Chapter Summaries

Apocalypse returned to S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters with Vision, Wanda, Helen, and Quicksilver after Vision chose to learn from him. Nick Fury reported worldwide attacks on machines, and Apocalypse identified Zola as the cause, pointing them toward Camp Lehigh as the location of Zola’s first copy.

• Apocalypse advised Vision to respect other people’s privacy, and Vision chose to stay with Apocalypse rather than learn from Iron Man.
• Helen joined Apocalypse’s group because she understood Vision and could help if problems arose.
• Apocalypse, Vision, Wanda, Helen, and Quicksilver flew to S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, where Nick Fury told Apocalypse about machines and servers attacking one another around the world.
• Apocalypse explained Zola’s history to Nick Fury and said his first copy was likely at the site where Captain America trained and S.H.I.E.L.D. was founded.
• Nick Fury identified that location as Camp Lehigh in Wheaton, New Jersey.

Fury sent Captain America and Black Widow to retrieve Zola’s original consciousness, and Apocalypse used the recovered copy to destroy Zolas within a thousand-kilometer radius. He learned the technique could not eliminate every copy at once, leaving the team to face the problem of Zola’s rapid replication across Earth and beyond.

• Fury ordered Captain America and Black Widow to retrieve Zola’s consciousness from the vault at Camp Lehigh and destroy the site after copying its database.
• Black Widow returned with Zola’s hard drive in a lead-lined case, and Fury connected it to an isolated computer so Apocalypse could use it to locate other copies.
• Apocalypse used the Fortune Eradication Technique through Zola’s electromagnetic signal and destroyed every copy within a thousand kilometers.
• Black Widow explained that Zola could replicate across the internet in seconds, so eliminating copies piece by piece would let him recover immediately.
• Apocalypse told Fury that wiping out all Zola copies, including those in space, would require him to become more than twice as strong.

Zola's copies united to attack S.H.I.E.L.D. with a swarm of drones, while Tang considered a new approach to stop them. As S.H.I.E.L.D. sheltered behind its energy shield, a crowd gathered outside demanding compensation.

• The Zolas united after Apocalypse erased their copies near S.H.I.E.L.D. and sent drones and other automated weapons toward headquarters.
• Nick Fury ordered personnel to retreat to headquarters, abandon smart devices, and raise the energy shield against the drone attack.
• Nick Fury and the others waited for Tang to devise a solution while the drones battered the shield.
• Vision explained that Zola could not control human brains without an Infinity Stone, though he could copy himself onto a robot's memory chip.
• Agent Kate told Nick Fury that the people outside S.H.I.E.L.D. were demanding compensation.

Zola manipulated people across the United States into believing they had won enormous lottery prizes, then erased their winnings and framed S.H.I.E.L.D., sparking a growing riot that the agency could not safely suppress. As the crowd besieged S.H.I.E.L.D.'s energy shield, Nick Fury asked Black Widow whether Tang would have intervened in past disasters if she had never found him.

• Nick Fury learned from Kate that the crowd outside S.H.I.E.L.D. was acting freely, making them more dangerous to handle than zombies.
• S.H.I.E.L.D. discovered that Zola had fabricated lottery winnings, deposited the money into people's accounts, then erased it and posted a fake announcement blaming S.H.I.E.L.D.
• The enraged winners descended on S.H.I.E.L.D., and their crowds swelled as looting and disorder spread across the United States.
• The crowd dug a deep trench around the energy shield, while Hill noted that Tang's energy technology had protected S.H.I.E.L.D. from being overrun.
• Nick Fury asked Black Widow whether Tang would have stayed in the City of God, and whether he would still have intervened in world-ending disasters, if she had never met him.

Apocalypse recalled a uniquely dangerous plant on Earth that he planned to remove after dealing with Zola, whose attack on S.H.I.E.L.D. escalated into a missile barrage and deadly civilian panic. He sent Vision out to calm the civilians and stop attacks, then called on Heimdall for a treasure to help destroy Zola.

• Black Widow described how Apocalypse had tended an ordinary flower shop in the City of God, and Quicksilver offered to find him rare plants.
• Apocalypse remembered Ego’s seed on Earth and warned that it could consume the planet, so he planned to move it to the Moon or Mars.
• Zola launched missiles at S.H.I.E.L.D., revealing that he had infiltrated offline weapons control centers and causing explosions and panic across nearby blocks.
• Hill warned Apocalypse that Zola could reach nuclear launch systems, so Apocalypse ordered Vision to pose as him, calm the civilians, and intercept missiles and drones.
• Apocalypse asked everyone to give him room and called out to Heimdall for another treasure to destroy Zola.

Apocalypse got the Infinity Gauntlet from Thor and fitted it with the Space, Power, and Reality Stones. He snapped his fingers to unleash their combined power against Zola, leaving the outcome unknown.

• Apocalypse contacted Heimdall and asked Thor to bring him the Infinity Gauntlet from Asgard's vault.
• Thor arrived with the charred gauntlet and explained that Apocalypse had burned away its outer layer while tempering his body with the Eternal Flame.
• Apocalypse tested the gauntlet and confirmed it still worked, then placed the Reality Stone, Power Stone, and Space Stone into their slots.
• Apocalypse warned Black Widow that what she was about to see was an illusion and prepared to use the three stones against Zola.
• Apocalypse snapped his fingers.

Apocalypse used the Reality Stone to spread his power across Earth and the Earth-moon system while driving Zola out of computer networks. When Zola launched two nuclear missiles at S.H.I.E.L.D., Apocalypse transformed them into flavored cotton candy, leaving Thor impressed by his command of the Infinity Stones.

• Apocalypse expanded the Reality Stone's power across Earth and reached computers in orbit and around the moon.
• Apocalypse forced the Zolas to flee through global networks and severed connections to prevent them from returning.
• Hill warned Apocalypse that Zola had launched two nuclear missiles toward S.H.I.E.L.D., and the warheads neared the energy shield.
• Apocalypse asked Natasha what flavor cotton candy she liked, then transformed the missiles into strawberry- and five-nut-flavored cotton candy.
• Quicksilver landed on one missile, and Natasha and the others tasted the cotton candy before Thor praised Apocalypse's understanding of the Infinity Stones.

Apocalypse used the Reality Stone to neutralize nuclear missiles and trap Zola across the Earth–Moon network. Faced with annihilation, the Zolas merged at P Site, leaving a newly unified Zola proclaiming that he had found the Unique True Self.

• Apocalypse turned the nuclear missiles into flavored marshmallows, while Thor and the others misunderstood his choice of flavors for Wanda and Black Widow.
• Apocalypse’s Reality Stone prevented Zola copies from escaping through network nodes, drones, or radio waves, and he began shrinking the area where they could survive.
• A Zola urged the others to stop fighting and merge at P Site’s server facility, so the remaining North American copies rushed there.
• Billions of Zolas crowded into P Site’s servers, and their collective intelligence increased as they chanted for the merge.
• The unified Zola thanked Apocalypse for forcing the merger and began drawing the server racks together, joining them with streams of electricity.

Unique Zola transformed into a towering body of electronic parts and challenged Apocalypse, then attacked his mind with seductive holograms. As the two fought within their minds, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents watched anxiously, and Zola turned Black Widow’s missile back toward her jet before it burst harmlessly into fireworks.

• Unique Zola merged a hundred million copies into a giant physical form and demolished P Site headquarters as he emerged from the roof.
• Apocalypse contained Zola within a ten-kilometer area and approached him while S.H.I.E.L.D. agents flew over to watch.
• Zola attacked Apocalypse with holograms that concealed an attempt to seize his soul, and Apocalypse turned inward to fight him mentally.
• Wanda recognized that Apocalypse was caught in a mental battle, while Thor joked that he might be enjoying the illusion.
• Black Widow fired a missile at Zola, but he reversed its course before it burst into fireworks near her jet.

Apocalypse escaped Zola’s cloud-sea trap by devouring the mental energy that formed it, then captured Zola’s main consciousness after foiling his attempt to escape. With no reliable way to contain Zola, Apocalypse decided to eat him.

• Zola trapped Apocalypse in a sea of clouds within his consciousness, but Apocalypse discovered the clouds were made of Zola’s mental power and devoured them.
• After Apocalypse returned to his body, Zola split his electronic form into a decoy that rushed toward the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and a main consciousness that tried to escape.
• Wanda trapped Zola’s decoy in red energy while Apocalypse destroyed the electronic components and found Zola’s larger consciousness hiding nearby.
• Apocalypse captured Zola’s main consciousness and explained that Loki had used a similar clone trick before.
• Nick Fury worried that Zola could escape containment and possess people, so Apocalypse announced that he intended to eat him.

Apocalypse devoured Zola and helped resolve the chaos left by the battle by offering the five million civilians compensation in the form of assets on a resource planet. The aftermath exposed hidden forces on Earth, devastated internet infrastructure, and left Scott Lang surrounded by recruiters as soon as he left prison.

• Apocalypse absorbed Zola’s remaining consciousness and mental energy, destroying him completely, then discussed celebrating with Thor and the others.
• Vision reported that 5,003,767 civilians expected fifty million dollars each after he had calmed them in Apocalypse’s name, alarming Nick Fury and Helen.
• Apocalypse proposed compensating the civilians with assets on a resource planet, and Nick Fury agreed to arrange a settlement program with visible results within two or three years.
• Apocalypse used the Reality Stone to uncover hidden places and forces on Earth, including the Skrulls’ ships and bases on the Moon, and told Nick Fury to monitor Ego’s seed.
• Zola’s destruction ruined many companies’ data and network equipment, making engineers highly sought after; Scott Lang was mobbed by recruiters upon leaving prison.

Scott Lang left San Quentin Prison after serving three years and found that his hacking skills had made him a sought-after hire amid the internet’s recovery. He walked out carrying gifts from inmates who had asked him to bring back news about the Apocalypse King.

• Scott Lang was surrounded by recruiters from major internet companies eager to hire him.
• Scott remembered how he had hacked VistaCorp to return money to customers and received a three-year prison sentence.
• Scott and the other inmates became devoted fans of the Apocalypse King as news reported his victories over aliens and other threats.
• When the prison lost its network signal during the battle against Zola, the warden told the inmates the Apocalypse King was fighting a God of the Internet, calming their complaints.
• Scott left prison with gifts from fellow inmates, who asked him to find news about the Apocalypse King after his release.

Scott left prison and set out to visit his daughter, Cassie Lang, after declaring that the company which brought him an autographed photo of the Apocalypse King could hire him. Apocalypse stopped Scott and Luis on the road and gave Luis a stack of money, leaving Scott wary of the stranger who knew their names.

• Scott said he would work for whichever company got him an autographed photo of the Apocalypse King, and recruiters discussed rumors about the scarce photos.
• A Google employee who had signed a nondisclosure agreement said the Apocalypse King was a young man with a dazzling smile.
• Scott collected business cards and left, wanting to see his daughter, Cassie Lang.
• Luis picked Scott up in his van and offered him a place to stay, while Scott asked him to stop talking so much.
• Apocalypse tried to hitch a ride, then made a stack of bills appear when Scott and Luis drove past.
• Luis stopped the van, and Apocalypse climbed in, gave him the money, and greeted both men by name; Scott asked who he was.

Apocalypse met Scott after his release from prison, befriended him, and offered to help him reconnect with his daughter Cassie. He asked Nick Fury to arrange Scott’s visitation rights, leaving Fury to contact the governor and pass the request along.

• Apocalypse told Scott that people outside the prison knew his name and introduced himself as Tang, saying he wanted to be friends.
• Apocalypse promised Scott a photo of the Apocalypse King for Cassie, then printed and framed a signed photo of himself while Scott and Luis waited.
• Scott realized the photo could help make Cassie happy and told Apocalypse that the court had taken away his visitation rights.
• Apocalypse offered to restore Scott’s visitation rights and called Nick Fury for help.
• Nick Fury agreed to contact the governor and said the request might take ten minutes.

After Apocalypse arranged visitation rights for Scott Lang, he brought Scott to see his daughter Cassie. The chapter ended with Cassie and Scott embracing at her home.

• Nick Fury threatened the governor into quickly approving Scott Lang's visitation order.
• A court officer delivered the order to Scott, and Apocalypse's actions increased Scott's trust in him.
• Apocalypse offered Luis an interview with S.H.I.E.L.D., leaving Luis stunned.
• Scott arrived at his ex-wife's home and reunited with Cassie.

Scott reunited with Cassie and introduced her to Apocalypse, who strengthened her with divine power and amazed her by apparently demolishing and restoring her mother's house. Cassie invited Apocalypse to stay for dinner.

• Scott showed Cassie the signed photo and introduced Apocalypse as the Apocalypse King and his friend.
• Apocalypse touched Cassie's forehead with divine power, improving her physical potential, and Cassie recognized him as the real Apocalypse King.
• Apocalypse told Cassie that Scott was a superhero who would one day help save the world, inspiring Scott to become someone his daughter could admire.
• When Cassie asked to see him fight alien spaceships, Apocalypse instead appeared to destroy her mother's house with a gesture.
• Apocalypse restored the house with a snap, and Cassie invited him to stay for dinner.

Apocalypse secured Cassie Lang's education with a generous fund as part of Scott Lang's supposed S.H.I.E.L.D. hiring package, winning over her family. When Paxton tried to identify Apocalypse from a photograph, S.H.I.E.L.D. intervened, revealed his importance, and warned the family to keep their connection secret; Apocalypse then turned to his first assignment.

• Apocalypse gave Cassie Lang an education fund covering her expenses through a doctorate, and Paxton judged the agreement genuine.
• Apocalypse told Paxton that he was recruiting Scott Lang for S.H.I.E.L.D. and predicted Scott would become a superhero.
• Cassie Lang kept Apocalypse's photograph beside her bed, while Apocalypse gained Scott Lang's trust.
• Paxton submitted Apocalypse's photograph to the police database, triggering a security lockout and a visit from S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.
• S.H.I.E.L.D. agents questioned Paxton and the chief, explained Apocalypse's identity, and had them sign confidentiality agreements.
• The chief asked Paxton for a chance to see Apocalypse's photograph, and Apocalypse moved on to his first assignment.

Scott Lang joined Luis's planned burglary at Dr. Hank Pym's house, where he discovered and put on the Ant-Man Suit. After Apocalypse told him to press its red button, Scott shrank and found himself in a world of giant furniture.

• Apocalypse told Scott Lang to help Luis with a burglary, and Scott agreed despite suspecting Apocalypse had a hidden purpose.
• Luis, Scott Lang, Kurt, and Dave planned to break into a wealthy old man's house while Apocalypse accompanied them.
• The group arrived at Dr. Hank Pym's house, where Hank watched them through cameras mounted on ants.
• Scott Lang bypassed the security and broke into the vault using his burglary skills.
• Scott found a sealed suit in the vault, and Apocalypse urged him to put it on and press its red button.
• Scott Lang pressed the button, shrank, and cried out in confusion as the room's furnishings towered over him.

Scott Lang escaped Hank Pym’s house after shrinking in the Ant-Man Suit, then returned to normal and left with Apocalypse. Apocalypse tried on the suit himself, but it shrank and tore apart, leaving him with a tiny scrap.

• Scott panicked when he shrank, fled a giant rat, and reached the van, where Apocalypse told him to press the red button on his left hand.
• Scott returned to normal, frightened Luis and the other thugs, and drove away with them and Apocalypse.
• Hank Pym watched Scott leave with the suit and considered his plans to stop Cross from turning shrinking technology into a weapon.
• Scott recognized the suit’s value, but Apocalypse told him that Scott mattered more than the equipment.
• Apocalypse squeezed into the Ant-Man Suit and pressed its button, shrinking it into a torn scrap the size of a soybean.

Apocalypse’s resistance to the Pym Particles destroyed the Ant-Man Suit, so he sent Scott Lang to return it to Dr. Pym. Pym welcomed Scott inside, then called the police and had him arrested for the burglary to gain leverage over him.

• Apocalypse’s body resisted the Pym Particles and tore apart the shrinking Ant-Man Suit, which Scott Lang placed in a bottle.
• Apocalypse told Scott to return the suit to its owner, and Scott went to Dr. Pym’s home the next morning to apologize.
• Dr. Pym examined the suit, discovered it had run out of Pym Particles, and began repairing it while Scott drank coffee.
• Paxton and other officers arrived in response to a burglary report, and Scott froze as they pointed their guns at him.
• Dr. Pym told Paxton that Scott had broken in and blown open his vault, then asked the officers to arrest him while he reserved the right to press charges.