Chapter Summaries

Richard exposed the Skrulls’ motives and ordered the group to begin their operation, while Tony went with Varra to inspect the ship’s signal systems. After comforting Christine over her doubts about him, Richard sensed sudden danger just as they were about to share a romantic moment.

• Richard explained that the Skrulls’ plans had shifted toward taking Earth, and Varra confirmed that her people put their race’s interests above all else.
• Christine and Betty apologized, and Richard ordered the operation to begin.
• Tony asked Varra about Skrull communications technology and went with her to inspect the Signal Shielding Device.
• Melina led Betty away, while Simmons and Kaecilius carried out Carol Danvers, a mind-dormant Skrull, and Nick Fury.
• Christine told Richard she had feared his power was affecting his judgment, and he reassured her that he knew his limits and would protect Earth and her.
• Richard’s sixth sense suddenly flared as he and Christine were about to embrace.

Richard confronted a beast-eyed Doctor Strange from Earth-7913, who had come to steal the Eye of Agamotto from Kamar-Taj. After Strange escaped with it, Richard prepared to pursue him.

• Richard arrived in Kamar-Taj and stopped the hooded Doctor Strange from touching the Eye of Agamotto.
• Richard introduced himself as the Lord of Crimson and learned that the stranger was Doctor Strange from Earth-7913.
• Doctor Strange revealed he wanted the Eye of Agamotto, and Richard refused to give it to him.
• Doctor Strange used magic to shrink the Eye and its display stand, then took them and mocked Richard and the Ancient One.
• As Doctor Strange began teleporting away, Richard stomped on the ground.

Richard defeated Beast-Eyed Doctor Strange, but discovered that the sorcerer’s curse had begun to affect him. Richard deduced that Beast-Eyed Doctor Strange had collected four Infinity Stones, and the sorcerer passed out before revealing which ones.

• Richard blasted Beast-Eyed Doctor Strange with crimson lightning, interrupting his teleportation spell and leaving him paralyzed and badly injured.
• Richard sensed an abnormal blockage in his mana after Beast-Eyed Doctor Strange warned that his curse would cause energy loss, festering wounds, and the world’s disdain.
• Richard deduced that Beast-Eyed Doctor Strange was seeking six Infinity Stones to remove his Heavenly-Disdained mark and had already gathered four.
• Richard asked which Infinity Stones Beast-Eyed Doctor Strange possessed, but the sorcerer collapsed unconscious before he could answer.

Richard took the unconscious Beast-Eyed Doctor Strange and the Eye of Agamotto into the Dimensional Rift, where he found four Infinity Stones and the sorcerer’s research diary. Meanwhile, Kamar-Taj discovered the theft and feared further attacks after Ancient One’s departure; Richard ended the chapter by breaking the pillar seal.

• Richard opened a rift to the Dimensional Rift and carried off the unconscious Beast-Eyed Doctor Strange and the Eye of Agamotto.
• Mordo and the other sorcerers found the damaged Secret Chamber, realized the Eye was gone, and identified Richard’s Crimson Mana at the scene.
• Hamir urged Kamar-Taj to reinforce its Protective Barrier, while Marcus warned that news of Ancient One’s departure had leaked; Mordo also reprimanded Marcus over Wong’s portal-magic violations.
• Richard searched Beast-Eyed Doctor Strange’s belongings, found a disguise mask and his research diary, and learned that he had fused his eyes with those of a magical Refracting Dragon Lizard.
• Richard collected the Reality, Power, Mind, and Space Stones, noted that he knew where to find the Soul Stone, and destroyed the pillar seal with Crimson Mana.

Richard used the Time Stone to trace Gamora’s past in search of Vormir’s coordinates, but a mysterious force repeatedly disrupted the visions. He then used Weaver’s Whisper on the unconscious Beast-Eyed Doctor Strange and saw The Ancient One greeting a bald young man named Alex in a dream.

• Richard retrieved the Eye of Agamotto and used the Time Stone to follow Gamora’s timeline.
• Richard watched Gamora betray Thanos, join the Guardians of the Galaxy, and seek information about Vormir.
• A mysterious force shattered Richard’s visions twice as Gamora tried to learn Vormir’s coordinates, knocking him out of the time retracement.
• Richard suspected the force was preventing him from finding the Soul Stone and realized his own existence was absent from the future he had seen.
• Richard cast Weaver’s Whisper into the unconscious Beast-Eyed Doctor Strange, then saw The Ancient One greet Alex in the resulting dream.

Richard discovered that Alex’s memories revealed how he became Beast-Eyed Doctor Strange’s enemy. After Alex’s failed attempt to gain power from Chthon, he sent a letter to Stephen Strange as his body burned away.

• The Ancient One ordered Alex to bring Stephen Strange to Kamar-Taj, where Strange arrived and began training under Alex.
• Strange progressed rapidly, and the Ancient One chose him as her successor, then ordered Alex to leave Kamar-Taj.
• After wandering for three months, Alex returned, killed librarian Mage Marcus, stole the Darkhold, and led his followers to attack the London Sanctum.
• Alex used the Darkhold to summon Chthon and begged the Old God for power.
• Chthon granted Alex power that overwhelmed his human body, and Alex used his remaining strength to deliver a letter to Stephen Strange.

After destroying his world while trying to overcome Chthon’s Heavenly Disgust, Doctor Strange began traveling between universes to collect the Infinity Stones. On Titan, he watched the battle unfold and waited for a chance to steal the Infinity Gauntlet.

• Alex had replaced Stephen Strange and become Doctor Strange, but Chthon’s bestowal caused the world to reject him and drove him to destroy it with the Time Stone.
• Doctor Strange learned that collecting all six Infinity Stones could clear the Heavenly Disgust, then traveled to Earth-7888 and took its Cosmic Cube from Captain America and Red Skull.
• Doctor Strange found himself unable to return to Earth-7888, so he went to Earth-9527, where Thanos already possessed four Infinity Stones.
• On Titan, Alex watched the genuine Doctor Strange recover from temporal regression and eyed the Eye of Agamotto, then Thanos arrived wearing the four-stone Infinity Gauntlet.
• Mantis subdued Thanos with her powers and urged someone to steal his gauntlet.

Alex tried to steal the Infinity Gauntlet from Thanos, then escaped to Wakanda and stole the Mind Stone from Vision, killing him and triggering the Scarlet Witch's devastating outburst. Thanos arrived too late and vowed to hunt Alex down.

• Alex teleported in front of Thanos and tried to pull off the Infinity Gauntlet, but Spider-Man warned the others that he was an enemy.
• Thanos woke up, kicked Alex away, and Alex escaped using the Space Stone, leaving Thanos alarmed by its familiar energy.
• Thanos unleashed a powerful shockwave that blew away Drax, Spider-Man, Star-Lord, Mantis, and Doctor Strange.
• Alex arrived in Wakanda, froze the Scarlet Witch, threw Shuri into a window, and tore the Mind Stone from Vision, killing him.
• The Scarlet Witch broke free and unleashed an explosion that destroyed the laboratory, while Alex escaped with the Mind Stone.
• Thanos arrived after obtaining the Time Stone and swore to find Alex and reclaim the Mind Stone.

Alex collected the Reality and Power Stones, but a rift diverted him to Richard’s universe, where Richard probed his memories and burned him to ashes. Richard then destroyed a wisp of Chthon’s energy and returned to Kamar-Taj, where he summoned Strucker to meet an old friend.

• Alex stole the Reality Stone from Jane Foster and the Power Stone from Morag after forcing Star-Lord to reveal its coordinates.
• Alex crossed into Earth-2333 to search for the hidden Space Stone, but a spacetime rift sent him to Richard’s universe.
• Richard used a silver thread to probe Alex’s memories for information about Vormir, and Alex realized someone was searching his mind.
• Richard ignited the dream world, killing Alex Zacharia as scarlet flames consumed him in the Dimensional Void.
• Richard used Crimson Mana to consume a wisp of black-purple energy associated with Chthon and the Elder Gods, then departed through a Spatial Rift.
• Back at Kamar-Taj, Richard told White Queen to summon Strucker so he could take him to see an old friend.

Richard brought Baron Strucker to Vormir to meet the Red Skull and search for the Soul Stone, but his sweep of a frozen valley found nothing. The Red Skull warned that obtaining the Stone required a heavy price, and Richard demanded that he swear he was not lying.

• Baron Strucker arrived at Kamar-Taj and was sentenced to three days of confinement for violating its portal regulations, but Richard took him away before he served the sentence.
• Richard and Strucker traveled to Wolf Planet, where they found the Red Skull, who recognized Strucker as an old friend.
• Richard released Dr. Zola's soul so he and Strucker could talk with the Red Skull, then searched the frozen valley for the Soul Stone without success.
• Dr. Zola told the Red Skull what had happened on Earth after his disappearance, including HYDRA's defeat and its later presence within S.H.I.E.L.D.
• The Red Skull warned Richard that the Soul Stone demanded the heaviest price, and Richard asked him to swear, “We don't scam our own!”

Richard dropped Red Skull off a cliff after Red Skull claimed he was the Soul Stone’s appointed guardian, then entered a hazy world where a voice demanded he sacrifice his beloved for the Soul Stone. Richard offered Red Skull’s freshly dead soul instead, and the world collapsed as the voice protested.

• Richard dangled Red Skull over the cliff until Red Skull revealed that he guarded the Soul Stone and knew how to help Richard obtain it.
• Richard rejected Red Skull’s offer, let him fall, and teleported to the valley, where Red Skull crashed headfirst into the ice and died.
• A voice questioned Richard about killing John Schmidt and explained that the Soul Stone required him to sacrifice the person he loved most.
• Richard argued that Red Skull’s account was a trick and offered Red Skull’s soul as the required exchange.
• The voice accepted the exchange, but then protested that Richard had violated the rules as the hazy world trembled and collapsed.

Richard recovered the Soul Stone and amused himself by teasing it before introducing it to White Queen. After White Queen and the stone began chatting through a shared consciousness, Richard collected Arnim Zola’s soul and departed Vormir with Baron Strucker.

• Richard awakened with the Soul Stone in his hand and teased it about its temper and its interest in testing human nature.
• Richard summoned White Queen, who projected herself from his Comm Watch and discovered that the Soul Stone could speak.
• The Soul Stone sent a wisp of its consciousness into White Queen’s projection, and White Queen began showing it short dramas and trying to name it.
• White Queen and the Soul Stone disappeared into the Comm Watch together, leaving Richard to complain that they had abandoned him.
• Richard retrieved Arnim Zola’s soul as a sealed Spirit Orb, then teleported away from Vormir with Baron Strucker.

Richard sent Baron Strucker to integrate S.H.I.E.L.D. into HYDRA and handed him Nick Fury, Carol Danvers, and Arnim Zola. In the Crimson Dimension, Richard combined the six Infinity Stones with his Crimson Mana, gaining extraordinary control over time, space, and matter.

• Baron Strucker told Richard that HYDRA had taken control of most S.H.I.E.L.D. bases and asked to borrow Arnim Zola to help absorb its forces.
• Richard gave Strucker the unconscious Nick Fury and Carol Danvers, along with Arnim Zola's Sealing Spirit Orb, and Strucker left through a Portal.
• Richard traveled to a remote cliff in the Crimson Dimension and formed an energy Infinity Gauntlet from his Crimson Armament.
• Richard placed the six Infinity Stones in the gauntlet and activated them, turning their combined energy into Chaotic Mana that purified and strengthened his Crimson Mana.
• Richard manipulated time, space, and matter to raise, stop, and disintegrate a cliff, then froze and erased a forming sandstorm.
• Richard's eyes turned black with gray chaos as his power surged and the surrounding space collapsed.

Richard resisted the influence of the six Infinity Stones, found and destroyed the hidden energy Alex had planted in his body, and narrowly survived the entity’s attempt to trace him. The next day, he returned to the Sky Fortress, where Vivian demanded his signature on a document.

• Richard regained control of himself after nearly being overwhelmed by the power of the six Infinity Stones and searched his body for Alex’s hidden influence.
• Richard found abnormal energy in a drop of blood near his heart, tore it out, and destroyed the black wisp that emerged before banishing its remains through a Spatial Rift.
• A mysterious entity tried to trace Richard through the River of Time, but silver lightning struck and gravely wounded it, forcing its soul to flee its body.
• Richard healed his wounds with the Infinity Stones, put them away, and disappeared.
• The next day, Vivian stormed into Richard’s Sky Fortress office and demanded that he sign a document.

Richard reunited with Vivian and spent the morning with her before finding Maria Hill at lunch and teasing her. He followed Hill to her office, where she gave him a document to handle.

• Vivian brought Richard a document to sign, and he signed it before persuading her to stay with him.
• Richard spent the morning with Vivian, then left her bedroom and went to the dining hall for lunch.
• Richard joined Maria Hill at her table, teased her, and kept taking pieces of her steak as they ate together.
• Richard followed Hill to her Command Office and kissed her before she returned to work.
• Hill handed Richard a document and told him to deal with it.

Richard and Hill reminisced about how they met at New York Presbyterian Hospital before realizing S.H.I.E.L.D. still owed him months of salary under his unended contract. Richard teleported away to demand payment from Nick Fury.

• Hill explained that the hospital acquisition plan had been shelved after Clea and Vivian were captured by Skrulls during negotiations.
• Richard insisted he had resigned from Presbyterian Hospital by choice, and Hill kissed him after teasing him about leaving.
• Richard remembered operating on five injured people at a S.H.I.E.L.D. base and complained that Nick Fury had not paid his surgical fee.
• Hill explained that Richard's contract provided only a surgical subsidy and that he had never signed a termination contract.
• Richard realized S.H.I.E.L.D. still owed him several months of salary and teleported away to collect it from Nick Fury.

Richard visited the reopened Rat Prison, where HYDRA held S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, and challenged Phil Coulson’s view of HYDRA. Thomas revealed that celebrated heroes who had sacrificed themselves for the world were HYDRA members, leaving the prisoners silent.

• Richard arrived at the Rat Prison with Thomas and met Phil Coulson outside his cell.
• Richard had Thomas open Coulson’s cell, then freed Yvette Oliveira, who revealed herself as a member of Richard’s Crimson Nun Guard rather than HYDRA.
• Richard asked Coulson what he thought of HYDRA and named several celebrated S.H.I.E.L.D. heroes who had secretly belonged to it.
• Thomas confirmed the heroes were HYDRA members, and the prisoners angrily protested the claim.
• Thomas explained that Lilith Freak, Jolie, Boss Chandler, and Abel had made sacrifices that saved lives, then demanded to know why HYDRA members were judged as terrorists; the prisoners fell silent.

Richard visited Nick Fury in detention to demand his unpaid medical consultant salary and surgical subsidy, then took control of a private account containing fifty million dollars. Nick Fury was left raging in his cell as Richard and his companions departed.

• Thomas proudly led Richard and Phil Coulson through the detention corridor to Nick Fury's cell.
• Richard struck Nick Fury and demanded the salary and surgical subsidy he said Nick Fury owed him.
• Richard claimed Phil Coulson could vouch for the debt, and Phil left after accusing Nick Fury of embezzling an employee's pay.
• Nick Fury agreed to pay Richard, then gave him an account number and password because he could not make a transfer from his cell.
• Richard told Thomas to transfer all fifty million dollars from Nick Fury's account, then left as Nick Fury began smashing things in his cell.

Richard invited Phil Coulson to join him, then returned to the Sky Fortress and met with Director Elwin at a coffee shop near Presbyterian Hospital. Elwin described the hospital’s decline after Richard left, and the chapter ended with a waitress recommending blueberry mocha.

• Richard offered Phil Coulson a chance to leave Rat Prison, and Phil asked for time to decide.
• Yvette Oliveira stayed at Rat Prison to help persuade Melinda May and Sharon Carter.
• Richard returned to the Sky Fortress, teased Maria Hill, and teleported away with her acquisition proposal.
• Richard called Director Elwin and arranged to meet him at Cozy Afternoon Coffee Shop near Presbyterian Hospital.
• Director Elwin told Richard that the hospital’s board planned to cut the Emergency Department, which angered him.
• A waitress enthusiastically recommended blueberry mocha to Richard and Director Elwin.

Richard asked Dean Elwin to remain dean if he acquired New York Presbyterian Hospital, and Dean Elwin agreed. Meanwhile, Donald Bessimo was forced at gunpoint to sign a hospital share transfer agreement for one dollar.

• Richard and Dean Elwin joked with Scarlett, Rex's daughter, at the coffee shop.
• Dean Elwin told Richard he planned to resign after the board meeting because some people wanted him out of the dean's chair.
• Richard asked Dean Elwin to stay on as dean if he acquired New York Presbyterian Hospital, and Dean Elwin agreed.
• Dean Elwin asked about Dr. Palmer, and Richard told him Clea was safe and her attackers had been dealt with.
• Driver Black stopped Donald Bessimo's Maybach, and armed men seized Donald and ordered him to sign a New York Presbyterian Hospital share transfer agreement.
• Donald read the transfer price of one dollar and protested that his shares were worth tens of millions.