Chapter Summaries

Tony introduced Mark Payne at George’s charity banquet, where the guests watched footage of the Oregon Coast disaster and donated to relief efforts. Just as the attendees prepared to celebrate, Mark noticed something was wrong.

• Tony greeted George and introduced Mark as Rosalie Payne’s son, while guests whispered about rumors that Mark was Tony’s illegitimate son.
• Tony pulled Mark to sit beside George as the banquet began.
• George showed footage of the Oregon Coast tsunami disaster and urged the guests to help the victims.
• Tony donated one hundred million dollars, and Mark donated ten million dollars.
• As the guests prepared to raise their glasses, Mark noticed something unusual.

Mark and Tony were caught in a shooting at a banquet where an attack on George left Owen wounded and several guests targeted. Mark secretly used his Biological Force Field to stop bullets aimed at Tony, then threw a bullet at the shooter who had witnessed his power.

• A waiter pulled a pistol and shot at George, but Owen Ward dragged him aside and took a bullet in the shoulder.
• Secret Service agents killed the first waiter, while Mark realized Owen and the attacker might be working together and hid under a table with Tony.
• Two more waiters opened fire on the guests, killing and injuring several people as Secret Service agents struggled to respond.
• One waiter aimed at Tony, and Tony pulled Mark behind him to shield him from the gunfire.
• Mark activated his Biological Force Field, stopping the bullets, then warned Tony to keep his ability secret.
• Mark picked up a bullet and flicked it at the waiter who had seen his power.

Mark uncovered Hydra's role in the attack at George's charity banquet and saved Tony during the shooting. The next morning, he went to Stark Industries headquarters to take Tony up on his offer of a supercomputer, where he met Pepper.

• Mark killed a Hydra attacker with a projectile, and the remaining waiter was shot after revealing Hydra's allegiance.
• Mark realized Owen was also Hydra and that the attack had been staged to remove Levi as George's security consultant.
• Tony thanked Mark for saving him and offered to give him a national-grade supercomputer from Stark Industries.
• News reports revealed that George had fired Levi and appointed Mateo Rossi in his place, while Mark suspected Mateo was Hydra's candidate.
• Mark arrived at Stark Industries headquarters, where a staff member escorted him to Tony's office and Pepper recognized his resemblance to Tony.

Tony showed Mark around Stark Tower and arranged equipment and transport for a supercomputer for him. Mark then asked JARVIS to find Orson Randall, who he believed was still alive in Bangkok, so he could undo the seal on the Dragon Bone Graveyard.

• Tony invited Mark to call him by his first name, and they agreed to act as ordinary friends rather than address their suspected father-son relationship.
• Tony showed Mark Stark Tower, including his private workshop and the ten underground server levels that housed JARVIS's core program.
• Tony offered Mark advanced computing chips and arranged twenty cargo planes to transport the supercomputer equipment and personnel.
• Mark asked JARVIS to locate Orson Randall, and JARVIS showed him a photograph and reported that authorities had declared Orson dead.
• Mark insisted that Orson was alive in Bangkok and explained that he needed to find him to undo the Dragon Bone Graveyard's seal.

Mark used JARVIS to locate Orson Randall in Bangkok and flew there himself, eventually following the scent of weed to a gang’s warehouse. He found no sign of Orson there and left with a box of drugs.

• JARVIS searched Bangkok’s records and surveillance footage, identifying Orson Randall and tracking him to Chinatown.
• Mark explained K'un-Lun and the Dragon Bone’s life energy to Tony, who offered him a private jet.
• Mark flew to Bangkok, using Superman’s appearance to conceal his identity and Super Scent to search for Orson.
• Mark followed the strongest weed scent to a gang warehouse, where he killed two guards with Heat Vision and burned through the door.
• Mark found boxes of white powder in the warehouse, took one, and flew away.

Mark found Orson Randall and told him the Hand had returned to Manhattan to seize the Dragon Bone, persuading him to go back and confront them. A week later, Orson reached Central Plaza and absorbed leaked Dragon Bone energy as he charged the Hand’s fortified defenses.

• Mark destroyed the stolen white powder at the coast, where Orson Randall tracked him down and demanded to know who he was.
• Mark told Orson that the Hand was trying to break the Seal on the Dragon Bone in Manhattan and asked him to help drive them out.
• Orson refused to let anyone take the Dragon Bones but agreed to return to Manhattan and clear out the Hand.
• After Orson smuggled into Manhattan, Mark continued absorbing sunlight to strengthen his Super Physique.
• Orson sensed the Hand’s decaying ninjas at Central Plaza and absorbed energy leaking from the Dragon Bone, restoring his body as he approached.
• Central Plaza’s guards spotted Orson and shouted that an enemy had arrived.

Orson attacked the Hand’s Central Plaza and fought his way through its ninjas, but Madame Gao’s stronger qi drove him toward defeat. Mark intervened with Heat Vision, forcing Madame Gao to recognize him as “Superman.”

• Orson fought through the Hand’s ninjas, using golden qi to withstand their bullets and concealed weapons.
• Mark woke to the sounds of battle, recognized Orson, and followed him into Central Plaza without joining the fight.
• Madame Gao confronted Orson, recalling their past and attacking him with powerful qi blasts.
• Orson’s energy waned as Madame Gao and the ninjas overwhelmed him, and he admitted that he had grown old.
• Mark struck Madame Gao with Heat Vision, but she raised a qi shield and dodged before identifying him as Superman.

Mark fought off The Hand’s attack alongside Orson, then led him to the Dragon Bone Seal and tried to persuade him to share the Dragon Bone. Orson agreed to verify Mark’s claims, while the police arrived at the scene after Mark left.

• Mark used Heat Vision and his Biological Force Field to kill The Hand’s attackers, while Madame Gao escaped after Mark deliberately let her go.
• Orson and Mark killed the more than two hundred remaining members of The Hand, and Orson thanked Mark for saving him.
• Mark led Orson to the underground Dragon Bone Graveyard, where Orson confirmed that The Hand had failed to break the Seal.
• Mark asked Orson how he would protect the graveyard from The Hand, and Orson refused to hand over its Dragon Bone until he verified Mark’s intentions.
• Mark told Orson that Advanced Idea Mechanics had used a Dragon Bone Fragment to cure hundreds of terminally ill patients, and Orson agreed to consider giving him some Dragon Bone after investigating.
• Mark left Orson his business card and departed, then police arrived and found the bodies and weapons in the building.

Mark learned that the police had written off the Central Plaza massacre as a gang shootout, then bought the building to protect the Dragon Bone beneath it. After a month of guarding the underground Seal, Orson summoned Mark, who met him in person and asked whether he had made his decision.

• The police sealed and searched Central Plaza but failed to find The Hand's underground passages because Orson blocked the entrance with a Seal.
• Alice infiltrated the Manhattan Police Department's network and learned that the department would treat the massacre as a gang shootout while only going through the motions of investigating.
• Over the following month, Orson guarded the Seal and drove off intruders, while Mark raised Super Physique and Biological Force Field to level 12.
• The Manhattan Police Department announced that the dead were gang members and classified the incident as a gang shootout; Central Finance then entered bankruptcy proceedings.
• Mark bought Central Plaza for 450 million dollars and hired Universal Security guards, relying on Orson to protect the building in earnest.
• Orson called Mark to meet, and Mark introduced himself as Central Plaza's new owner before asking whether Orson had made his decision.

Mark persuaded Orson Randall to provide Dragon Bone to Future Pharmaceuticals under supervision, then broke off a piece from the fossilized skeleton. He flew to Texas and called Killian to collect it.

• Orson agreed to hand over small batches of Dragon Bone after investigating Future Pharmaceuticals and set conditions to monitor its medical use.
• Orson opened the sealed stone door and showed Mark the enormous Dragon Bone, explaining that removing it all could trigger an earthquake in Manhattan.
• Mark tried to break a rib, then used freezing breath and Heat Vision to crack its joint and snap it off.
• Mark flew from New York to Texas with the Dragon Bone and called Killian to pick it up.

Mark delivered a massive piece of Dragon Bone to Future Pharmaceuticals, easing the company’s supply crisis, then had Alice complete Captain America’s post-production in a week. After watching the finished film, director Samuel Grant believed it could be released after a month of promotion.

• Mark delivered a nearly four-meter Dragon Bone to Killian, who loaded it into a truck for Future Pharmaceuticals.
• Mark told Killian that more Dragon Bone would arrive and advised the company to lower its treatment prices.
• Mark returned to Payne Manor and learned that Rosalie had finished filming Captain America and that post-production was expected to take at least half a year.
• Mark assigned Alice the film’s special effects and post-production, despite director Samuel Grant’s objections.
• Alice completed the effects, editing, and other post-production work in one week, astonishing Samuel when he watched the finished film.
• Samuel told Mark that Captain America could be released after a month of advertising and promotion.

Payne Pictures secured a favorable distribution deal with Stark Industries, and its massive campaign made Captain America a widely discussed film. On the night of the premiere, Mark and Rosalie arrived at the crowded El Theater with their companions and bodyguards.

• Mark suggested Samuel approach Stark Industries, then called Tony, who agreed to help distribute Captain America.
• Stark Industries president Bruno Sosa signed a distribution agreement with Payne Pictures for a 10% fee without watching the film.
• Stark Industries launched an extensive advertising campaign, drawing praise and skepticism from audiences across the Federation and abroad.
• Mark spent the month absorbing sunlight in space and raised Heat Vision and Super Breath to level 12.
• Rosalie asked Mark to help choose between two gowns before they traveled with their companions and bodyguards to the El Theater premiere.
• Mark and Rosalie arrived to find nearby roads sealed off and reporters and spectators crowding the streets.

At the premiere of Captain America, Mark detected and secretly disabled four emulsion bombs planted in the theater while searching for the culprit. After the film won over the audience, a projectionist named Khalid Gabry identified himself as an Arab immigrant, drawing the crowd’s wary attention.

• Rosalie and Mark entered the premiere, where Mark detected the scent of emulsion explosives in the screening hall.
• Mark found four bombs hidden in decorative vases and froze them, destroying their detonators without alerting the crowd.
• During the premiere interviews, Mark listened for signs of the culprit but noticed no suspicious heartbeat.
• The audience praised Captain America after watching the film, while Mark continued searching for whoever planted the bombs.
• Khalid Gabry rushed out of the projection room, introduced himself as the projectionist and an Arab immigrant, and unsettled the crowd.

Khalid’s attempted bombing at the “Captain America” premiere failed after Mark had already neutralized the bombs, and the incident helped the film become a box-office hit. As Coulson watched the movie in Los Angeles, Nick Fury ordered him to contact Superman as soon as he appeared.

• Khalid pressed his detonator, but the bombs did not go off, and theater security guards restrained him.
• The frightened audience fled the theater, and Rosalie pulled Mark toward the exit.
• Police found four frozen, inert bombs at El Theater but could not explain how they had reached such low temperatures.
• “Captain America” earned $34.27 million on its first day and set a North American weekly box-office record with $250 million.
• Brian and Ivy thanked Mark as the film’s success raised their profiles, while Coulson watched the movie for the third time.
• Nick Fury told Coulson that Superman might have returned to Los Angeles and ordered him to make contact when Superman appeared.

Nick Fury ordered Coulson to approach Superman amicably, while Captain America’s release changed public perceptions of Steve and drew Lieutenant General Ross’s anger over its classified details. Mark continued his Superman patrols and extinguished a major wildfire near the Wilson Mountains, leaving nearby witnesses wondering what had stopped it.

• Nick Fury warned Coulson not to antagonize Superman after learning that Superman had killed gang members in New York.
• Tony watched Captain America at Stark Cinema and, despite initially disliking Brand as Bucky, came away recognizing Steve as a hero.
• Lieutenant General Ross objected to the film’s depiction of the Super-Soldier Serum and ordered his adjutant to investigate Payne Pictures.
• Mark kept collecting Sunlight Value, handling company affairs, and patrolling Los Angeles as Superman became harder for the Federation to conceal.
• Mark flew to a wildfire near the Wilson Mountains and used freezing air to put out the flames while people below watched in confusion.

Mark contained a massive wildfire in the Wilson Mountains and met Coulson, who approached him on behalf of S.H.I.E.L.D. to learn his origins and intentions. Mark accepted Coulson’s offer of help, then noticed something strange about the business card.

• Mark extinguished the wildfire’s outer flames, creating a firebreak while firefighters rushed to the scene.
• Coulson called out to Mark from the highway, and Mark flew down to meet him and four S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.
• Coulson introduced himself, praised Mark’s efforts, and asked where he came from and why he had come to Earth.
• Mark said his purpose was to fight crime, stop disasters, and save civilians, while privately remaining wary of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Captain Marvel.
• Coulson gave Mark his business card and suggested he contact S.H.I.E.L.D. for help, and Mark noticed something was wrong with it.

Mark warned Coulson against S.H.I.E.L.D.’s tracking tricks, then welcomed two young Mutants into Payne Pictures after Lina assessed their character. As more superpowered people joined the group, Mark appointed Lina to lead a new department to manage them.

• Mark detected a tracking scent on Coulson’s business card, warned him, and left after sending the card slicing past him and into a car window.
• A month later, Captain America had passed $1.2 billion at the U.S. box office, and Rosalie had risen to second-tier actress status.
• Brian brought Leo Marshall and Luca Barnes, two teenage Mutants from the United Kingdom, to Payne Manor to seek work at Payne Pictures.
• After Lina found no major character concerns, Mark offered Leo and Luca intern contracts, which they signed.
• Mark told Lina that she would lead a new department managing the group’s growing number of Mutants and other superpowered people.

Mark established a five-rank system for superhumans under his group and appointed Lina and Li Qianhuan to manage their files. He also prepared two Mutant-led films and approved Future Hospital’s large-scale admissions of terminally ill patients at a reduced price.

• Mark appointed Lina to manage the superhumans and assigned Li Qianhuan as her assistant, then taught them to create files and rank each person’s abilities.
• Mark decided Payne Pictures would produce Windwalker starring Brian and Heart Whisperer starring Ivy, and told Archer to begin preparations for both films.
• Archer announced the two projects, attracting both criticism and interest from potential investors as Captain America continued its successful run.
• Killian told Mark that Future Hospital was ready to admit terminally ill patients and proposed a five-hundred-thousand-dollar treatment fee, which Mark approved.
• Killian asked how to handle Jonah Owen, who had come to supervise the Dragon Bone, and Mark allowed him to do so as long as he kept company secrets confidential.
• Killian announced that Future Hospital had begun admitting patients at the reduced fee.

Future Pharmaceuticals’ price cut brought in patients and profits as Mark upgraded his Super Physique and expanded his film company’s investment plans. After two Mutants took shelter at Future Film Company, Lawrence ordered Nolan and two powerful Wolverine clones to capture them and the company’s Mutant actors.

• Future Pharmaceuticals lowered its treatment fee to $500,000, treated more than a thousand patients, and saw its valuation rise to $120 billion.
• Mark upgraded Super Physique to level 13, greatly increasing his strength, durability, and senses.
• Mark told Archer to raise half the funding for Windwalker and Heart Whisperer from outside investors.
• Lawrence learned that Targets No. 5 and No. 6 had joined Future Film Company and ordered Nolan to capture them and the Mutant actors Brian and Ivy.
• Lawrence sent clones -23 and -24 and two armed squads, warning them not to bring network-connected devices.
• Nolan entered Trask’s underground prison and called -23 and -24 to their mission.

Nolan led two clones and armed squads from Trask Industries to attack Payne Pictures, where Mark and the Mutants prepared to defend themselves. Mark intervened after the assault began, and Nolan’s forces opened fire on him as he attacked -24.

• Nolan unlocked -23 and -24’s cells and took them with armed squads from Trask Industries toward Payne Pictures.
• Alice alerted Mark to the convoy, and Mark warned Brian and the others before flying to Payne Pictures.
• Nolan’s force jammed communications and stormed the building, where -24 broke through the gate and withstood the security guards’ bullets.
• Brian’s wind blades killed two armed personnel, and Luca transformed into a giant bear and fought -24.
• Mark attacked -24 with Heat Vision, and Nolan ordered his armed personnel to shoot Mark.