Recaps

Loren explained that Hydra had engineered the explosions and street conflict to turn the public against superpowered individuals and force him to leave Earth. As protesters surrounded Morgan Manor, he decided to deal with Hydra and then make everyone forget what had happened.

• News broadcasts blamed unregistered superpowered individuals for the deaths, and thousands of protesters gathered outside Morgan Manor to condemn Loren.
• Mai Shiranui, Tifa, Marie Rose, Tsunade, and the others watched the hostile coverage from inside the manor, while Tsunade apologized to Loren for acting during the street conflict.
• Loren revealed that Hydra had used modified children as human bombs and had placed agents among the law enforcers to provoke a massacre and frame the women.
• Loren told Mai Shiranui that Hydra, not her, was responsible for the deaths, and she cried in his arms.
• When Tsunade and Android 18 questioned what he would do about the public backlash, Loren said he would deal with Hydra and make everyone forget about the incident.

Loren went to Hydra’s Washington headquarters and used the Dark Magic Origin to erase its leaders and members across the world. The next morning, he used the same power to make everyone forget the protests and the events surrounding them.

• Loren told Wanda to protect everyone and vanished from the manor.
• Loren appeared at Hydra’s underground headquarters as its executives celebrated their campaign against him.
• Loren used the Dark Magic Origin to erase Hydra’s executives and agents, declaring that none of its thirty-seven bases would remain.
• Loren walked out to face the protesters and ordered them to forget everything.
• The protesters’ memories and all records of the incident were erased from reality.

Loren erased the protests and destroyed Hydra, then returned to his manor and celebrated with its residents. Outside, intelligence agencies struggled to explain Hydra’s sudden disappearance, while the Superhero Registration Act kept the civil war going.

• Loren rewrote reality so the protesters and reporters forgot the conspiracy, leaving only memories of the civilian deaths as an accidental explosion.
• Loren returned to the manor, where Mai Shiranui, Tsunade, Tifa, and the others welcomed and pampered him.
• Loren confirmed to Tsunade that the protesters had forgotten everything and Hydra was gone.
• S.H.I.E.L.D., the CIA, MI6, and Mossad investigated Hydra’s unexplained disappearance but found no evidence of what had happened.
• The public remained unaware of Hydra and Loren’s actions, while the Superhero Registration Act kept the civil war going.

Tony Stark discovered that Bucky Barnes had killed his parents while under Hydra’s control and confronted him with the mission record. Bucky recognized the evidence, and Tony demanded to know whether Steve had known.

• Bucky Barnes obeyed the Registration Act as an enforcement consultant, despite believing he did not deserve redemption or a peaceful life.
• Tony Stark found a 1991 S.H.I.E.L.D. archive identifying the Winter Soldier as the executor of Howard Stark’s killing.
• Tony watched footage of Bucky attacking his parents’ car and killing Howard, then sat in shock and anger.
• The next day, Tony visited Bucky’s Brooklyn apartment and showed him the mission report.
• Bucky remembered killing Howard, and Tony asked whether Steve had known.

Tony learned that Bucky had killed his parents and confronted him, while discovering that Steve had hidden the truth. Tony spared Bucky but ended his friendship with Steve and declared them enemies.

• Steve found Bucky in his apartment and watched the video Tony had shown him, realizing Tony knew the truth about his parents.
• Bucky blamed Steve for hiding the truth and asked him not to interfere when Tony came for revenge, but Steve vowed to protect him.
• After a day locked in his lab, Tony put on his armor and flew to Bucky's apartment, where Steve stood between them.
• Tony confronted Steve for keeping quiet, and Bucky admitted killing Howard and Maria and offered no resistance.
• Tony lowered his repulsor instead of killing Bucky, then told Steve they were no longer friends and were now enemies before flying away.

A Skrull commander launched a plan to impersonate Tony Stark and kill Bucky Barnes, hoping to frame Iron Man and split him from Captain America. The impostor confronted Bucky in Brooklyn, but Bucky recognized that he was not the real Tony, and the two faced off.

• Tony returned to Stark Tower, removed his armor, and withdrew to his bedroom while Pepper watched over him.
• A Skrull commander ordered an impostor to kill Bucky and post footage of Iron Man doing it to drive a wedge between the Avengers.
• A Skrull transformed into Tony Stark, put on a replica Iron Man suit, and prepared to carry out the plan.
• Bucky went to his usual Brooklyn café, bought black coffee, and thought about his childhood with Steve.
• The impostor confronted Bucky and aimed a repulsor at him, but Bucky deflected the shot and realized the man was not Tony.
• The impostor dropped the act and said he had come to kill Bucky.

Bucky exposed a Skrull disguised as Tony Stark and fought the counterfeit Iron Man through the streets and skies of Brooklyn. After the Skrull hurled him into a building and fired at him, Bucky escaped the blast and landed in an alley.

• Bucky recognized that the armored Tony Stark was a Skrull because his behavior and armor did not match the real Tony.
• The Skrull attacked Bucky with a Palm Cannon, and Bucky dodged the beam and threw a motorcycle at him.
• Bucky punched the Skrull’s armor, then escaped its grip and stabbed its neck seam with a Wakandan Vibranium dagger.
• The damaged Skrull armor flew upward with Bucky attached, then the Skrull hurled Bucky into a building.
• Bucky dodged the Skrull’s energy beams, caught ledges and fire escapes as he fell, and landed in an alley.

Bucky fought a Skrull disguised as Tony Stark in a Brooklyn alley and was killed as part of a plan to turn Steve Rogers against Tony. Sam showed Steve footage of the murder, leaving Steve to watch the video for himself.

• Bucky fought the armored Skrull in the alley but was badly wounded and unable to escape.
• The Skrull told Bucky that his death was meant to make Steve believe Tony had killed him and split the Avengers.
• The Skrull, wearing Tony Stark's face, killed Bucky and arranged for the recorded footage to be widely shared.
• Sam rushed into Steve's apartment and showed him the video, and Steve pressed play.

Steve watched drone footage of Tony killing Bucky in Brooklyn and rushed to confront Tony at Stark Tower. He accused Tony of breaking his promise, but Tony denied going after Bucky.

• Steve watched footage of Tony fighting Bucky and closing his eyes after Bucky fell to the ground.
• Steve asked Sam where Tony was, then ran across the Brooklyn Bridge to Stark Tower.
• Steve climbed the tower, smashed through a laboratory window, and confronted Tony.
• Steve demanded to know why Tony had gone after Bucky and killed him, but Tony denied it and told Steve to leave.

Steve confronted Tony with a video that appeared to show Tony killing Bucky, and the accusation led them into a brutal fight through Tony’s laboratory. Natasha, Sam, and Nick Fury arrived as the two men faced off, battered and exhausted.

• Steve showed Tony footage of someone in Tony’s armor killing Bucky in Brooklyn, but Tony denied being there.
• Steve attacked Tony, and the two fought through the laboratory as Tony insisted Steve should get up and keep fighting.
• Steve hesitated when Tony accused him of avenging Bucky by killing his own friend, allowing Tony to strike back.
• Steve and Tony resumed their brawl in the armor vault until Tony pressed a glowing reactor core to Steve’s chest and blasted him into a wall.
• Natasha entered with Sam and Nick Fury, and Fury ordered Steve and Tony to stop.

Nick Fury stopped Steve and Tony from fighting again and revealed that the killer in the video had been an impostor wearing a fake suit. Steve left to find Bucky’s killer, while Tony vowed to investigate himself and cut off contact for a week.

• Nick Fury told Steve and Tony that Bucky’s death and the video were real, but the person who killed Bucky was not Tony.
• JARVIS confirmed that none of Tony’s suits were missing and that the armor in the video was not an Iron Man suit made by Tony.
• Nick Fury warned Steve and Tony that their feud would help whoever was trying to turn their former comrades against each other.
• Steve left to find Bucky’s killer, and Tony held back from attacking him again.
• Tony decided to hunt down the real killer, ordered JARVIS to add biometric identification to every suit, and canceled his upcoming commitments.

Nick Fury sought Loren’s help after the Avengers fractured over Bucky Barnes’s death, but Loren refused to receive him and summoned Natasha and Seele instead. When they arrived, Loren set aside the Avengers crisis to address their personal matters first.

• Nick Fury waited outside Morgan Manor and was beaten by a Faceless Ones Robot when he tried to enter.
• Fury told Loren that someone impersonating Tony had killed Bucky Barnes, leaving the world blaming Iron Man and driving Tony and Steve apart.
• Loren told Fury that Morgan Manor did not receive male guests and asked him to send Natasha and Seele.
• Natasha and Seele entered the manor and met Loren in his study while Fury was kicked away again.
• Natasha explained that Fury wanted Loren to resolve the Avengers’ crisis, but Loren called on the two women to settle their personal matters first.

Natasha and Hill told Loren that Tony and Steve had split after a Skrull impersonator framed Tony for Bucky’s death, and Loren revealed the aliens’ long-running plan to infiltrate Earth. He refused to handle the threat for S.H.I.E.L.D., leaving Natasha and Hill to seek his help through their own means.

• Natasha showed Loren the aftermath of Tony and Steve’s fight and explained that their relationship had broken down after Bucky’s death.
• Loren identified the impostor as a Skrull and described the aliens’ infiltration abilities and invasion plan.
• Natasha read Loren’s notes, which named Tony, Steve, and Natasha as targets and revealed Skrulls had infiltrated Earth for at least fifty years.
• Loren said he would not give S.H.I.E.L.D. evidence or take responsibility for defeating the Skrulls, and he warned that Tony and Steve were unlikely to reconcile.
• Natasha and Hill asked Loren to help and then surrounded him, appealing to their skilled techniques.

Loren gave Natasha the locations of two Skrull sites and explained that he would let Tony and Steve learn the truth, leaving their reconciliation to time. He demonstrated his ability to erase memories on Hill, who forgot what had happened between them and began flirting with him again.

• Loren gave Natasha the addresses of a Skrull stronghold in New York and a contact station in London.
• Hill asked Loren whether he could make Tony and Steve reconcile, and he said he would leave that to time unless he needed to intervene himself.
• Loren told Natasha and Hill that he could erase anyone's memories and demonstrated by making Hill forget their recent encounter.
• Hill believed she and Loren had only discussed the Skrulls' Secret Invasion and began flirting with him, while Natasha realized he could repeat the memory erasure.
• Natasha urged Loren to withdraw his divine powers before he played Hill to death.

Natasha and Hill brought Nick Fury leads identifying the Skrulls as the force behind the crisis, and S.H.I.E.L.D. tracked them to an abandoned Brooklyn warehouse. There, Natasha’s team confronted a powerful Skrull wearing counterfeit Tony Stark armor, and the agents opened fire.

• Hill told Natasha she felt strangely dry after their meeting with Loren, while Natasha kept the reason to herself.
• Nick Fury met Natasha and Hill outside Morgan Manor, and Natasha gave him a pouch of information identifying the Skrulls behind the Secret Invasion.
• A few days later, Natasha and Hawkeye watched an abandoned Brooklyn warehouse as S.H.I.E.L.D. prepared to raid it.
• A blue energy beam cut through Natasha’s water tower, and Hawkeye used explosive arrows to spread smoke around the warehouse.
• A figure in counterfeit Tony Stark armor burst through the warehouse wall, and Fury ordered the agents to target its weak points.
• Twelve S.H.I.E.L.D. agents took position with alien-technology energy rifles, and the team opened fire.

Natasha and Hawkeye struggled to contain the Skrull in stolen Iron Man armor until Steve and Tony arrived together. The chapter ended with Captain America and Iron Man positioned to attack the Skrull from both sides.

• The Skrull dodged S.H.I.E.L.D.'s gunfire, overwhelmed the agents, and slammed Natasha into the pavement.
• Natasha escaped the Skrull's grip, while Hawkeye struck the armor with an EMP arrow that disrupted it for less than half a second.
• Steve told Natasha that he and Tony were heading to her location, and she ordered the agents to withdraw and hold an outer perimeter.
• Tony flew in from Manhattan as Steve ran across the Brooklyn Bridge, and they formed a pincer around the Skrull.
• The Skrull opened his faceplate, revealing a face identical to Tony Stark's.

A Skrull impersonating Tony Stark revealed his ability to copy the Avengers and overpowered Steve Rogers and Tony Stark in battle. As Steve charged him again, the Skrull used Quicksilver's speed to catch Steve's wrist and throw him into the air.

• The Skrull taunted Steve by claiming he had killed Bucky, while the real Tony and Steve launched a coordinated attack.
• The Skrull transformed into Hulk wearing Tony's armor, caught Steve's shield, and hurled it hard enough to send Steve through a brick wall.
• Tony attacked from the air, but the Skrull stretched his arm, pierced the Arc Reactor, and threw Tony through a building.
• Steve charged the Skrull with his fists to keep him away from Tony, and the Skrull shifted into a green-skinned form wearing the Mark Armor.
• The Skrull used Quicksilver's speed to dodge Steve's punch, grab his wrist, and throw him into the air.

Steve and Tony fought the Skrull impersonating Tony, but the alien overwhelmed them and escaped in Tony’s armor. The Skrull warned that a larger war was coming, leaving the battered heroes to return and make a new plan.

• The Skrull used his speed to pummel Steve and bragged that human strength was insignificant beside Skrull power.
• Tony emerged from the rubble with damaged armor and joined Steve, and the two stood together against the Skrull.
• The Skrull transformed into a silver-skinned form and unleashed an energy wave that battered Steve and swallowed Tony’s repulsor blast.
• The Skrull declared victory, warned that his people would soon come, and escaped into the night wearing Tony’s armor.
• Steve, Tony, and the injured Natasha remained amid the ruins, and they agreed to return and make a new plan.

Loren recognized the Skrull’s final disguise as Silver Surfer and feared it might mean Galactus had become relevant to Earth. He asked Alice to investigate where the Skrull had seen Silver Surfer.

• Loren replayed the footage of the Skrull changing from Hulk into a silver, cosmic-looking figure and recognized the form as Silver Surfer.
• Loren explained that Silver Surfer was Galactus’s herald and realized the Skrull must have seen the real figure to copy its appearance.
• Loren called Tifa and asked her to bring Alice to the study.
• Alice arrived, and Loren showed her the footage and asked her to find out where the Skrull had seen Silver Surfer.

Loren warned Alice that the Skrull who impersonated Silver Surfer might have exposed Earth to Galactus, and sent her to investigate. Alice tracked the Skrull to an abandoned Bronx apartment building and identified a likely disguise, arriving there at 4:42 a.m.

• Loren explained Silver Surfer's connection to Galactus and warned that Earth could be in danger if the Skrull had encountered him there.
• Loren asked Alice to find the Skrull and read his memories to learn where he had seen Silver Surfer.
• Alice searched surveillance cameras across North America and traced the Skrull's armor signature to an abandoned apartment building in the Bronx.
• Alice compared the gaits of twelve people leaving the building and identified a woman whose movement matched the Skrull's telltale pattern.
• Alice arrived at the Bronx apartment building at 4:42 a.m.

Alice tracked a Skrull to an abandoned building and confronted him to learn where he had seen the Silver Surfer. After the Skrull transformed into the Hulk, the confrontation continued.

• Alice entered the abandoned building and found a Skrull resting on the fourth floor.
• The Skrull transformed into a near-perfect Silver Surfer and claimed he could move dozens of times faster than sound.
• The Skrull tried to escape through a window, but Alice caught his ankle and hurled him through the floor.
• Alice landed on the third floor and demanded to know where the Skrull had seen the Silver Surfer.
• The Skrull shifted from the Silver Surfer's form into the Hulk's form.

Alice defeated a Skrull impersonating the Hulk, read his memories with the Mind Stone, and learned the Silver Surfer had passed a planet in the Andromeda Galaxy. She erased the Skrull’s precise shapeshifting templates and left him alive but unconscious.

• Alice caught the Skrull’s Hulk-powered punch and crushed his hand, forcing him back into human form.
• Alice used the Mind Stone to read the Skrull’s memories and learned he had seen the Silver Surfer near a planet in the Andromeda Galaxy.
• Alice told the Skrull she would prevent him from precisely copying appearances, then erased his shapeshifting templates.
• The Skrull fell into a coma, and Alice left him alive among the ruins.

Loren learned that Silver Surfer was traveling away from Earth, but he believed Galactus would eventually find it and resolved to grow stronger. He spent his remaining system points to unlock the DC Universe and received a guide to Super Bio-Weapon Technology and a sample of Silver Age Superman’s DNA.

• Alice reported that she had found Silver Surfer passing a Skrull spacecraft in the Andromeda Galaxy, far beyond Earth and heading away from the Milky Way.
• Loren told Alice that Silver Surfer could eventually find Earth and that only greater strength could prepare them for Galactus.
• Alice promised to protect Loren, and he embraced her before turning his attention to the system.
• Loren spent 100 system points to draw the DC Universe as a new technological world.
• The system awarded Loren a Super Bio-Weapon Technology Guide and a sample of Silver Age Clark Kent’s DNA, warning that creating the Silver Superman Serum could have dangerous results.

Loren received a guide for turning weakness-free Silver Age Superman DNA into a serum, but he recognized the risk of creating an uncontrollable Doomsday-like monster. He decided to study the technology carefully, ordered Alice to keep tracking the Skrulls, and left their next steps ahead.

• Loren examined the Super Bio-Weapon Technology Guide and considered the power and dangers of injecting Silver Age Superman DNA into a human body.
• Loren told Alice he needed to grow stronger to face threats such as Galactus and the Skrulls, and said he would identify the fatal mistake behind Doomsday's creation.
• Loren stored the guide in his system and asked Alice to secretly track the Skrulls, their plans, and their hiding places.
• Alice agreed to continue the investigation, and Loren embraced her in the study.

Loren struggled to create the Silver Superman Serum, as his attempts to fuse human and Kryptonian genes ended in cellular collapse. He reconsidered replacing human genes and turned to Skrull shapeshifting for a possible solution.

• Loren reviewed his week of failed serum experiments and identified energy imbalance and cellular rejection as the main obstacles to gene fusion.
• Loren recalled that 3,700 fusion methods had failed, with the best keeping a cell alive for only four hours and thirty-eight minutes.
• Loren wondered whether Kryptonian genes should replace human genes instead of being fused with them, then questioned whether he would still be himself.
• Loren noticed Alice's report on Skrull shapeshifting and realized Skrull genes might be adaptable enough to accept traits from other organisms without rejection.