Chapter Summaries

Richard confirmed that recurring nightmares were strengthening his body and soul, though he dreaded enduring them. After taking Christine to the hospital and making rounds with Frank Chen and Lilith, he was confronted by Director Pansy, who demanded that he come along.

• Nick Fury ordered Phil Coulson to begin a Level Three investigation into Richard.
• Richard woke from another nightmare, reassured Christine Palmer, and tested his increased strength with a baseball bat.
• Richard recalled his six years in the Marvel world and concluded that his nightmares were making him stronger.
• Richard drove Christine to Manhattan Presbyterian Hospital, then supervised Frank Chen and Lilith during patient rounds.
• Director Pansy barged into the emergency department office and tried to pull Richard along, but Richard dodged him and told him to use his words.

Richard refused Director Pansy’s attempts to curry favor with him and dismissed a hospital board director’s minor injury to Frank, angering Pansy. After Director Donald slapped Pansy and left, Richard ignored Frank’s warning about retaliation and rushed toward an incoming ambulance.

• Director Pansy tried to bring Richard to meet an important visitor, but Richard refused.
• Director Pansy returned with Director Donald, whose injured arm Richard examined and judged to need only simple care.
• Richard assigned Frank to treat Director Donald, prompting Pansy to berate him and Donald to leave in anger.
• Director Donald slapped Director Pansy, and nearby doctors and nurses laughed and photographed Pansy’s shocked reaction.
• Director Pansy threatened to report Richard to President Elwin, while Frank warned Richard that Pansy might retaliate.
• An ambulance siren sounded, and Richard told Frank to come with him.

Richard discovered and removed a tumor during surgery on gang boss Quinn, whose testicles had been ruptured, while Christine turned the operation into a teaching session. Quinn remained unconscious in a charity ward as Simmons stayed nearby, and Stephen Strange saw Richard leave the hospital with Christine.

• Richard arranged an orchiectomy after Nick West told him gang boss Quinn's testicles had been completely ruptured.
• Richard found a tumor in Quinn's scrotum, and Christine Palmer gathered the interns for a teaching surgery.
• Richard removed Quinn's testicles and the tumor, but the hospital sent Quinn back to the charity ward because his companions had not paid the bills.
• Simmons checked on Quinn, bought food and newspapers, and slept in a garden after Eddie told him to bring Quinn back the next day.
• Richard and Christine left the hospital holding hands, and Stephen Strange watched them with envy.

Richard and Christine shared a candlelit dinner, while Richard’s surgery left mob boss Quinn without his testicles. After Quinn was secretly removed from the hospital, Simmons brought him back to Eddie, where he woke in agony.

• Richard served Christine Chinese takeout by candlelight, and she became drunk as they shared dinner.
• Quinn woke in the hospital, discovered his testicles had been removed, and accused Richard, who sedated him.
• Simmons and two men carried the sleeping Quinn out of the hospital on a stretcher.
• Richard reassured nurse Lilith after surveillance showed Simmons taking Quinn, and they assumed the patient had left without paying.
• Simmons returned Quinn to Eddie at the Brotherhood Bar, where a bucket of water woke him and he cried out in pain.

Eddie took control of the badly weakened Black Snake Gang after confronting Boss Quinn about Fiona, the dead gang members, and the gang’s losses. Meanwhile, Richard was summoned to consult for Tony Stark, who reluctantly agreed to see doctors after Pepper pleaded with him.

• Eddie told Boss Quinn that Fiona had escaped into White Ghost Gang territory and that Daniel, Mickey, and Farmar had died in the ambush.
• The Black Snake Gang members defended Eddie, and he revealed that Fiona had been an undercover agent for the White Ghost Gang.
• Eddie declared himself the Black Snake Gang’s new boss and ordered the underlings to remove Boss Quinn.
• Director Elwin told Richard that Stark Industries had requested a consultation for Tony Stark, and Richard agreed to go.
• Tony dismantled a combat boot while Pepper told him that two surgeons from New York Presbyterian Hospital were coming to see him.
• Tony initially refused medical care but agreed after Pepper pleaded with him.

Richard and Stephen Strange waited at Tony Stark’s mansion for a medical examination, where Tony mocked Strange until he left. Richard stayed behind with Tony as Pepper went after Strange to apologize.

• Richard arrived at Tony Stark’s mansion and found Stephen Strange waiting in the reception room.
• Richard called Christine and teased her while Strange listened jealously.
• Pepper introduced Tony Stark and asked the two doctors to examine him.
• Tony mocked Strange about his career and wealthy patients, and Strange left in anger.
• Pepper followed Strange to apologize, leaving Tony and Richard facing each other.

Richard examined Tony Stark and discovered that palladium from the miniature reactor was poisoning his body. Tony asked how it could be treated, and Richard said he was 80 percent certain he could remove the shrapnel lodged inside him.

• Tony Stark reviewed Richard's medical credentials, introduced himself, and agreed to a medical checkup with him.
• Richard examined Tony in the mansion's medical room and joked that Tony had kidney deficiency, making Pepper blush and leave.
• After Pepper left, Richard told Tony that his liver, spleen, and kidneys had problems, but the palladium from his chest reactor posed the greatest danger.
• Tony asked about treatment and explained that removing the reactor would leave him dead within hours.
• Richard said he was 80 percent certain he could clear the shrapnel fragments from Tony's body.

Richard received a warning that the Black Snake Gang planned to ambush him, then spent the evening with Christine, who decided to pursue medicine on her own terms. That night, Richard fell into another battlefield nightmare, and Christine tried to wake him.

• Tony Stark refused Richard’s offer to perform surgery until he was completely certain he could do it safely, and Tony entrusted his health to him.
• Simmons warned Richard that the Black Snake Gang had planned an ambush against him and explained that he wanted to protect himself and his family.
• Richard returned home to Christine, and they reconciled over the perfume on his clothes before discussing her career and her decision to become a doctor like him.
• Richard had a nightmare of a chaotic battlefield, and Christine woke and repeatedly urged him to come around.

After three nights of nightmares left Richard stronger, he survived an ambush by the Black Snake Gang outside Manhattan Presbyterian Hospital and killed all eight attackers. The police took him in for questioning, while Nick Fury ordered an investigation, and Richard slipped out late that night to seek revenge at the Brotherhood Bar.

• Christine repeatedly woke Richard from nightmares and took two days off work for him.
• Richard practiced swordsmanship with a baseball stick and concluded that his nightmares made him stronger.
• Tommy, Joe, and six Black Snake Gang lackeys ambushed Richard outside the hospital, but he used a car door as a shield and killed them all.
• Detective Samuel took Richard to the precinct to make a statement, while Christine sought help from Dean Elwin.
• Nick Fury told Phil Coulson to investigate the attack without capturing anyone.
• Richard quietly left home late that night and headed for the Brotherhood Bar in Queens, Woodhaven.

Richard killed Black Snake Gang bosses Eddie Bullman and Quinn Fultz, then denied knowing them when Detective Samuel questioned him about their deaths. Samuel let him go, and Richard took leave from the hospital, troubled by how wrong things had been going lately.

• Richard broke into the Brotherhood Bar and killed current boss Eddie Bullman in his sleep.
• Richard confronted Quinn Fultz, rejected his offer of a secret vault containing thirty million dollars, and killed him with a baseball bat.
• After a chaotic shift at the hospital, Richard went with Detective Samuel to Precinct 22 for questioning.
• Richard denied knowing Quinn and Eddie, and Samuel told him both Black Snake Gang bosses had been found dead at the bar.
• Samuel closed the matter and let Richard leave, and Richard called Dean Elwin to request time off because he felt exhausted.

At a hospital directors’ meeting, Richard’s conduct became the pretext for executives to try to claim his surgical talents, while Richard worried that his fusions were changing his personality. Stephen Strange then turned the meeting against Richard by proposing that the hospital fire him over the recent armed attack.

• Director Karen Thomas accused Richard of arrogance and argued that Dean Elwin had protected him, prompting several directors to complain about Richard’s past behavior.
• Back at his apartment, Richard realized that he had acted unusually recklessly during the gunmen’s attack and feared that each fusion was merging the other personality into his own.
• Dean Elwin stopped defending Richard as the directors demanded punishment and discussed moving him out of the emergency department to serve wealthy, high-profile patients.
• Stephen Strange brought up the attack by eight armed gang members at the hospital entrance and proposed firing Richard, shocking Dean Elwin and the other executives.

Stephen Strange persuaded the hospital board to fire Richard, fearing Richard would threaten his status. Richard left the hospital and decided to seek help for his nightmare through Eastern Buddhism or Taoism, while vowing to replace Strange.

• Stephen Strange urged the hospital board to fire Richard and promised to stay at Presbyterian Hospital for ten years; the board agreed, despite President Elwin opposing the decision.
• Deputy Director David gave Richard his dismissal notice, and Richard signed it before leaving the hospital.
• Christine caught up with Richard, and President Elwin called to apologize and reveal that Strange had proposed the firing.
• Richard explained that Strange feared losing his exclusive status, then told Christine he needed to seek help for his nightmare through Eastern Buddhism or Taoism.
• After Christine returned to work, Richard angrily declared that Doctor Strange was being replaced.

Richard found Kamar-Taj and asked the Ancient One to teach him magic. After she sent his soul through other dimensions, where he encountered Dormammu, she agreed to begin his formal training the next day.

• Richard followed Mordo to Kamar-Taj and asked to study under the Ancient One.
• The Ancient One expelled Richard’s soul from his body and sent it through an interdimensional rift.
• Richard saw countless worlds, encountered Dormammu in the Dark Dimension, and was pulled back by the Ancient One.
• Richard returned to his body and told the Ancient One and Mordo that he had seen Dormammu.
• The Ancient One agreed to begin Richard’s formal studies the next day, and Mordo gave him Kamar-Taj’s internet password.

Richard learned the principles of magic from the Ancient One, then quickly mastered Kamar-Taj’s basic magical texts and began practical training. He opened a portal to the hospital and created an original sword spell using energy from within himself, leaving him eager to discuss his discovery with the Ancient One.

• The Ancient One explained that spells gathered energy from the Multiverse and used runes and incantations to shape it.
• Richard read the library’s basic magical books in a week, learned that Kaecilius was stationed at the London Sanctum, and was told by Mage Marcus to begin basic training.
• Richard practiced drawing circles with a Sling Ring and briefly opened a portal into Christine’s operating room, startling Nurse Lina.
• Richard summoned a Sword of Vishanti using energy from the Vishanti Dimension, then wondered whether he could create the sword without borrowing that energy.
• Richard modified the incantation and successfully formed an off-white giant sword from energy within himself, then decided to discuss the spell with the Ancient One.

Richard learned that his growing strength might be divine power and that he was the only Richard in the Multiverse, then asked the Ancient One to teach him a Cross-Dimensional Spell. After studying it until nightfall, he rushed to video-call Christine and tried to explain his lateness.

• Richard's improved sword expelled the Ancient One's probing energy, and she concluded that his body was surpassing mortal limits and developing power comparable to Asgardian divine power.
• The Ancient One said she could not see Richard's future and had found no other Richards in the Multiverse; she suspected he had absorbed the spirituality of other versions of himself.
• Richard asked the Ancient One to teach him the Cross-Dimensional Spell, and she transmitted its rune array into his mind.
• After studying until night, Richard hurried to his dormitory and repeatedly called Christine, who had sent him more than a dozen video-call requests.
• Richard told Christine that his temple studies had run late, and she urged him to eat before they talked; he showed her a cup of instant noodles.

Richard reviewed The Ancient One’s Cross-Dimensional Spell and decided its risks made it unsuitable for him without modification. He adapted several Kamar-Taj spells to use his divine power, developed defensive magic, and began work on the Lingshu World-Passage Technique.

• After reviewing the Cross-Dimensional Spell, Richard worried that tearing open a world barrier and crossing a chaotic passage would be too dangerous, so he decided to improve the spell.
• Richard replaced the Vishanti Dimension energy in the Portal and other introductory spells with his own divine power, and modified the Eldritch Whip to switch between whip and staff forms.
• Richard created a modified Images of Ikonn that produced up to one hundred physical clones for ten minutes, and developed Richard's Floating Shield after he failed to modify the Hoary Hosts of Hoggoth.
• The Ancient One approved Richard's Floating Shield and recorded it in the Kamar-Taj library as a spell usable by orthodox mages.
• Richard tried to create a divine-power version of the Mirror Dimension, but could maintain it for only five seconds, and then named his planned cross-dimensional spell the Lingshu World-Passage Technique.

Richard completed the Lingshu World-Passage Technique and traveled to a parallel world in Cape Town, South Africa. He arrived at the port just after his alternate self had been shot dead.

• Richard finished modifying his cross-dimensional spell, cleaned up, emailed Christine, and told The Ancient One he planned to depart that night.
• Richard used the Myriad Worlds Resonance Ritual to find a parallel-world connection and opened a portal to travel there.
• Richard emerged in an alley in Cape Town and sensed a strong spiritual fluctuation nearby.
• At the port, Richard's alternate self was shot while fleeing pursuers, but he fired back and killed Raymond before collapsing.
• Richard opened a portal above a container and found that his alternate self had already died.

Richard discovered that his Golden Finger, Spiritual Sharing, let him absorb an alter ego’s spiritual energy after resolving its resentment. He investigated the experimental resurrection surgery behind the alter ego’s death and left with a plan to copy the research data.

• Richard resolved his dead alter ego’s resentment and absorbed its spirit, discovering the rules of Spiritual Sharing.
• Richard overheard Captain Richard admit that someone had ordered the armed personnel to open fire, then followed them through a portal.
• Captain Richard brought the corpse to Dr. Helen, who said its injuries made resurrection surgery impossible and explained that the boss wanted intelligence from its brain.
• Richard incapacitated Captain Richard and his two subordinates, then questioned Dr. Helen about the operation.
• Dr. Helen revealed that the Red Mountain Group was developing experimental technology to resurrect soldiers and that the research data was stored on the operating room’s computer.
• Richard asked Dr. Helen to copy the resurrection research data.

Richard took the resurrection research data and the Alter Ego’s body from Doctor Helen, then brought the body to Lin in Cape Town. After learning that the Red Mountain Group had killed Richard, he left to seek revenge alone.

• Richard removed the hard drive containing the resurrection research data, took the Alter Ego’s body, and destroyed Doctor Helen’s hidden surveillance camera with an Eldritch Whip.
• Richard called Lin from the abandoned pier in Cape Town, and she arrived ten minutes later and mourned over the Alter Ego’s body.
• Lin explained that Richard had died three days earlier from a gunshot wound and identified the Red Mountain Group as responsible for killing him.
• Richard learned that a Red Mountain Group mercenary had killed the Alter Ego and promised Lin he would avenge him.
• Richard refused Lin’s offer to cooperate with Interpol, gave his name as Richard, and escaped through a Portal.

Richard entered Red Mountain Group headquarters and told President Weitzler he had come to eliminate the company because it had killed his friend, also named Richard, twice. Weitzler sounded the alarm and summoned the headquarters' tactical personnel.

• Weitzler learned that a mage had knocked out the security staff at Red Mountain Group's secret port laboratory and taken a test subject's corpse.
• Richard opened a Portal into Weitzler's office, introduced himself, and confirmed that magic existed.
• Weitzler apologized and offered compensation and cooperation, but Richard said he intended to eliminate Red Mountain Group.
• Richard explained that Red Mountain Group had twice killed his friend Richard, who had asked him to destroy the company.
• Weitzler ordered the mainframe to broadcast an alert and called all tactical personnel to the president's office.