Chapter Summaries

After waking in the Ten Rings’ cave as Tony Stark, a newcomer from another world learned that he lacked Tony’s engineering genius and faced a deadly demand to build a missile. The Dark Lottery System granted him Shadow Ninja and access to the Shadow Kingdom, but he survived a dangerous attempt to use it as an escape and prepared to fight his way out of the cave.

• Tony woke in the Ten Rings’ cave with shrapnel near his heart and realized he had become Tony Stark during the events of Iron Man 1.
• The Dark Lottery System identified him as the Shadow Kingdom’s inheritor and assigned him a mission to escape alive.
• Tony opened the novice gift pack and gained ten Shadow Ninja and the ability to travel to and from the Shadow Kingdom.
• Tony summoned the Shadow Ninja and attempted to escape through the Shadow Kingdom, but Dark Creatures attacked him.
• The Shadow Ninja protected Tony as he returned to the cave, where he resolved to fight his way out.

Tony waited until night to send ten Shadow Ninja to attack the Ten Rings camp while he remained captive in the cave. The Shadow Ninja silently killed patrols until the camp raised the alarm, then began slaughtering Ten Rings members as they rushed from their tents.

• Tony rested, ate the food brought by Yinsen, and learned that Yinsen was also a prisoner.
• After night fell, Tony summoned ten Shadow Ninja and sent them toward the Ten Rings camp.
• The Shadow Ninja ambushed patrol squads in the darkness, killing them and hiding their bodies.
• At midnight, a bald patrol leader realized several teams were missing and ordered the camp alarm sounded.
• As Ten Rings members poured out of their tents, the Shadow Ninja scattered and attacked, killing several before they could regroup.

Ten Shadow Ninjas slaughtered the Ten Rings camp, allowing Tony and Doctor Yinsen to leave the cave and reach a satellite phone. Tony contacted Rhodey for a covert pickup, and Rhodey dispatched fifty elites to find him in the desert.

• Ten Shadow Ninjas deflected the Ten Rings militants’ bullets and killed them throughout the camp.
• Tony told Doctor Yinsen that rescuers had arrived, then led him out of the cave as the gunfire and screams faded.
• Doctor Yinsen vomited at the sight of the massacred camp and asked Tony how he had done it.
• Tony found a satellite phone, decided not to contact Pepper Potts because Obadiah might learn he was alive, and called Rhodey instead.
• Tony asked Rhodey to track the phone signal and arrange a covert pickup, and Rhodey sent fifty elites into the desert.

Tony returned safely to the United States with Doctor Yinsen, while Rhodes began investigating the strange circumstances of his rescue. Back in Manhattan, Tony reunited with Pepper Potts and ordered her to gather evidence so he could remove Obadiah from Stark Industries.

• Colonel Rhodes and his soldiers found Tony and Doctor Yinsen in the spotless Ten Rings camp, where Yinsen remembered the massacre from the previous night.
• Tony told Rhodes that the terrorists had evacuated for an unknown reason, and Rhodes sent word of the rescue and its suspicious details to the United States.
• Tony and Doctor Yinsen flew to Manhattan, where Pepper Potts greeted Tony and he kissed her before taking her home.
• Potts told Tony that Stark Industries' stock had fallen nearly twenty percent and that Obadiah had gained power while Tony was missing.
• Tony told Potts to collect evidence and call a shareholders' meeting so he could remove Obadiah from Stark Industries.

After returning to Freedom City, Tony Stark claimed his completed escape mission reward, gained control of an entire Shadow Ninja branch, and drew the Horse Talisman. He used its healing power to remove the device in his chest and fully recover.

• Tony asked JARVIS for a way to fix the device in his chest, but JARVIS reported that current technology could not solve the problem.
• Tony checked his system, fused with the Shadow Ninja branch, and gained control over its entire legion.
• Tony used his remaining draw and received the Horse Talisman, learning it could cure illnesses and heal severe injuries.
• Tony ripped the device from his chest and used the Horse Talisman's power to heal the wound completely.

After recovering with magical power, Tony confronted Obadiah Stane to force him to sell his Stark Industries shares. Tony revealed that he had brought Shadow Ninjas into Obadiah’s villa, leaving Obadiah at swordpoint.

• JARVIS reported that Tony was healthy and three times as physically fit as an ordinary person.
• Miss Potts told Tony that Obadiah had sold company intelligence, but he had destroyed the evidence.
• JARVIS located Obadiah at his villa, and Tony drove there to take control of his shares by force.
• Tony offered Obadiah a contract to sell his shares, and Obadiah refused.
• Tony summoned twenty Shadow Ninjas, who put a samurai sword to Obadiah’s neck.

Tony coerced Obadiah into transferring his Stark Industries shares, then had him and a witness killed and concealed their bodies. After increasing his stake to 95 percent, Tony asked Potts to arrange a shareholders' meeting and showed her the signed contract.

• Tony threatened Obadiah into signing over his shares and then ordered a Shadow Ninja to kill him.
• Tony had a maid who witnessed the killing murdered, searched the villa for other witnesses, destroyed its surveillance cameras, and disposed of both bodies in the Shadow Kingdom.
• Obadiah's bodyguards returned to the villa, found blood but no sign of him, and called the police.
• Tony contacted Potts to arrange a shareholders' meeting and went to Stark Industries, where he explained that he wanted to buy back the remaining shares.
• Tony showed Potts the signed share transfer contract, and she was shocked that he had acquired Obadiah's shares.

Tony received a system mission to form the Dark Alliance and decided to recruit Kingpin as bait to attract superheroes. He took control of Stark Industries, ordered it delisted while secretly keeping weapons production, and the false shutdown announcement sent the stock plunging.

• The system assigned Tony a mission to form the Dark Alliance, and he planned to use Kingpin to draw superheroes to him.
• Potts bought the minority shareholders' stakes for four hundred million dollars, raising Tony's ownership of Stark Industries to ninety-eight percent.
• Tony ordered Stark Industries to delist and told Potts to falsely announce that weapons manufacturing would end.
• Potts spread the false announcement, and Stark Industries' stock plunged.

Tony contacted Kingpin to propose a partnership and met him in Queens, where they shared a meal before discussing business. Tony offered to supply weapons in exchange for Kingpin taking care of certain matters, leaving Kingpin to respond.

• As Stark Industries shares plunged, Potts organized a team to buy them while Tony asked JARVIS to investigate Kingpin.
• Tony called Kingpin and arranged a meeting on Queens Boulevard.
• Kingpin's man picked up Tony, blindfolded him, and brought him to a guarded courtyard.
• Tony met Kingpin, ate grilled steak with him, and waited until the meal ended to discuss cooperation.
• Tony proposed supplying weapons in exchange for Kingpin taking care of some things.

Tony Stark struck a deal with Kingpin to trade advanced weapons for information on people with special abilities, while S.H.I.E.L.D. assigned Natasha to investigate Tony and Peter Parker began experiencing a mysterious reaction to a spider bite. The chapter ended with Potts confronting Tony about Stark Industries and his return to public life.

• Tony offered Kingpin cutting-edge weapons in exchange for information on people with special abilities, and Kingpin agreed to cooperate.
• Alexander Pierce ordered Natasha to investigate Tony, suspecting that Tony was connected to Obadiah’s disappearance and a mysterious power.
• Peter Parker convulsed at home after being bitten by a spider at a biology museum.
• Tony woke after partying with Hollywood actresses and found Potts waiting for him with questions about a press conference and the tax authorities’ plan to take Stark Industries private.

Tony learned that Spider-Man had appeared in New York and worked with Kingpin to lure him out with an illegal transaction. At Stark Industries, Tony rebuffed Natasha’s advances and ordered her out of his office.

• Tony refused to meet the Tax Bureau, scheduled an afternoon press conference, and had Potts remove the women upstairs before they went to Stark Industries together.
• Spider-Man began fighting crime in New York, angering Kingpin by disrupting his criminal businesses and prompting the police to issue an arrest warrant.
• Kingpin told Tony that Spider-Man had appeared, and Tony asked him to arrange an illegal transaction in Manhattan to draw Spider-Man out that night.
• Natasha tried to massage Tony’s shoulders and flirt with him, but Tony told her to focus on her job and immediately leave his office.

Tony watched Natasha leave, then drove to a Manhattan transaction arranged by Kingpin. After Spider-Man broke up the deal, hundreds of Shadow Ninjas attacked and pursued him, leaving Peter injured and surrounded in an alley.

• Tony recognized Natasha and acted flirtatiously before returning to his paperwork.
• Tony drove to Thirteenth Avenue and watched the transaction between two factions.
• Spider-Man attacked the traders, captured them, and prepared to call the police.
• Shadow Ninjas appeared and attacked Peter, who fought back as their numbers grew into the hundreds.
• Peter fled across the high-rises, but the Shadow Ninjas pursued and wounded him until a shuriken cut his webbing.
• Peter crashed into an alley, where Shadow Ninjas surrounded him.

Tony Stark cornered Peter Parker with his Shadow Ninja and forced him to accept a mission to kill Ivan Vanko. After leaving Peter with an explosive communicator, Tony told JARVIS he intended to remove a future threat and corrupt Spider-Man by making him break his principles.

• Peter tried to stop the Shadow Ninja, but Tony arrived and introduced himself as their leader.
• Tony demanded that Peter kill someone and threatened him with death if he refused.
• Peter agreed to kill Ivan Vanko, and Tony gave him a wristband communicator that would explode if he failed the mission.
• Tony left the Alley, and the Shadow Ninja disappeared into the darkness, leaving Peter alone.
• JARVIS asked about Ivan Vanko, and Tony said he planned to eliminate him before he became a threat.
• Tony explained that he wanted Peter to kill Ivan and begin abandoning Spider-Man's principles.

Tony attended the military procurement conference, where his rivalry with Justin Hammer escalated as the Osborn Group became a target. Stark Industries and Hammer Industries joined forces to leave the Osborn Group with only ten percent of the orders.

• Tony finished signing company documents, and Ms. Potts gave him the military procurement invitation as his final task before a vacation.
• Tony arrived at the procurement conference with Happy and his bodyguards, drawing attention from the gathered arms dealers.
• Tony traded barbs with Justin Hammer and suggested that the Osborn Group could overtake Hammer Industries.
• When procurement began, Stark Industries and Hammer Industries tacitly allied to suppress the Osborn Group.
• The Osborn Group received only ten percent of the orders, leaving Osborn furious.

After the Osborn Group secured only ten percent of the military procurement orders, its shareholders threatened to withdraw their investments, leaving Osborn facing possible bankruptcy. Once everyone had left for the day, Osborn went alone to the company’s laboratory building.

• Osborn learned that the Osborn Group had won only ten percent of the military procurement orders after Stark Industries and Hammer Industries joined forces against him.
• Osborn returned to the company and found shareholders waiting to confront him about the group’s poor procurement results.
• The shareholders unanimously decided to withdraw their investments, and Osborn failed to persuade them to stay.
• After the employees left, Osborn rose from the conference room and headed to the laboratory building.

Under pressure from withdrawing shareholders, Osborn began human trials of his enhancement serum on himself. Meanwhile, Peter infiltrated Hammer Industries on Tony’s orders and killed Ivan Vanko, leaving Tony watching the mission unfold.

• Osborn injected himself with the unfinished human enhancement serum, and the test chamber filled with his scream as he suffered intense pain.
• Tony sent Peter information on Ivan Vanko and ordered him to make Ivan disappear, while secretly monitoring Peter through the Wristband.
• Peter put on his Spider Suit, infiltrated Hammer Industries, and reached the third basement level despite the facility’s ambush.
• Peter evaded the guards, found Ivan Vanko, and killed him by twisting his neck.

Peter fled after killing Ivan, while Tony watched the Green Goblin attack his villa and escape. Tony recognized Osborn as a potential recruit for the Dark Alliance and remained amused as the Goblin retreated.

• Peter snapped Ivan's neck to avoid being overwhelmed by guards, then fled when he heard footsteps.
• Tony questioned whether Peter had killed before, and JARVIS blamed Tony for helping Peter release his darker impulses.
• JARVIS alerted Tony to an unidentified flyer approaching the villa, and Tony recognized Osborn as the Green Goblin.
• Osborn blamed Tony for the Osborn Group's troubles and threw two Pumpkin Bombs at the villa.
• Shadow Ninja destroyed the bombs and attacked Osborn, whose armor was damaged by their blades.
• Osborn escaped on the Goblin Glider after seeing how many Shadow Ninja protected Tony's villa.

Tony tempted Peter into agreeing to capture Norman Osborn for twenty million dollars, pushing Spider-Man further toward darkness. Peter left to make a delivery, while Tony drove off considering his next target.

• Tony met Peter at a coffee shop while Peter was working as a delivery driver.
• Tony offered Peter ten million dollars to capture Norman Osborn alive, but Peter refused because Norman was his friend Harry's father.
• Tony raised the offer to twenty million and assured Peter he did not intend to hurt Norman.
• Peter accepted the deal, troubled by his motives but increasingly resentful of his ordinary, struggling life.
• Tony watched Peter leave on his scooter and concluded that Spider-Man had gone astray before driving away to consider his next target.

Tony watched Hulk rampage through Manhattan and battle General Ross’s forces, then captured Bruce Banner after Hulk ran out of energy and reverted to human form. He drove Bruce away, intending to use Hulk’s value for his own plans.

• Tony saw Hulk crash into Manhattan and tear through the city, then followed him in his sports car.
• General Ross sent soldiers and tanks to stop Hulk, but Hulk slaughtered troops and destroyed a tank while Tony watched from a building.
• Hulk eventually ran out of energy, broke through the military encirclement, and fled into an alley as Bruce Banner.
• Shadow Ninjas surrounded Bruce and knocked him unconscious, and Tony ordered them to take him away.
• Tony put Bruce in his sports car and drove off with his captive.

After sedating Hulk and placing him in the Nutrient Chamber, Tony chose Reed Richards to replicate Hulk’s genes and recruited him by offering to fund his research. Reed arrived at Tony’s villa, where they began discussing the investment.

• Tony sedated Hulk and placed him in the Nutrient Chamber to keep him stable.
• Tony chose Reed Richards to replicate Hulk’s genes, hoping to recruit him into the Dark Alliance after his mutation.
• JARVIS connected Tony with Reed, who eagerly accepted Tony’s offer to invest in his genetics research.
• Reed arrived at Tony’s seaside villa and joined him for a drink on the balcony.
• Reed asked Tony how much he intended to invest.