Chapter Summaries

Yang Ming reunited with Tony Stark in Los Angeles, where Tony arranged supplies and offered him a ten-percent stake in a future biomedical laboratory in exchange for eliminating three mercenary squads linked to Obadiah. At Tony’s Malibu mansion, Yang Ming identified its security flaws and prepared for the mercenaries’ imminent attack.

• Tony Stark welcomed Yang Ming, Jessica, and Trish at Los Angeles International Airport and introduced him to Pepper Potts and Dr. Yinsen.
• Pepper offered Jessica and Trish unlimited shopping cards, while Happy Hogan took them to see Hollywood’s Walk of Fame.
• Tony told Yang Ming that the mercenaries’ funding led to Obadiah’s shell company and offered him a ten-percent stake in Stark Industries’ future biomedical laboratory to take care of them.
• Tony drove Yang Ming to his Malibu mansion, where Yang Ming pointed out weaknesses in the property’s security and Tony ordered JARVIS to increase radar coverage.
• Yang Ming settled into his ocean-view room and anticipated that Obadiah’s mercenaries would attack soon.

Yang Ming promised Tony Stark he would deal with thirty-six mercenaries near Stark’s Malibu villa before dinner. In Metropolis, Lex Luthor presented Dr. Elias Thorne’s emotion-regulating treatment as a way to end suffering, while secretly planning to use it to control the public; Elias announced he would first travel to Gotham.

• Yang Ming assured Tony Stark he would dispose of the thirty-six mercenaries before six thirty and asked about the promised equity contract.
• Lex Luthor introduced Dr. Elias Thorne at a press conference, where Thorne promoted an aerosol treatment that could regulate emotions.
• Luthor privately planned to make the treatment addictive and use it to control the people of Metropolis and America.
• Elias told Luthor he would travel to Gotham City for an academic exchange at Gotham University before beginning work on mass production.
• Luthor offered LexCorp’s security team to escort Elias in Gotham, and Elias accepted.

Yang Ming used Tony Stark’s intelligence and alien optical camouflage to attack two armed mercenary teams in Los Angeles. After killing the teams at a warehouse and motel, he headed toward the final location, a yacht off Malibu.

• Lex Luthor ordered his security chief to escort Dr. Thorne to Gotham and dismissed reports of unrest there as a gang war.
• Tony Stark gave Yang Ming an encrypted drive containing three locations where armed mercenaries were stationed.
• Yang Ming changed into tactical gear, activated his camouflage blanket, and left Tony’s villa without being seen.
• At the Santa Monica warehouse, Yang Ming silently took down six mercenaries and killed their captain with a scalpel.
• At the motel, Yang Ming killed the guard with a potassium chloride injection, then killed the remaining mercenaries and retrieved his scalpels.
• Yang Ming left the motel and prepared to investigate the final target, a yacht anchored off Malibu.

Yang Ming infiltrated Obadiah’s yacht and killed the mercenaries preparing to attack the Stark villa, then destroyed the vessel. He returned to dinner with Tony, Jessica, and Trish, where Tony recognized the scale of Yang Ming’s actions and agreed to improve the villa’s security.

• Yang Ming swam to Obadiah’s yacht, killed the guards on deck, and entered the armory where the mercenaries planned an attack on the Stark villa.
• Yang Ming used optical camouflage, firearms, scalpels, and stun grenades to kill the mercenaries, then disarmed and killed their leader.
• Yang Ming destroyed the yacht, which exploded and sank in international waters.
• Yang Ming returned to the villa after showering and joined Tony, Jessica, and Trish for dinner.
• Tony received reports of killings and the yacht’s explosion, then toasted Yang Ming and agreed to upgrade the villa’s security.

Pamela Lillian Isley reluctantly agreed to attend Dr. Elias Thorne’s symposium after Professor Jason Woodrue argued his research could help her plant neurotoxin project. At the auditorium, Harleen Frances Quinzel continued documenting the mysterious man she had named Sample X, contrasting him with the academic celebrity about to take the stage.

• Sarah urged Pamela to attend Elias Thorne’s lecture, but Pamela dismissed the idea as irrelevant to her research.
• Professor Jason Woodrue ordered Pamela to attend, arguing Thorne’s drug-delivery breakthrough could help secure funding for their project.
• Pamela agreed and left the laboratory with Sarah, saddened by the withered campus plants and feeling like a misfit in Gotham.
• Harleen sketched Sample X in her notebook and recorded her observations about his fighting technique, vigilance, and restraint.
• Amy asked Harleen about the sketch, and Harleen concealed it and said she found street criminals more interesting to study than the academic peacock about to appear.

Elias Thorne presented LexCorp’s aerosol drug for chemically eliminating negative emotions, while Harleen Quinzel recognized his perfection as evidence of a dangerous god complex. The chapter ended with Harleen publicly challenging whether his treatment would strip people of the instincts and will to resist, and whose interests it would serve.

• Elias Thorne arrived at Gotham’s auditorium under heavy LexCorp security and presented a drug designed to alter emotions by repairing brain chemistry.
• Harleen Quinzel judged Elias to be dangerously controlling and wrote “God complex” in her notebook.
• Pamela recognized that Elias’s aerosol delivery technology could help her Plant Neurotoxin Project and began calculating how to adapt it.
• During the question-and-answer session, Harleen challenged Elias’s assumption that suffering was useless and warned that removing fear and anger could leave people unable to avoid danger or resist injustice.
• Harleen accused Elias of chemically castrating society and asked whether LexCorp or Elias himself would benefit from a population stripped of its will to resist, provoking an uproar.

Elias defended his emotion-suppressing drug against Harley Quinzel’s challenge, then discussed its technology with Pamela Isley. In the Marvel storyline, Tony Stark moved to strip Obadiah Stane of his power and pursue him legally while preparing to steer Stark Industries into clean energy.

• Elias argued that his drug removed harmful inner conflict while preserving rational judgment, and Harley noted his reasoning concealed a desire for control.
• Pamela Isley challenged Elias about his liposome delivery system and received his business card after he invited her to discuss the technology with LexCorp.
• Tony ordered JARVIS to revoke Obadiah Stane’s access to Stark Industries and told Pepper to prepare legal action and send evidence of his crimes to authorities and the press.
• Tony announced plans to promote civilian Arc Reactor applications and clean energy to win over Stark Industries’ board and investors.
• Yang Ming and Jessica discussed harsher ways to punish Obadiah, while Tony insisted on disgracing him and stripping him of his wealth and power through the law.

Tony exposed Obadiah Stane’s weapons smuggling and assassination plot, but Obadiah escaped the FBI and secretly prepared Iron Monger. After discovering the mech lacked a power source, Obadiah set out to steal Tony’s Arc Reactor and attack him at his villa.

• Tony revealed evidence implicating Obadiah in supplying weapons to the Ten Rings and hiring assassins, and announced Stark Industries would end weapons manufacturing and pursue clean energy.
• FBI agents raided Obadiah’s mansion but found that he had fled after being tipped off.
• Pepper told Tony that Obadiah had requisitioned special alloy and cut surveillance at an abandoned Stark Industries warehouse in District 16.
• Tony decided to confront Obadiah himself and prepared the Mark III, while Yang Ming warned that Obadiah’s retaliation could be dangerous.
• Obadiah revealed Iron Monger at his underground laboratory, learned his scientists could not build an Arc Reactor, and left to steal Tony’s reactor.

Obadiah Stane ambushed Tony Stark, stole his new reactor, and left him near death, but Yang Ming saved him with the original reactor. Tony flew off to confront Obadiah, and Yang Ming enlisted Jessica to race toward Stark Industries headquarters.

• Obadiah used a sonic emitter to paralyze Tony, removed his new reactor, and escaped toward the garage.
• Yang Ming broke into the laboratory, smashed the glass case, and replaced Tony's reactor with the original one, saving his life.
• Tony ordered JARVIS to suit him in the Mark III and flew away despite Yang Ming's warning that his heart might fail.
• Yang Ming woke Jessica by telling her Tony might die and she would have to repay the costs of their trip.
• Jessica drove Yang Ming toward Stark Industries headquarters at high speed.

Obadiah Stane attacked Stark Industries in Iron Monger, and Tony fought him over Los Angeles before both suits crashed outside Stark Tower. Yang Ming evacuated the building, then confronted Iron Monger with a scalpel and opened the first of the Eight Gates.

• Obadiah powered up Iron Monger and flew toward Stark Industries headquarters, determined to destroy Tony and the company.
• Tony intercepted Obadiah, but Iron Monger's heavy armor and weapons overwhelmed the Mark III until Tony struck it with a point-blank unibeam.
• Yang Ming and Jessica arrived at Stark Tower, where Yang Ming ordered an evacuation and Jessica helped Pepper clear the building.
• Iron Monger crashed outside the tower and threatened Pepper and Yang Ming before Tony struck him from above.
• Obadiah seized Tony and smashed him into a load-bearing column, leaving the Mark III badly damaged and its reactor fading.
• Yang Ming approached Iron Monger with a scalpel, announced that its exposed drive shaft and hydraulic layout were flawed, and activated the First Gate of the Eight Gates.

Yang Ming defeated Obadiah’s Iron Monger with his bare hands and scalpels, then collapsed from the strain of closing the Gate of Opening. Tony survived and promised Yang Ming the medical equipment and ten-percent stake he had agreed to provide.

• Obadiah struck at Yang Ming with Iron Monger, but Yang Ming caught the mechanical fist bare-handed.
• Yang Ming damaged Iron Monger’s arm, threw the mech into a fountain, and deflected six missiles.
• Yang Ming cut through Iron Monger’s chest armor, exposed the cockpit, and pulled Obadiah out before knocking him unconscious.
• Yang Ming closed the Gate of Opening and drank High-Concentration Cell Activator to steady himself.
• Tony thanked Yang Ming, who left Obadiah for him to deal with and reminded him of their agreement.

Batman warned Harvey Dent and James Gordon that removing Falcone before they could replace his control would plunge Gotham into a gang war. They agreed to use the ledger against Commissioner Loeb and gradually weaken Falcone, while Batman handled threats in the darkness.

• Harvey urged Gordon to use the coded ledger to prosecute Falcone and Loeb, but Gordon warned that Gotham's courts were corrupt.
• Batman entered the Safehouse, disarmed Harvey, and argued that Falcone's removal would create a power vacuum and unleash uncontrolled violence.
• Batman proposed that Gordon and Harvey clean up corruption through legal means while he deterred violent criminals and they slowly took over Falcone's territory.
• Harvey agreed to hold the ledger back and use it against Loeb first, while Gordon planned to investigate Flass.
• Gordon asked Batman about the Homeless Man who had crushed an RPG at the Docks, and Batman denied knowing him before leaving through the ventilation duct.

Aboard the flight home, Yang Ming and Jessica watched Tony Stark reject his prepared cover story and publicly reveal that he was Iron Man. The announcement sent Stark Industries shares soaring, making Yang Ming’s ten-percent stake vastly more valuable.

• Jessica complained about the dangerous Los Angeles trip, and Yang Ming reminded her that she had already spent lavishly on Tony Stark’s hospitality.
• Trish asked whether Yang Ming was a mutant or alien, and he claimed his strength came from exercise and studying anatomy and mechanics.
• A government official blamed the Stark Tower explosion on a robot malfunction, but Yang Ming predicted Tony would reject the authorities’ explanation.
• Tony discarded Pepper’s prepared speech and announced to the press, “I am Iron Man.”
• Stark Industries shares surged after Tony revealed his identity, and Yang Ming told Jessica their ten-percent stake was worth enough to buy half of Hell’s Kitchen.

Nick Fury visited Tony Stark to recruit him for the Avengers and questioned him about Yang Ming, whom S.H.I.E.L.D. considered a dangerous unknown. The next morning, Natasha Romanoff arrived at Yang Ming’s clinic posing as a Stark Industries lawyer to obtain his signature, while Jessica Jones guarded the entrance.

• Nick Fury infiltrated Tony Stark’s villa and proposed preliminary plans for the Avengers, but Tony refused to join.
• Fury confronted Tony about Yang Ming’s strength and warned that S.H.I.E.L.D. would investigate him; Tony defended Yang Ming and worried about the agency’s methods.
• At the clinic, Yang Ming made Jessica Jones study pharmacology while she complained about her duties.
• Natasha Romanoff arrived at the clinic under the name Angelina Lashman and claimed she needed Yang Ming’s signature on supplementary equity transfer agreements.
• Jessica Jones challenged Natasha at the door, but Yang Ming told her to let the visitor in.
• Natasha noticed the clinic’s military-grade medical equipment and studied Yang Ming, whose appearance contrasted with the strength described in Fury’s files.

Natasha visited Yang Ming at the Black Clinic to obtain his signature and assess him, but he saw through her seduction and identified her concealed injuries. Jessica interrupted their meeting and angrily drove Natasha out after Natasha taunted her; the clinic returned to quiet with Jessica still fuming.

• Natasha brought Yang Ming a document to sign and tried to seduce him with perfume and physical contact.
• Yang Ming identified Natasha's synthetic pheromone, resisted her advances, and deduced her old shoulder injury and repaired knee.
• Natasha asked for treatment advice, and Yang Ming signed the document while telling her to wear heels less often and avoid perfume at the clinic.
• Jessica entered carrying hydraulic cutters and told Natasha to leave after learning she had obtained Yang Ming's signature.
• Natasha mocked Jessica's appearance and chest, and Jessica swung the cutters at her as Natasha sidestepped and departed.
• Jessica continued ranting about Natasha after the clinic became quiet again.

Yang Ming dismissed Natasha’s attempt to influence him and signed the equity agreement, while Jessica remained protective of him. Natasha reported to Nick Fury that Yang Ming’s abilities and motives were difficult to assess, and S.H.I.E.L.D. chose to monitor him without coercion and offered to help fund a larger clinic.

• Jessica questioned Yang Ming about Natasha, and he said she was with S.H.I.E.L.D. and had tried to sound him out.
• Yang Ming gave Natasha a medical certificate and signed the equity agreement before she left the clinic.
• Natasha told Coulson and Nick Fury that her tactics had failed and that Yang Ming had identified her old injuries and disabled her arm with a pressure point.
• Natasha described Yang Ming as an unpredictable, highly capable figure and recommended that S.H.I.E.L.D. avoid coercion and seek cooperation.
• Fury ordered continued surveillance and offered to cover the rent if Yang Ming wanted a bigger clinic.

At Midtown High, students argued over Iron Man’s technology and the trench-coated man’s physical strength while Peter Parker sided with science and tried to impress Gwen Stacy. Their teacher announced a Thursday visit to Columbia University’s genetics lab, where Peter eagerly anticipated seeing genetically modified spiders, unaware the trip would change his life.

• Flash Thompson and his classmates argued over whether technology or extraordinary physical strength was superior.
• Peter Parker told Harry Osborn that the trench-coated man’s feats seemed physically impossible, and Flash mocked him until Harry intervened.
• Gwen Stacy criticized the students for celebrating destructive battles, and Peter nervously defended Tony Stark.
• Mr. Harrington announced that the senior class would visit Columbia University’s genetics and bioengineering laboratory on Thursday.
• Mr. Harrington warned the class about the lab’s genetically modified super-spiders, while Peter and Gwen looked forward to the visit.

Yang Ming pushed Jessica to perform her first surgery, and she saved a gang member from a shotgun wound. The completed teaching quest rewarded Yang Ming with a beginner Haki fusion seed, which awakened his observation Haki and gave him a new means of survival.

• Yang Ming told Jessica she would lead the next operation, and she reluctantly agreed to prepare for surgery.
• Three gang members brought in a young man with a severe abdominal gunshot wound, and Yang Ming directed Jessica through the operation.
• Jessica removed the shotgun pellets and sutured the patient, who survived as the Healer's Legacy quest reached perfect completion.
• Yang Ming received a beginner Three Types of Haki fusion seed and awakened observation Haki.
• Jessica went to collect double the surgical fee from the gang members while Yang Ming secluded himself to test his new perception.

Peter Parker visited Columbia University's genetics laboratory with his school, where a genetically altered spider bit him and triggered a sudden transformation. Alone in a restroom as his senses and strength changed, Peter was left unsure what was happening to him while his classmates looked for him.

• Peter packed Uncle Ben's old camera and joined his class's trip to Columbia University, hoping to photograph Gwen Stacy.
• Flash Thompson mocked Peter, but Harry Osborn intervened and teased him about his crush on Gwen.
• At the laboratory, Peter impressed a professor with his scientific knowledge, and Gwen asked him to take pictures of her.
• A red-and-blue spider escaped its cracked display case, crawled onto Peter, and bit him before dissolving.
• Peter developed heightened senses and unusual strength, then stumbled to a restroom as Gwen worried about him.
• Mr. Harrington gathered the students for the next exhibition hall and asked where Peter was, but no one answered.

After a school tour at a genetics lab, Peter underwent a painful transformation triggered by a spider and woke with extreme strength, sharp vision, and sticky hands. He left home in a panic after accidentally wrecking the house and realized his new abilities resembled those of the mysterious man from the news.

• Peter crushed a restroom faucet handle and developed painfully heightened hearing and sticky barbs after his visit to the genetics lab.
• Peter returned home feeling ill, collapsed into bed, and endured a violent overnight transformation as spider venom fused with his DNA.
• Peter woke with extraordinary strength and vision, then accidentally broke an alarm clock, a toothbrush, a toothpaste tube, and a towel rail.
• Peter tore a banister rail from the stairs and rushed out of the house before Aunt May could question him.
• Peter sprinted through Queens, leaped over a three-meter wall, and wondered if he had become like the mysterious man on the news.