Mordo went to the window to assess the threat approaching Earth.

Loki’s forces attacked the New York Sanctum while Lin Du was away, and Mordo urgently summoned him. Lin Du arrived with Nick Fury and Black Widow, confronted Loki, and faced him as their battle was about to begin.

• Mordo and Wong rallied Earth’s sorcerers and sent Lin Du an urgent message as dark creatures overwhelmed the Sanctum’s defenses.
• Doctor Strange struggled to hold off the attackers while Lin Du worked at a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility with the Cosmic Cube’s power.
• Mordo informed Lin Du that the Sanctum was under attack, and Lin Du recognized Loki as the enemy.
• Lin Du opened a portal and went to the Sanctum with Nick Fury and Black Widow.
• Lin Du confronted Loki amid the ruined Sanctum, and the two prepared to fight.
• Lin Du stood in a forest clearing holding the Mind Stone as he faced Loki.

Lin Du defeated Loki after stopping his controlled army and overwhelming him with a mental attack. Loki admitted his mistake as Lin Du left him defeated and powerless to rise.

• Loki sent his controlled army to attack Lin Du, but Lin Du froze them with Spatial Isolation.
• Lin Du struck Loki repeatedly, then Loki used a forbidden spell by sacrificing blood to empower his Scepter.
• Lin Du unleashed Mind Storm and brought Loki down, leaving him battered and unable to rise.
• Loki asked whether Lin Du had truly won, and Lin Du confirmed it before telling him he had never controlled anything.
• Loki acknowledged that he had been wrong, and Lin Du walked over to Nick and the others.

Loki attempted to bewitch Lin Du, but Lin Du turned the spell against him and forced him to reveal that Thanos had sent him to retrieve the Mind Stone. With Thanos threatening Blue Star if Loki failed, Lin Du saw a chance to test whether he could fuse some of Thanos’s power.

• While Lin Du discussed their next move with Nick, Loki secretly began casting the Bewitchment Technique.
• Lin Du sensed Loki’s magic, interrupted the spell, and trapped Loki in an illusion that left him under Lin Du’s control.
• Nick and Natasha joined Lin Du, and Natasha said she had informed Thor so he could deal with Loki.
• Under Lin Du’s influence, Loki revealed that Thanos had given him the Scepter and Mind Stone and would descend upon Blue Star if he failed to retrieve them.
• Lin Du recognized the threat as an opportunity to test whether he could fuse some of Thanos’s power.