Chapter Summaries

Richard captured Blackheart's split soul and let it reveal the San Venganza Contract, which Blackheart used to absorb the three thousand Fallen Holy Souls before opening a portal to Earth. Blackheart arrived, but Richard and Johnny subdued him with magic restraints and the Penance Stare, leaving him alive for Richard's purposes.

• Richard restrained Blackheart's split soul and showed it the San Venganza Contract, prompting it to contact Blackheart in Hell.
• Blackheart ordered his split soul to tear the contract and absorb the three thousand Fallen Holy Souls, then open a portal to Earth.
• Blackheart's split soul absorbed the souls and grew powerful, but Richard crushed it with a giant magical hand.
• Blackheart crossed through the Hell Portal, devoured his split soul, and began boasting about his power.
• Richard bound Blackheart with golden-red ropes, and Johnny used the Penance Stare to make him suffer despite his claim that he had no soul.
• Richard told Johnny to leave Blackheart breathing, and the magical ropes wrapped Blackheart into a mummy.

Richard and Johnny defeated Blackheart and destroyed the San Venganza Contract, while Carter Slade and Johnny each departed to pursue their own paths. Back at Kamar-Taj, Kaecilius offered himself to appease Mephisto, but Richard interrupted to reveal he had uncovered a big secret.

• Johnny explained to Carter Slade that Blackheart had been defeated through preparation and his own mistakes, and Richard told Johnny he could reconcile with the Spirit of Vengeance and avoid worrying about his soul contract as long as he stayed alive.
• Carter Slade rode away in peace, and Johnny left on his hellfire motorcycle after saying he would talk with the Spirit of Vengeance.
• Richard and Kaecilius returned to Kamar-Taj with Blackheart, while Mephisto's avatar arrived at Venganza Village, found the craters, and caused the abandoned church to collapse.
• The Ancient One warned that capturing Blackheart could provoke a Hell Dimension invasion, and Kaecilius offered to surrender himself to appease Mephisto.
• Richard interrupted Kaecilius and announced that he had discovered a big secret about Mephisto.

Richard told The Ancient One that Mephisto had likely imprisoned the Eight Archdemons and was using Blackheart to absorb their authorities and gain full control of Hell. The group summoned Mephisto into the Dimensional Void, where he emerged and was shocked to see The Ancient One.

• Richard explained that Blackheart's Hell Power came from the Eight Archdemons and that Mephisto planned to devour him to seize their authorities.
• The Ancient One agreed to help Richard and Kaecilius continue their plan, noting that Mephisto had enemies beyond Earth.
• Richard, The Ancient One, and Kaecilius brought Blackheart into the Dimensional Void and ordered him to summon Mephisto.
• Blackheart used his fragment of Hell Authority to call for his father, and Mephisto tore open a Spatial Rift in the Hell Dimension.
• Mephisto entered the Dimensional Void, saw that Blackheart was alive, and stopped in shock when he recognized The Ancient One.

Richard negotiated with Mephisto over Blackheart, demanding two souls in exchange for his release. After their clash nearly sparked war between Hell and Earth, Mephisto accepted the deal, and Richard asked Kaecilius for the names of his sister-in-law and nephew.

• Mephisto tried to free Blackheart, but his Hell Power passed through Richard’s illusory binding and struck his son instead.
• Richard offered to trade Blackheart for two souls, then threatened him with a sword when Mephisto refused.
• Mephisto attacked Richard, but Richard’s shield and eighteen energy cannons disrupted Mephisto’s spell and wounded his claw.
• Mephisto declared war on Earth, but Richard accepted the challenge and threatened to sacrifice Blackheart, prompting Mephisto to agree to the trade.
• Richard asked Kaecilius for his sister-in-law and nephew’s names, but Kaecilius could only make sounds until The Ancient One canceled her Silence Spell.

Kaecilius recovered his wife and son’s souls with Richard and The Ancient One’s help, while Richard secretly kept a Blackheart avatar. Richard revealed his plan to take the fight to threats beyond Earth, then received a call from Tony Stark.

• Mephisto returned Sara Kaecilius and Lucas Kaecilius’s souls, and The Ancient One purified and secured them.
• Kaecilius thanked Richard and The Ancient One, and Richard promised to help create cloned bodies for Sara and Lucas.
• Richard returned Blackheart to Mephisto, who agreed to have Kamar-Taj warn him when Dormammu came to Earth.
• At Kamar-Taj, The Ancient One placed Sara and Lucas’s souls in a Sealing Spirit Orb, while Richard revealed he had kept a Blackheart avatar.
• Richard told The Ancient One he planned to attack threats in the Dark Dimension and Hell Dimension and to unite HYDRA and S.H.I.E.L.D. against alien forces.
• The White Queen announced that Tony Stark was calling Richard.

Tony showed Richard the Mark 34 Anti-Richard Armor and tested its defenses and energy-disrupting technology against his magic. The armor damaged Richard’s shield after disrupting his energy output, leaving the outcome of the missile barrage unclear.

• Richard met Tony at his Malibu villa, where Tony unveiled the Mark 34 and called it the Anti-Richard Armor.
• Tony claimed the armor could disrupt the energy needed for Richard’s magic, and they flew out over the ocean to test it.
• Richard’s fireball left Tony’s armor largely unharmed, but his Frostfire Bolt repeatedly froze and melted its shell, cracking it.
• Tony activated the armor’s ET module, whose invisible fluctuations weakened Richard’s crimson shield while Tony fired energy cannons and missiles.
• Tony increased the ET module’s power, briefly disrupting Richard’s energy output and causing his shield to collapse as the remaining missiles struck him.

Richard saved Tony after his damaged armor failed, then discussed Tony’s energy-disrupting ET module and warned him against preparing to fight powerful sorcerers. Tony proposed forming an organization, and Richard said he would introduce him to some kids.

• Jarvis reported that Richard had no vital signs, but Richard appeared behind Tony unharmed as Tony’s armor collapsed and sent him falling.
• Richard opened a portal beneath Tony, carried him to the Seaside Villa Equipment Room, and reset Tony’s dislocated lower back.
• Tony explained that his ET module disrupted energy flow, and Richard warned that it could make armor disintegrate faster and would threaten ordinary sorcerers if used against them.
• Richard urged Tony not to build an anti-Richard armor, warning that it could provoke powerful sorcerers and that Tony’s paranoia could lead to disaster.
• Tony suggested forming an organization like the Justice League, and Richard said he would introduce him to some kids in a few days.

Richard arranged for Tony Stark to meet Adele and the others in Los Angeles, while Christine and White Queen complained about Tony and his anti-Richard armor. Shay secured a Beverly Hills estate for the meeting, and Richard connected Tony again after learning the plans were set.

• Shay joined Richard and Christine at morning training, then Tony called Richard asking to meet Adele and the others that day.
• Richard tasked Shay with finding a safe meeting place, and Shay arranged to use Figo's estate in Beverly Hills at three in the afternoon.
• Christine and White Queen criticized Tony, while Richard explained his parallel-world travels and other secrets to Christine.
• Shay said he would attend the meeting to show his former peers that he had become a sorcerer, and Richard scolded him for showing off.
• Richard had White Queen connect him to Tony after Shay finished arranging the meeting.

Richard brought Tony Stark to a gathering of his young followers, where Shay showed off his magic and Richard discovered Kenneth Vila was already his believer. Richard agreed to take Kenneth to Kamar-Taj after the banquet and tested the others for signs of belief, briefly affecting Tony’s Arc Reactor.

• Richard opened a portal to Tony Stark’s seaside mansion and brought Tony, dressed for the occasion, to a Beverly Hills estate where his followers had gathered.
• Tony joked about his reputation as a playboy, drawing excited reactions from the men and disgusted looks from Adele and her friends.
• Shay arrived through a portal and explained that Richard had taken him to Kamar-Taj after discovering he was a believer with magical potential.
• Kenneth Vila rushed to Richard and asked to become a sorcerer; Richard sensed that Kenneth was already a believer and promised to take him to Kamar-Taj after the banquet.
• At Adele’s request, Richard swept crimson mana through the reception hall to test the gathered followers, and Tony’s Arc Reactor briefly seemed to short-circuit.

Richard explained how the young snakes could become his followers, while Tony Stark entertained them with dating advice and learned that Baron Strucker had suspected HYDRA ties. Tony confronted Richard about the youngsters’ identities and asked what Richard himself was, but Richard began listing his credentials.

• Richard told the young snakes that followers had to pray devoutly and withstand his Mana infusion, renewing their hopes of gaining his power.
• Tony Stark gave the young snakes advice about being tall, rich, or handsome, and Thomas Graf was teased about having a crush on Adele.
• Tony asked Jarvis to investigate Baron Strucker and learned that Strucker was suspected of having HYDRA backgrounds.
• Tony grew suspicious that the young snakes were HYDRA descendants and went to confront Richard by the pool.
• Richard confirmed that the youngsters had multiple identities and began describing his own as a former medical expert, Doctor Strange’s sworn enemy, and the Ancient One’s appointed successor.

Richard persuaded Tony Stark to mentor his young HYDRA recruits, and Tony agreed to join Richard’s group while insisting he had not joined HYDRA. Richard then learned that agents claiming to be FBI were seizing his laboratory’s research materials and suspected Nick Fury was behind the move.

• Richard told Tony that Professor Jennings Phillips was HYDRA and described the organization’s long history and hidden influence.
• Richard asked Tony to mentor his young recruits, and Tony resisted until Richard revealed that S.H.I.E.L.D. was deeply connected to HYDRA.
• Tony agreed to join Richard’s group, though he denied agreeing to join HYDRA, and Richard welcomed him aboard.
• Simmons told Richard that FBI agents were trying to seize the laboratory’s research materials despite Pepper Potts’s intervention.
• Richard suspected Nick Fury had sent the agents, ended the call, and stepped through a Portal to confront the situation.

Richard stopped a fake FBI team from searching his laboratory and discovered that its leader was a Skrull sent to capture him. He took the Skrull’s corpse to Tony’s manor, where he revealed that at least a million Skrulls were hiding among humans, just as White Queen announced that Nick Fury was calling.

• Richard arrived at the laboratory and knocked out its security guards after finding Simmons restrained by men posing as FBI agents.
• Richard overpowered Captain Steven, pulled a Skrull’s soul from his body, and used Spirit Vision Retrospection to inspect its memories before destroying it.
• Richard told Simmons to arrange reliable replacement security and left with the Skrull’s corpse through a portal.
• At Tony’s manor, Richard identified the corpse as a Skrull and told Tony that at least a million Skrulls were mingling among humans.
• White Queen told Richard that Nick Fury was calling.

Richard told Tony Stark that millions of Skrulls were secretly hiding on Earth and could perfectly impersonate humans, prompting Tony to set out to develop a detector. Nick Fury was left furious over Richard killing his Skrull agent and hesitated with an old pager in his office.

• Richard told Nick Fury that he had killed Steven, and Nick Fury angrily blamed him before Richard ended the call.
• Richard explained to Tony Stark and the gathered guests that Skrulls could copy human appearances, memories, and emotions, and that their numbers on Earth had grown to millions.
• Richard revealed that Nick Fury had secretly sheltered the Skrulls and had even married a female Skrull, while Grant Ward envied Fury's choice of wife.
• Richard gave Tony the Skrull corpse as a sample, and Tony ended the gathering to begin developing a Skrull detector.
• Richard opened a portal and sent Tony and the corpse to his seaside villa, while Nick Fury sat amid scattered files and hesitated over an old pager.

Melina reported that the pheromone neutralizer was ready for preliminary use, and Richard gave her nanofiber technology and Combat Analysis System data to study. After asking Natasha to arrange a discreet meeting with Hawkeye, Richard learned that Laura was the previous generation's Mockingbird, prompting Natasha to suspect Nick Fury had placed her beside Clint as a watcher.

• Melina told Richard that Oksana had helped develop a pheromone neutralizer, which the returning Widow Agents were beginning to use.
• Natasha and Yelena barged into Richard's office, apologized after Melina scolded them, and Richard gave Melina a hard drive containing nanofiber technology and Combat Analysis System data.
• Richard asked Melina to leave and invited Natasha to dinner, which she happily accepted.
• Richard asked Natasha to arrange a meeting with Clint, and she agreed to keep it out of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s sight.
• Richard revealed that Laura was the previous generation's Mockingbird, and Natasha wondered whether Nick Fury had planted her beside Clint as a watcher.

Natasha and Richard met with Hawkeye in Bogota to confront him about Nick Fury’s deception and Laura’s possible role as a monitor. Hawkeye revealed that he already knew Laura had been sent to him by Nick Fury.

• Natasha left Richard’s office to contact Hawkeye after suspecting Nick Fury had arranged for Hawkeye’s wife to monitor him.
• Hawkeye stopped preparing to assassinate Dorothy Douglas when Natasha called and asked to meet him.
• Richard and Natasha arrived through a portal on the Bogota rooftop, where Hawkeye met Natasha and learned Richard led the Red Room.
• Natasha blamed Nick Fury for the harm done to her, while Hawkeye tentatively defended him and apologized for failing to confirm Dreykov’s death.
• Richard brought up the missing Cosmic Cube and Hawkeye’s wife, Laura, prompting Hawkeye to aim an arrow at him.
• Richard said Laura might have been sent by Nick Fury to monitor Hawkeye, and Hawkeye admitted he already knew.

Richard revealed that Laura Barton was a Skrull replacement, and her implanted identity began to collapse when he confronted her at the Barton farm. The chapter ended with Laura caught between believing she was Clint’s wife and remembering that she was Avina, a Skrull.

• Richard told Clint Barton that Nick Fury had kept Skrulls who could impersonate people and suggested Laura had been replaced.
• Natasha took Clint and Richard through a portal to Eagle's Nest Valley Farm to check on Laura and the children.
• Laura, Cooper, and Lila greeted Clint, but Richard’s Mana eyes revealed a green trace beneath Laura’s human appearance.
• Richard knocked Cooper and Lila unconscious and moved them to Natasha’s care while Laura demanded to know what was happening.
• Richard asked Laura who she really was, and she alternated between calling herself Laura Barton and Avina as green luster appeared on her face.

Richard rescued Laura Barton from a Skrull prison in Lima after uncovering that Avina had replaced her, and Laura awakened at home. Hawkeye vowed not to let Nick Fury go, and Natasha invited the Barton family to hide at the Red Room headquarters.

• Avina revealed she was a Skrull and claimed Laura was dead, but Richard extracted her memories and learned Laura was imprisoned in Lima.
• Richard found Laura and other captives in hydraulic fracturing chambers, including Peruvian officials and businesspeople, and brought Laura back to Eagle's Nest Valley.
• Laura woke briefly, reunited with Hawkeye, and fell asleep again to recover while her children stayed with Richard and Natasha.
• Hawkeye decided he would never let Nick Fury go, and Richard warned that the Barton family needed to leave before S.H.I.E.L.D. found them.
• Natasha invited Hawkeye, Laura, and the children to the Red Room headquarters, and Richard welcomed them.

Richard and Natasha spent the night together in New York, and Natasha returned to the Sky Fortress to face teasing from Yelena. At S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, Maria Hill learned Clint Barton had gone missing and suspected Nick Fury was hiding a secret.

• Richard caught Natasha when she stumbled near the pool, kissed her, and took her through a Portal.
• The next morning, Richard and Natasha woke together, and Richard later dropped her off at the Sky Fortress before teleporting to Kamar-Taj.
• Yelena confronted Natasha about staying out all night, teased her about Richard, and revealed that Melina had also noticed her absence.
• Maria Hill told Nick Fury that Dorothy Douglas was alive and Clint Barton had lost contact; Fury said he would investigate.
• Maria Hill wondered why Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton had apparently defected and what Nick Fury was concealing.

Nick Fury investigated the burned-out Eagle's Nest Valley Farm before realizing that the Skrulls had hidden Avina's disappearance from him. Worried about threats inside S.H.I.E.L.D., the Skrulls, and Richard, he pressed his old pager for help while Richard prepared to travel to other worlds.

• Nick Fury's agents found the Eagle's Nest Valley Farm burned down, with no bodies or clues left behind.
• After the agents departed, Kinsley revealed his Skrull identity and argued with Talos about Avina's disappearance and the Skrulls' place on Earth.
• Kinsley returned to headquarters disguised as Nick Fury, while a squad leader noticed the huge pit he had made by stomping the ground.
• Talos told the real Nick Fury that Kinsley had returned, and Nick Fury worried that S.H.I.E.L.D., the Skrulls, and Richard posed growing threats.
• Richard packed for another journey through parallel worlds, received The Ancient One's advice to visit more worlds, and asked White Queen to connect him to Natasha.

Richard said goodbye to Natasha, Tony Stark, Adele von Strucker, and Christine before traveling to another world. He found his alter ego, Richard Robert, trapped in a horrific canyon and learned that the other Richard was begging to be killed.

• Richard told Natasha he was leaving Earth and warned her to keep Clint from going out, then told Tony Stark and Adele von Strucker to stay cautious while he was away.
• Christine tearfully embraced Richard before he opened a portal and left.
• Richard crossed dimensions and arrived above a fog-filled canyon where his alter ego's spirituality seemed close to death.
• Richard found an abandoned guard tower with wall engravings, including one signed by Richard Robert in 2010, and traced his alter ego to the canyon floor.
• Richard found Richard Robert fused with a dead tree and skeleton, touched its arm, and received a rush of spirituality and memories along with the plea, "Kill me, I beg you to kill me!"