Chapter Summaries

Russell managed the captured trainees, reserved a contract slot for Yelena, and focused Hydra’s efforts on uncovering Wakanda’s military secrets. He then began modifying a Cybertronian fighter jet for space travel, leaving its redesign underway at the Siberia Base.

• Russell placed the captured trainees under Natasha’s management and learned that their physical condition made them poor candidates for the Super Soldier Serum; Natasha used leaked intelligence about Wakanda’s Heart-shaped herb to accelerate Hydra’s infiltration of Africa.
• Russell reserved a contract slot for Yelena, who repeatedly asked to receive the serum, but he dismissed her requests and rewarded her with candy.
• Russell reviewed intelligence about King Azzuri and Hydra’s engineered border conflict, then ordered more conflicts to expose Wakanda’s military capabilities.
• Russell released a Cybertronian fighter jet in a base warehouse and told Natasha and Bucky he would modify it as a precaution against Wakanda’s hidden weapons.
• Russell considered seeking a Star Map from Kamar-Taj and began dismantling and modifying the fighter jet with Cybertronian knowledge while Bucky assisted.

King Azzuri declared war on the neighboring invaders after the tribal elders rejected negotiation, while Russell arrived at Wakanda’s border with a mercenary force assembled for Hydra’s invasion. Russell trapped and starved a black panther, then declared it a good omen and called it the Black Panther.

• Azzuri’s tribal council urged war, and he agreed after recognizing Elder White Ape’s ambition to take the throne.
• Azzuri summoned the Dora Milaje and set out for the front.
• Russell reached Wakanda’s border with six thousand mercenaries, outnumbering the Wakandan warriors gathered there.
• Russell refused to meet the tribal chiefs and stayed in his tent with the black panther he had caged and starved.
• Russell used an Electric Arc to stroke the panther and announced that the animal in the cage was the Black Panther.

Azzuri held back the Wakandan forces until their armored rhinos could launch a surprise night charge, which routed the mercenaries. Russell prepared to leave the collapsing camp with his people as a dark figure approached.

• Azzuri rejected Elder White Ape’s calls for a direct assault and explained his defensive battle plan to the other elders.
• Russell waited out the stalled trench battle, while the mercenaries struggled against the Wakandans’ shield-and-spear tactics.
• Two nights later, more than fifty armored rhinos charged the mercenary trenches, breaking the line and letting Wakandan warriors surge through.
• The rhinos crashed into the mercenary camp, causing the soldiers to flee in panic.
• Bucky warned Russell that the Wakandans had attacked, and Russell told him to gather their people and leave.
• A pitch-black figure quietly approached Russell and his group.

Russell watched Wakanda’s victory over the tribal coalition, then confronted King Azzuri and demanded all the Vibranium from the meteorite. He arranged a seven-round contest between their fighters, claiming he would send his six weakest Winter Soldiers alongside one other combatant.

• Russell ordered Natasha to keep buying soldiers and praised the Vibranium spear after Bucky caught it.
• Azzuri, Wakanda’s Black Panther, attacked Russell, but Bucky and Natasha overpowered him until six female warriors intervened.
• Russell surrounded Azzuri’s party with soldiers, revealed he wanted all of Wakanda’s Vibranium, and demonstrated his strength by hurling a spear through several trees.
• Russell offered Azzuri a seven-round contest, with the first side to win four rounds allowed to leave safely.
• Azzuri accepted the terms, and Russell randomly selected six Winter Soldiers, calling them the weakest on his side.

Russell’s team defeated Azzuri and his warriors in a series of unarmed matches, forcing the Wakandan king to honor their agreement. Azzuri refused to hand over Vibranium, so Russell had him stripped and photographed to humiliate him.

• Russell summoned Jason to fight Azzuri, who repeatedly injured Jason but could not keep him down because of his Immortal Body.
• Azzuri conceded the match, and the six female warriors were defeated by the enhanced Winter Soldiers.
• Russell revealed that twenty-two more Winter Soldiers considered themselves stronger than the six who had fought.
• Russell reminded Azzuri that he had lost all seven matches and demanded the agreed-upon Vibranium transaction, but Azzuri refused and shouted, “Wakanda Forever!”
• Russell ordered the Winter Soldiers to strip Azzuri and photographed him, then told the soldiers watching to take off their clothes and pose beside the king.

After Russell kidnapped Azzuri and demanded land and Vibranium mining rights, Wakanda’s elders used a humiliating photograph to depose him and began maneuvering over who would become king. Azzuri then met Russell at the kidnappers’ camp and offered a deal, though he refused to grant mining rights.

• Wakandan soldiers returned from their victory and discovered Azzuri was missing, then delivered Russell’s ransom letter and photographs to the elders.
• Queen Nanali urged the tribal elders to cooperate in rescuing Azzuri, but Elder White Ape argued that Wakanda could lose Azzuri to protect Vibranium.
• Elder White Ape used a photograph showing Bast looking disdainfully at Azzuri to claim the king had been abandoned by the Black Panther God.
• The four elders excluded the Golden Tribe, removed Azzuri from the throne, and began discussing who should succeed him.
• At Russell’s camp, Azzuri offered to negotiate over Vibranium but declared that granting land and mining rights was impossible.

Russell pressured Azzuri to surrender land and Vibranium rights, then set out for Lake Turkana while Wakanda chose a new king. Elder White Ape seized the throne through violence and ordered a massacre, leaving the other tribes in retreat.

• Russell rejected Azzuri’s proposed limits, ordered him taken away, and set out with his soldiers for Lake Turkana to inspect the terrain.
• At the royal capital, Nanali presided over the five tribes’ contest to choose Wakanda’s new king while Azzuri was absent.
• Elder White Ape defeated the four rival contenders with strength gained through an ancient ritual and declared himself king.
• Elder White Ape ordered the White Ape cult to replace Wakanda’s other faiths and attacked the other tribes when they refused.
• A Golden Tribe warrior returned and wounded Elder White Ape, but Elder White Ape killed him and ordered his forces to hunt down the rebels.

Russell persuaded Azzuri to accept his demands after learning Wakanda had fallen into civil war and neighboring tribes were invading. Back in Wakanda, Azzuri learned the White Ape Tribe had seized the capital and his queen was trapped, then joined the fighting alongside Russell’s group.

• Russell showed Azzuri reports that the White Ape Tribe had seized power in Wakanda and surrounding tribes were gathering to invade.
• Azzuri blamed Russell for Wakanda’s crisis, but agreed to Russell’s demands for land and Vibranium mining rights so he could return and restore order.
• Russell offered to help repel the invaders and asked to see Wakanda’s Heart-shaped herb, while Azzuri’s party traveled back toward the country.
• Golden Tribe soldiers told Azzuri that Elder White Ape controlled the capital, the four other tribes were resisting to the west, and Nanali was trapped near the Heart-shaped herb.
• Azzuri chose to rendezvous with the resisting tribes rather than go to Nanali, and Russell’s group reached the battlefield after eliminating White Ape Tribe patrols.
• Azzuri put on the Black Panther mask, shouted “Wakanda Forever!” and charged into battle with his six female guards.

Azzuri returned to the battlefield, rallied Wakanda’s tribes, and challenged Elder White Ape for the throne. After Azzuri exposed Elder White Ape’s role in the unrest, the two began their duel, leaving Azzuri struggling against his opponent’s greater strength.

• Azzuri and six guards fought through the White Ape Tribe, turning the battle in the Golden Tribe’s favor and driving the enemy back toward the royal capital.
• Elder White Ape accepted Azzuri’s challenge to settle the throne by combat, despite his followers’ warnings.
• Russell suspected Elder White Ape had a hidden plan and warned his group to stay alert before the duel.
• Azzuri accused Elder White Ape of orchestrating the unrest and spreading humiliating photos, winning the four tribes’ support.
• Elder White Ape attacked Azzuri, shattered his shield, and threw him off after Azzuri briefly pinned him down.

Azzuri fought Elder White Ape for Wakanda’s throne but was overwhelmed and badly injured. As Elder White Ape accused him of conspiring with outsiders, Russell declared that the black panther was the Black Panther God and unleashed a lightning-shaped giant cat against him.

• Azzuri fought Elder White Ape with skilled attacks, but Elder White Ape’s superior strength and toughness gradually gave him the advantage.
• Azzuri used a spear to hold Elder White Ape back until Elder White Ape impaled himself on it, tore it away, and threw it aside.
• Elder White Ape blinded Azzuri with dirt, broke his leg, and beat him before the gathered tribes.
• Elder White Ape accused Azzuri of colluding with outsiders and threw him toward Russell, who bargained with the injured king over Vibranium land and photographing the Heart-shaped herb.
• Russell called the black panther the Black Panther God Bast and provoked Elder White Ape into reaching for it.
• Russell shoved the black panther aside, and a blue-white giant cat formed from lightning pounced on Elder White Ape.

Russell’s staged Black Panther miracle ended Wakanda’s civil war and restored Azzuri as king. At the Heart-shaped herb garden, Yelena secretly ate one of the fruits, leaving everyone stunned.

• Russell’s lightning struck Elder White Ape, and Azzuri proclaimed the black panther to be the Black Panther God Bast.
• Azzuri’s performance convinced Wakandan soldiers and onlookers to worship the panther, and the four great tribes entered the capital without resistance.
• Rumors spread that Bast had defeated the White Ape God and appointed Azzuri king, ending the rebellion.
• Russell traveled with Azzuri, the black panther, Natasha, and Bucky to the Heart-shaped herb garden, where Nanali healed Azzuri’s broken leg with a fruit.
• Azzuri warned Russell that the herb was believed to be poisonous to anyone outside the five royal families, but admitted no one he knew had tested that claim.
• Yelena secretly picked a Heart-shaped herb fruit and swallowed it when Russell caught her.

Russell tested whether the Heart-shaped herb could enhance people who had taken the Super Soldier Serum, then settled his share in Wakanda while Azzuri faced a coalition of invading tribes. As Russell built a facility on former White Ape Tribe land, Azzuri came to ask for his help, but Russell said he already had everything he wanted.

• Yelena accidentally swallowed a Heart-shaped herb fruit, underwent the burial ritual, and emerged successfully enhanced; Russell confirmed the herb was not limited to Wakandan royalty.
• Russell ordered Winter Soldier-13 to take the herb, but the soldier vomited it back up, showing that the herb did not enhance people who had taken the Super Soldier Serum.
• Russell and Azzuri agreed that Russell's share of the herb would remain in Wakanda's royal sanctuary, while Azzuri purged the White Ape Tribe and prepared for an invasion by neighboring nations.
• Russell began building a facility on land set aside for the Black Panther God, and Azzuri visited the construction site to ask for Russell's help against the invading tribes.
• When Azzuri asked what Russell wanted in return, Russell replied that he had already gotten everything he wanted.

Russell persuaded Azzuri to join Hydra in exchange for help ending Wakanda’s border war, while concealing the organization’s identity until after Azzuri agreed. With the tribal coalition camped at Lake Turkana, Russell arrived there on the fourth night and prepared to summon the promised flood.

• Azzuri offered Russell resources and proposed joining his organization, and Russell agreed on the condition that Azzuri and the next five generations of Black Panthers serve it.
• Azzuri agreed to Russell’s terms, then learned the organization was Hydra and panicked before Russell told him to proceed with the alliance.
• Russell instructed Azzuri to challenge the tribal coalition to a decisive battle at Lake Turkana in five days, promising a great flood would defeat them.
• The coalition deployed at Lake Turkana, digging pits and land mines and dividing its camp into three mutually supporting sections.
• On the fourth night, Russell brought Azzuri and his team to the lakeshore and said he would cast a spell to summon the flood.

Russell used the trident to unleash a flood that destroyed the tribal alliance’s camp, then met the Black Panther God Bast, who said Ancient One expected him to change Wakanda’s fate. After leaving Bucky in charge of Hydra’s base, Russell departed for Nepal with Natasha and Jason to visit the Sorcerer Supreme and ask about a Star Map.

• Russell raised and sent a massive flood from Lake Turkana, wiping out the tribal alliance’s camp before returning most of the water to the lake.
• Bast appeared to Russell, explained that Ancient One had told it Russell would change Wakanda’s fate, and asked him to pass along its greetings.
• Russell told Azzuri that Hydra now planned to conquer the stars, while Wakandans celebrated the flood as a miracle and helped build Hydra’s base.
• Russell left Bucky in charge of the base, assigned Yelena to assist him, and set out for Nepal with Natasha and Jason aboard the Cybertron jet fighter.
• Russell planned to visit the Sorcerer Supreme and ask to borrow his Star Map so he could explore the universe.

Russell collected the Star Map from Kamar-Taj and took Natasha and Jason into space, where he began teaching Natasha how to navigate. After making repeated jumps through spatial nodes, they headed for Kontraxia to rest, and the chapter ended as the fighter descended through its snowy atmosphere.

• Russell retrieved the Star Map from Kamar-Taj after the Sorcerer Supreme refused to meet him, then uploaded its data aboard the Cybertron jet fighter.
• Russell took Natasha and Jason beyond Earth's atmosphere and activated the Warp Drive to explore space.
• Russell explained spatial nodes to Natasha, and they detected one near Titan before making their first jump.
• Russell revealed that Titan was the birthplace of Thanos and avoided landing there before leading the fighter through more than a dozen spatial nodes.
• Russell saw Natasha struggling after the repeated jumps and steered the fighter toward the nearby planet Kontraxia.
• The Cybertron jet fighter descended through Kontraxia's thick atmosphere and emerged above a snow-covered landscape.

Russell and Natasha arrived on Kontraxia, where Russell found ways to earn money and explored the planet’s casinos, hotels, and black-market trade. After learning that he might be able to buy production lines for Hydra, he began considering what he could sell to fund his plans.

• Russell and Natasha landed on Kontraxia and headed toward the city, where Russell claimed aliens spoke English before testing the theory.
• Russell lured a group of drunken aliens behind some ruins and robbed them, then shared the money with Natasha.
• Russell won enough at five casinos to enter the rich district, and he and Natasha bought translator earbuds to overcome the language barrier.
• At a hotel, Russell watched a fighting match and learned from a black-market advertisement that traders could supply goods, weapons, and blueprints.
• Russell saw the potential to acquire production lines for Hydra, while Natasha dismissed a robot offering intimate services and pinned Russell to the sofa.
• The next day, Russell and Natasha studied information about Kontraxia and the Milky Way, and Russell wondered what he could sell to make money.

Russell and Natasha visited Teptun Interstellar Trade Company to buy scarce materials, but its owner turned out to be a Skrull impersonating a Kree. Russell subdued the shapeshifter and repeatedly attempted to enslave him.

• Russell brought Natasha to Teptun Interstellar Trade Company and presented an enormous order, then offered a sample of Vibranium for appraisal.
• The company owner, Teptun, introduced himself as a Kree and asked Russell whether he had more Vibranium.
• Teptun trapped Russell in an electric chair and threatened Natasha, but Russell survived the shock and ordered Natasha to capture him alive.
• Natasha fought Teptun until he transformed into her, revealing himself as a Skrull.
• Russell knocked out the Skrull with an electric attack and began attempting to enslave him while Natasha watched.

Russell learned about the Chitauri’s war while gathering supplies and intelligence on Kontraxia, then traveled to the Chitauri home planet to observe the battle. He discovered that the Black Order, led by Corvus Glaive’s fleet, had arrived to crush the Chitauri and retreated to watch from a safer distance.

• Selovi pledged loyalty to Russell, who ordered him to prepare supplies, robots, and a transport team for delivery to the Solar System.
• Russell and Natasha spent a week at the Teptun Interstellar Trade Company, where Russell studied the universe’s intelligence and learned that the Chitauri were hiring mercenaries for a war.
• Russell and Natasha flew to the Chitauri home planet and found the Chitauri fleet assembling against an unknown enemy.
• The Black Order’s fleet emerged from a spatial node, fired on nearby onlookers, and sent the mercenaries fleeing.
• Russell identified the Black Order’s flagship as Corvus Glaive’s personal vessel and moved farther from the battlefield to watch the coming fight.

Russell and Natasha watched the Black Order destroy the Chitauri defenses, then were swept into a deadly pursuit after the Chitauri leader escaped through a spatial node. Russell lost most of his pursuers in an asteroid belt and landed on Planet CY-27, where Corvus Glaive ordered the search for the escaped leader.

• The Black Order destroyed the Chitauri space stations and warships, then sent ground forces to conquer their homeworld.
• Russell and Natasha left the battlefield, but a Chitauri leader escaped through a spatial node as the Black Order hunted down nearby ships.
• Russell evaded the pursuing small craft through repeated spatial jumps and an asteroid belt, then destroyed the remaining pursuers after reaching Planet CY-27.
• Corvus Glaive learned the Chitauri leader had escaped, ordered a search on Planet CY-27, and demanded that the leader be captured or killed.
• The Chitauri leader hid in a forest with his guards and wondered whether he should surrender to Thanos.

Russell and Natasha were caught in a Black Order search on CY-27, where Corvus Glaive’s forces captured a hidden Chitauri leader and attacked them. After Corvus Glaive defeated Jason and revealed his rapid healing, Russell equipped the Koyata Stark Character Card and prepared to face the Black Order’s overwhelming force.

• Russell and Natasha hid on CY-27 as the Black Order increased its searches, while a Chitauri leader hid in a nearby cave.
• Corvus Glaive ordered a bombardment that destroyed the forest, and his forces discovered Russell’s damaged spacecraft and surrounded the survivors.
• Russell and Natasha fought off the Outriders until Corvus Glaive arrived and offered them a chance to pledge loyalty to him.
• Russell summoned Jason, but Corvus Glaive cut him apart and quickly healed from Jason’s machete wound.
• Russell equipped the Koyata Stark Character Card and felt powerful enough to challenge an entire fleet.