Chapter Summaries

Luke explained why he was tracking the Guardians, revealing that Gamora’s connection to Thanos could draw him out, while Hawkeye and Black Widow sought help in this world. Barton took them to Fury, where Old Captain America said he was ready to retire after a lifetime of fighting and enduring constant pain.

• Luke told Galacta that Gamora was Thanos’s adopted daughter and that Thanos would come looking for her once he learned where she was.
• Luke reassured Galacta that Thanos’s plan would fail because the Infinity Stones were in her hands.
• Hawkeye and Black Widow watched the family of this world’s Hawkeye, and Hawkeye realized his own family was still waiting for him in his world.
• Barton caught Hawkeye and Black Widow spying on his family, then offered to help them find somewhere to stay.
• Barton brought Hawkeye and Black Widow to Fury, who learned that companions from their world had arrived.
• Old Captain America told Fury he wanted to retire, explaining that years of fighting had left him in constant pain.

Hawkeye and Black Widow met Fury and Old Captain America, learning that time travel had changed their world and that the fate of Hawkeye’s family remained uncertain. Later, Luke helped Peter Parker reach his interview with JARVIS for the Defenders.

• Barton brought Hawkeye and Black Widow to a safe house, where Fury revealed an underground base and met them.
• Old Captain America explained that he had returned the Infinity Stones and stayed in the past, but Luke’s arrival had changed the timeline.
• Hawkeye asked whether his family had been brought back, and Old Captain America said he did not know but trusted Luke to help.
• Black Widow worried that Thanos might still reach their world, and Old Captain America warned that time travel could bring backlash.
• After spending two days with Galacta, Luke went to Stark Tower and found Peter Parker waiting to interview for the Defenders.
• Luke offered to take Peter to JARVIS, and Peter followed him upstairs.

Luke brought Peter Parker to Stark Industries, where Tony tested him and confirmed that he qualified to join the Defenders. The chapter ended with Tony planning Peter’s new armor and showing Luke the nearly completed defense system he had designed for Asgard.

• Luke took Peter to the top floor, where JARVIS explained that Peter’s interview was scheduled for two that afternoon.
• Tony met Peter, recognized him as Spider-Man, and invited him to undergo tests for the Defenders.
• Peter showed Tony and Luke his homemade web-shooters and worn suit, which Tony mistook for pajamas before promising to make him new armor if he joined.
• Tony confirmed Peter’s strength and scientific talent, and JARVIS took him to register as a Defenders member.
• Tony examined Peter’s webbing and explained to Luke that he had nearly finished designing a new defense system for Asgard.

Luke checked on Banner and Hulk before returning to Tony, who had designed an upgraded suit for Spider-Man and praised him as a hero the public trusted. Tony welcomed Spider-Man into the Defenders but deferred his participation in dangerous battles, planning to have Happy guide him as he gained experience.

• Luke found Banner able to use Dark Energy and Hulk studying under Galactus, then left Banner books on dark magic.
• Tony showed Luke videos of Spider-Man helping people and explained that his restraint and popularity made him an ideal superhero and a possible mascot for the Defenders.
• Spider-Man worried that storing his identity on Stark Tower's server could expose him to Aunt May, and Luke reassured him that the server was secure.
• Tony told Spider-Man that his upgraded suit was designed, but he needed more experience before joining intense battles; Spider-Man agreed to work hard.
• Tony decided Spider-Man would wear the new suit, build experience, and have Happy as his contact.

Tony made Little Spider an official Defender, while Luke watched Star-Lord and his crew battle the Sovereign fleet over lunch. Groot and Rocket destroyed the fleet, leaving Star-Lord’s crew free to board the Sovereign ship and seize their target.

• Tony welcomed Little Spider into the Defenders, clearing him from the police wanted list, then sent him to meet his contact with JARVIS.
• Luke returned home and watched Star-Lord, Gamora, Rocket, Drax, and Groot prepare to attack a Sovereign warship.
• Groot agreed to operate the Multi-Barrel Energy Cannon, and Star-Lord lured the Sovereign ships into an asteroid belt so the crew could destroy many of them.
• Rocket modified a laser gun and joined Groot outside the ship; together they wiped out the remaining Sovereign fleet, though Rocket’s weapon broke.
• Rocket salvaged usable parts from the laser gun and proposed boarding the warship to capture their target.

Luke monitored Star-Lord's recovery of Ronan's head and Megatron's campaign against the Kree, while events on Earth brought the Defenders more recruits. Tony traveled to Asgard to discuss its defense system with Loki, who was waiting for him in the throne room.

• Star-Lord and his companions broke into a Sovereign warship, defeated its guards, and recovered Ronan's head while Luke watched from Earth.
• Megatron told Luke that the Coalition Army had destroyed Kree bases and captured ships, and Luke ordered him to finish the war and pursue the Kree leaders who had taken their technology.
• Megatron and Nova Prime agreed to accelerate their advance toward the Kree capital, with Nova Prime planning to use technology that could interfere with the Omni-Wave Projector.
• News of the Coalition Army's gains spread, while China and Wakanda tested their warships and Little Spider's work with the Defenders attracted recruits; Tony injured his back when Little Spider hugged him.
• Tony left for Asgard to discuss its defense system with Loki and arrived at the throne room, where Loki had just finished processing documents.

Tony presented Loki with a powerful new defense system for Asgard, and Loki approved its construction using vibranium from Wakanda. Meanwhile, Luke watched Little Spider’s growing fame and discovered reports of a strange, possibly solid heat source moving inside Mount Fuji.

• Tony demonstrated his proposed Asgard defense system to Loki, including energy cannons, a shield, and a concentrated-energy weapon modeled after the Bifrost.
• Loki agreed to the renovations and arranged to trade the Dwarves’ armor commission for Wakandan vibranium; Thor arrived eager to help demolish Asgard’s ceilings.
• Luke watched Little Spider help people around New York and shared footage of him playfully passing a police officer who had once chased him.
• Luke uploaded the video, which quickly gained views and comments as Little Spider’s reputation continued to grow.
• Luke watched a report that a moving heat source inside Mount Fuji could signal an eruption, and noticed it appeared to retain the shape of a solid object.

Spider-Man joined the police operation against armed bank robbers and rescued the twenty-six hostages locked in a room. After Happy guided him through disarming the guards and moving the hostages to safer rooms, Spider-Man headed to confront the remaining robbers.

• Happy told Luke that Spider-Man had gone to help the police, and Luke followed him into the Mirror Dimension.
• The officer briefed Spider-Man on the hostages, the robbers’ weapons, and the plan to rescue the twenty-six people trapped in a room.
• Spider-Man entered the bank through a ventilation duct and used his suit to track the moving targets.
• Happy advised Spider-Man to disable the two guards’ rifles before attacking, and Spider-Man webbed their triggers and subdued them.
• Spider-Man moved the twenty-six hostages into safe rooms, then ran toward the remaining robbers.

Little Spider infiltrated a bank, rescued the hostages, and fought robbers trying to escape with stolen gold. After a sewer collapse trapped him and a child, Luke arrived to help, and the robbers were captured.

• Little Spider webbed and subdued three robbers guarding the bank lobby, then sent the police in to collect the hostages.
• Little Spider watched the robber leader and two armored men load gold into a tunnel vehicle while holding a child hostage, then attacked as they tried to escape.
• The robber leader threw the child from the vehicle, and Little Spider caught him before removing and throwing away an explosive that triggered a sewer collapse.
• Little Spider held up concrete to protect the child and contacted Happy for help until Luke arrived and used Alien Soldiers to support the rubble.
• Luke emerged from the collapsed street, and Spider-Man brought the child to safety as Shadow Ninjas delivered the unconscious robbers and recovered gold to the police.
• Peter praised the child, then swung after Luke.

After Little Spider’s first operation, Luke praised his rescue but pointed out his inexperience and unfamiliarity with his suit. JARVIS then reported Mount Fuji’s massive eruption and Wanda’s discovery of an unusual cause; Luke cleared the ash and searched the volcano, while Surtur escaped underground and began planning to leave Earth.

• Happy treated Little Spider’s injuries with ointment from a Chinese secret realm, and Luke showed him reports praising his rescue before correcting his mistakes.
• JARVIS reported that Mount Fuji had erupted severely, and Wanda and Quicksilver requested support after Wanda sensed something inside the volcano.
• Luke told Little Spider to stay behind, flew to Japan, and used Dark Energy to clear volcanic ash from the sky.
• Luke entered Mount Fuji to search for the cause of the eruption but found that it had already left and the underground magma channels were too extensive to follow.
• Surtur hid underground after fleeing Luke, then created fire demons disguised as ordinary people and sent them to find a way off Earth.

Luke investigated the escaped lava-powered monster, checked that no Golza had gone missing from his Pocket Dimension, and promised Ji God help with breeding monsters. In Asgard, Sylvie learned from Frigga that Hela was Thor and Loki’s older sister, leaving everyone stunned.

• Luke met Wanda and Pietro, heard that a huge monster filled with lava had escaped, and went to check his Golza in the Pocket Dimension.
• Luke found that Ji God’s Golza records accounted for every monster, agreed to let Ji God leave the Pocket Dimension occasionally, and promised to send Dark Giants to help with breeding.
• Tony, Thor, Loki, and Sylvie examined a hidden Asgardian ceiling mural showing an unknown woman wielding Mjolnir alongside Odin.
• Loki asked Sylvie to investigate the woman, and Sylvie used a bloodline-tracking spell as a pretext to ask Frigga about the mural.
• Frigga told Sylvie that Hela was the eldest of the siblings, and Sylvie later revealed to Thor, Loki, and Tony that the woman in the mural was their older sister.

Sylvie revealed how Odin sealed Hela in Hel after their conflict over Asgard’s wars and the Infinity Stones, and the siblings decided to contact their imprisoned sister through a passage Loki had found. Meanwhile, Tony returned to Earth and learned Luke already knew about Hela before going to check on Spider-Man.

• Sylvie explained that Hela had fought beside Odin before they clashed over his decision to abandon further conquest and the search for the Infinity Stones, leading Odin to seal her in Hel.
• Thor and Sylvie wanted to meet Hela, but Loki warned that the passage to Hel was too dangerous and proposed sending greetings with Recording Stones.
• Sylvie fetched the Recording Stones while Thor reluctantly left to help Tony remove the mural intact and place it in Asgard’s treasure vault.
• Luke investigated the Mount Fuji eruption by asking for a list of arrivals from the Tiga World and sending Wanda and Pietro to check them.
• Tony told Luke that Thor and the others had discovered Hela, then left to buy materials and visit Spider-Man after Luke said he had handled trouble well.

Wanda and Pietro found no abnormalities among the people from Tiga World, while extraterrestrial visitors offered the secretary of defense firestone in exchange for help buying Trading Station technology. Tony visited Peter after his laboratory accident, praised him, and learned that Happy was visiting Aunt May rather than Peter.

• Wanda told Luke that everyone from Tiga World on the list was accounted for and appeared normal.
• A group of extraterrestrial beings asked the secretary of defense to act as their agent for purchasing Trading Station goods.
• The visitors demonstrated firestone by melting the Pentagon meeting table and offered it as a way to build relations with the Dwarves.
• The secretary of defense agreed to test the firestone and considered using it to obtain artifacts from the Dwarves.
• Tony visited Peter and praised him for limiting the damage during the laboratory accident.
• Peter told Tony that Happy's visits were really for Aunt May, and Tony became interested in the gossip.

Tony decided to build employee apartments and headed to Stark Tower to obtain materials from the Dwarves, while Luke prepared to monitor the unidentified magma creature and warned Odin that Thor had learned about Hela. At the Trading Station, a Yellowstone experiment’s firestone transformed the Dwarves’ opinion of the United States, just as Tony arrived and offered the injured envoy help.

• Tony praised Little Spider for refusing his offer to buy the Daily Bugle, then planned employee apartments and flew with Friday to Stark Tower to gather materials.
• Luke found no monster eggs among the Tiga World goods, arranged for Galacta to monitor Earth for the magma creature, and contacted Odin about Thor learning of Hela.
• Odin agreed to return immediately after Luke warned him about Hela’s discovery.
• A United States envoy showed the Dwarves a heat-radiating stone from Yellowstone, and the Dwarven envoy recognized it as valuable firestone.
• The Dwarven envoy enthusiastically grabbed the United States envoy and deformed his arm, and Tony arrived and asked whether he needed help.

Tony treated an envoy whose arm the dwarf had injured, then discussed materials for his system with Luke, who warned that Odin’s return could make Asgard turbulent. Luke went to check on Thor, Loki, and Sylvie as they contacted Hela, and the chapter ended with Hela accusing Odin of concealing her existence.

• Tony stopped the dwarf from forcing the envoy’s broken arm back into place, froze it to prevent further damage, and had the envoy carried away.
• Tony asked the dwarf to gather special metals for his system, then met Luke, who warned him to stay away from Asgard while Odin dealt with Hela.
• Luke went to Asgard and asked Heimdall to locate Thor, who was with Loki and Sylvie in a cave contacting Hela through a spatial rift.
• Hela appeared through the rift, identified herself as Asgard’s Goddess of Death, and asked Thor, Loki, and Sylvie why they had come secretly.
• Sylvie said they had discovered Hela and wanted to meet her, prompting Hela to accuse Odin of hiding her existence.

Hela rejected Loki and Thor’s attempts to reconcile her with Odin and fought Thor in Hel, shattering Mjolnir before Luke intervened. Luke challenged Hela and launched a dark spear at her as she gathered death force to counter it.

• Hela said she wanted to take Gungnir, rule Asgard, and imprison Odin in Hel, and Thor entered the spatial rift to confront her.
• Hela blocked Thor’s attacks, caught Mjolnir, and shattered it after overpowering Odin’s divine power within the hammer.
• Luke kicked Hela away from Thor, introduced himself as Odin’s sworn brother, and had the Shadow Ninjas drag Thor to safety.
• Luke seized Hela and slammed her into the ground, then blocked her attacks with dark energy.
• Luke hurled a black spear at Hela, and Hela infused a black spike with death force to meet it.

After Hela exhausted her divine power and fainted, she absorbed Hel’s death force and drew the attention of Death, one of the Five Cosmic Entities. Death struck a deal with a being from the future and made Luke responsible for Hela, leaving him to wonder why he had received no promised benefits.

• Luke defeated Hela by destroying the spike beneath her and caught her after she fell; Odin explained that she had fainted from hunger after exhausting her divine power.
• After waking, Hela tried to absorb Hel’s death force, drawing the attention of Death, who agreed to trade part of the concept of death to a being building a new multiversal dimension.
• A death storm formed around Hela and closed the spatial rift, while Luke and Odin struggled against the force stripping away their vitality.
• Hela, Odin, and Luke encountered Death in a strange space, where Death explained the deal and revealed that Luke was chosen to accept Hela and deliver her to the future being.
• Luke signed a contract granting him control over Hela’s life and death, then returned to Hel and questioned why he could not feel the promised benefits.

Luke explained to Odin that Hela had been spared by Death but was being used as a vessel for death rules, and that Luke controlled whether she lived or died. When Hela awakened and attacked Odin, Luke killed her, then revived her while practicing his finger snap.

• Luke told Odin that Death had spared Hela, left a seed of the death rule inside her, and sold her as a vessel for another being’s new universe.
• Odin admitted he had failed to explain his reasons for sealing Hela, and Luke urged him to seek her forgiveness after she absorbed Hel’s death force.
• After the death storm gathered into Hela and sunlight returned to Hel, Luke and Odin approached her as she woke.
• Hela recognized Odin and attacked him, so Luke killed her and caught her body before it hit the ground.
• Luke suggested taking Hela to Earth for psychological treatment, and Odin departed through the Bifrost.
• Luke tried snapping his fingers again, revived Hela, and then caused her to lose consciousness once more.

Luke brought Hela’s corpse to Stark Tower, where he explained that she had been entrusted to him and needed psychological treatment. After Galactus confirmed the deal involving Hela and the Rule Seed was safe, Luke arranged for her care and agreed to join the Defenders’ merchandise project.

• Luke startled the Stark Tower superheroes by arriving with Hela’s corpse, then briefly woke her before making her lose consciousness again.
• Luke told Galactus that Death had arranged for him to look after Hela and that she needed treatment before reconciling with Odin.
• Galactus checked with Death, confirmed the deal was sound, and left after learning it had helped maintain balance.
• Luke explained Hela’s situation to Tony, who agreed to find first-rate psychiatrists and invited Luke to a party that night.
• Tony described the Defenders’ plan to sell their own merchandise and donate some proceeds to charity, and Luke agreed on the condition that he could approve his samples.
• Luke took Hela through a portal to the hospital Tony had bought for her treatment.

Tony hosted a Defenders party so its members and allies could meet, while Shuri and Tony challenged each other to help Black Bolt speak freely. The gathering ended with Tony sharing his hopes for the alliance, and Luke went home with Galacta.

• Luke left Hela in Kamar-Taj's clinic and asked Tony if Shuri could attend the party; Tony agreed as long as she kept the members' identities confidential.
• Shuri and Galacta finished developing nanotechnology clothing, and T'Challa agreed to let Shuri attend the party with Okoye after Shuri persuaded him.
• The party guests arrived, including Fury, former Avengers, Shuri, Black Bolt, and members from Wakanda and China; Shuri and Tony argued over whose technology was better.
• Tony challenged Shuri to compete over helping Black Bolt speak freely, and Black Bolt agreed to cooperate after Luke reassured him.
• Wanda told Little Spider about the dangers of magic and offered to help if he encountered demonic servants; Galacta later opened a portal to send him home.
• After the guests left, Tony drunkenly praised the Defenders and said he wanted them to keep enemies away without sacrifices; Luke carried him to bed, then returned home with Galacta.