Chapter Summaries

Tony established a points-and-rewards system for the Dark Alliance before sending its members to prepare for a mission. Meanwhile, Steve bonded with a symbiote at the Life Foundation and discovered his physical abilities had increased dramatically, leaving the testing equipment wrecked and Drake without useful data.

• Tony promised Dark Alliance members points for mission success and said they could exchange them for rewards, then sent them to prepare for their mission that night.
• Nick chose Steve as S.H.I.E.L.D.'s candidate for the Life Foundation's symbiote experiment, and Steve agreed in hopes of becoming strong enough to face growing threats.
• Drake oversaw the bonding as the symbiote enveloped Steve and burrowed into his body, causing a brief burst of intense pain.
• Steve estimated that the symbiote had increased his physical capabilities at least tenfold and agreed to test his new abilities with Drake.
• Steve's punch broke the Strength Tester, his speed damaged the modified Treadmill, and he passed the Shot Put Array, while Drake's tests yielded no useful data.

The Dark Alliance attacked the Life Foundation to search for information, while Drake called on Nick and Steve for support. The teams clashed inside the building, where Steve confronted Bucky and tried to bring him back to his side, but Bucky defended the Bright Alliance and rejected the appeal.

• Green Goblin, Happy, Peter, and Bucky broke through the Life Foundation’s defenses as the Dark Alliance launched its assault.
• Drake called Price and Donna to intercept the attackers, then contacted Nick for S.H.I.E.L.D. reinforcements and recruited Steve to help defend the foundation.
• Peter and Norman summoned shadows to scout, fight, and search the research building for information.
• Scream and a group of symbiotes blocked Peter, Mania attacked Green Goblin, and Steve confronted Bucky at the third-floor stairwell.
• Steve urged Bucky to abandon the Dark Alliance, but Bucky said he still believed in their ideals and accused S.H.I.E.L.D. of serving America’s ruling elite.

After bonding with the symbiote, Steve easily defeated Happy and Bucky and went downstairs to confront Green Goblin. Steve stopped Norman’s escape and sent him crashing to the floor, while Peter heard Norman shout for someone to run.

• Happy charged Steve, but Steve knocked him flying and broke through his formidable defense with another punch.
• Bucky fired his custom pistol at Steve, who dodged the bullets and struck him down.
• Steve left Happy and Bucky unable to fight and went downstairs to the battle between Green Goblin and Mania.
• Norman tried to escape through a window on his Goblin Glider, but Steve blocked him and knocked him to the floor.
• Peter heard Norman roar, “Run!” from upstairs.

After the Life Foundation operation failed, Peter escaped and reported back to Tony, who rejected Nick's offer to trade the prisoners for a promise to leave the Foundation alone. Nick, Steve, and Drake then debated what to do with Tony's captured allies.

• Peter escaped the Life Foundation after Scream was delayed by Claw Shadows, and Steve learned that Peter had gotten away.
• Peter told Tony that the operation had failed and the team had been defeated, while Tony blamed their overconfidence.
• Nick offered to release Happy and the other two prisoners if Tony stopped targeting the Life Foundation.
• Tony demanded the prisoners and the Life Foundation's data, then hung up after telling Nick to contact him once he had thought it over.
• Drake urged Nick to kill the prisoners or bond them with symbiotes, and Steve supported him, but Nick refused because that would leave no turning back.

Steve challenged Nick's caution about Tony, so Nick agreed to confront him at the Life Foundation. Tony arrived with Peter and knocked Steve through a wall with one punch, leaving him stunned.

• Steve angrily accused Nick of yielding to Tony and insisted he could face him.
• Nick agreed to confront Tony and warned Steve not to underestimate him.
• Tony changed into a white suit, took Peter to the Life Foundation, and arrived after a fast drive.
• Steve went to the research building entrance and demanded that Tony return with him to S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Tony struck Steve with one punch, sending him crashing into a wall and leaving him bewildered.

Tony overpowered Steve and the Life Foundation’s reinforcements at the research facility, then confronted Nick, who had taken Bucky and two others hostage. Nick proposed a prisoner exchange and offered the symbiote research data, but Tony rejected the terms and demanded to know what else Nick could offer.

• Steve charged Tony again, but Tony used telekinesis to trap him and repeatedly slam him into the ground.
• Nick ordered reinforcements, and Flint the Sandman, Scream, and Mania attacked Tony; Tony burned Flint’s sand while Troll and Night Demon fought Scream and Mania.
• Tony pinned Flint with telekinesis and set him on fire, while Nick came out of the research building with Drake and revealed that the Life Foundation held Bucky and two others captive.
• Nick offered to exchange the captives for Tony’s people and the symbiote research data, but Tony refused, saying the data was already his.
• Nick asked Tony what he wanted, and Tony left the terms of the negotiation unresolved.

Tony traded S.H.I.E.L.D. the Tesseract for the release of his captured allies, then returned to find Venom and Banner had escaped and wrecked his villa. With his home uninhabitable, Tony went to Potts’s residence to ask to stay the night.

• Tony demanded S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Tesseract in exchange for ending the dispute, and Nick agreed after Flint began to melt in Tony’s flames.
• Tony extinguished the flames, freed Steve, Scream, and Mania, and received the requested information from Drake.
• Tony left the Life Foundation with Bucky and Happy, told them to get stronger, and returned to find his villa badly damaged.
• JARVIS told Tony that Venom had freed Banner and that the two had escaped after wrecking the villa.
• Tony sent everyone off, told Happy to arrange repairs, and called Potts from outside his residence to ask if he could stay the night.

The Tesseract opened a portal inside S.H.I.E.L.D., allowing Loki to emerge and take it. After Loki escaped with Barton, Nick ordered a search and worried about how to explain the theft to Tony.

• Nick learned that Hulk had escaped Tony Stark's villa with an unknown companion and ordered S.H.I.E.L.D. forces to search New York.
• The Tesseract transformed inside a S.H.I.E.L.D. laboratory, and Loki emerged from a Space Portal and took it.
• Loki killed a guard with the Scepter and left the laboratory as S.H.I.E.L.D.'s alarm sounded.
• Nick learned that the Tesseract had been stolen and found that Loki had taken Barton from the laboratory area.
• Nick ordered his assistant to search for Loki and worried that Tony would hold him responsible for losing the Tesseract.

Tony learned that Loki had stolen the Tesseract from S.H.I.E.L.D. and decided to recruit Doctor Octopus for the Dark Alliance. He found Doctor Octopus in Hell’s Kitchen and began discussing his research.

• Nick told Tony that the Tesseract had been stolen and showed him surveillance footage of Loki.
• Tony watched the footage, chose not to confront Loki yet, and considered the threat posed by him and Thanos.
• Tony traveled to Hell’s Kitchen to recruit Doctor Octopus, whose research funding had been cut and whose work remained unfinished.
• Tony entered Doctor Octopus’s rented courtyard and found him drunk and disheveled.
• Doctor Octopus recognized Tony and eagerly asked whether he wanted to invest in his research, and Tony invited him to talk inside.

Tony visited Doctor Octopus, pretended to consider investing in the Mechanical Arms, and persuaded him to attach them to himself. The arms fused with Doctor Octopus and could not be removed, while Tony promised to fund his research.

• Doctor Octopus welcomed Tony into his messy home and pitched the nearly finished Mechanical Arms as a promising investment.
• Tony questioned Doctor Octopus about the fatal accident at his previous presentation and urged him to prove the arms were safe by wearing them.
• Doctor Octopus agreed to test the Mechanical Arms, but they pierced his back and fused with him before he could activate the installation button.
• After the fusion, Doctor Octopus found he could control the arms but could not remove them, and he panicked over the failure.
• Tony reassured Doctor Octopus that the removal problem was minor and promised to invest, leaving Doctor Octopus pleased and hopeful.

Tony recruited Doctor Octopus into the Dark Alliance and gained the Shadow Samurai division through a system reward. After encountering Daredevil punishing a criminal in an alley, Tony invited him to join the alliance, but Daredevil said he preferred to work alone.

• Tony invited Doctor Octopus to join the Dark Alliance, and Doctor Octopus accepted, earning Tony a system reward.
• Tony drew the Pig Talisman and gained control of the Shadow Samurai, bringing his Shadow Army divisions to five.
• Tony spotted Daredevil subduing a thug in an alley and learned the man had dealt drugs, extorted debtors, and destroyed a family.
• Tony invited Daredevil to join the Dark Alliance, but Daredevil declined because he was used to working alone.

After Thor crashed to Earth, Nick learned that he had come to find Loki and brought him to S.H.I.E.L.D. to help with the search. Loki sensed Thor nearby, flew to confront him, and stopped their reunion from turning into a fight by pointing out the danger to the people around them.

• Tony gave Daredevil his card after Daredevil refused to join his organization, then left Queens.
• Thor crashed into a crater outside New York, where Nick recognized him and failed to lift Mjolnir.
• Thor told Nick he had returned to Earth to find Loki, and Nick showed him Loki's picture and offered S.H.I.E.L.D.'s help.
• Loki watched over construction of an emitter from the Times Building and learned it would be ready in three days.
• Loki sensed Thor at S.H.I.E.L.D. and flew there to confront him.
• Thor prepared to fight Loki, but loosened his grip on Mjolnir after Loki warned that their battle could endanger the bystanders.

Loki admitted to Thor that he intended to conquer Earth before vanishing, prompting Nick to urgently seek more allies. Nick found Banner and Eddie in Queens and revealed that Tony had captured and experimented on them, leaving Banner furious.

• Loki told Thor he was telling the truth about conquering Earth, and Nick decided to strengthen his forces.
• Nick tracked Banner and Eddie to Eddie's home and went there to recruit them.
• Eddie let Nick inside after Banner told him to open the door.
• Nick warned Banner and Eddie that Tony would find them and explained that Tony had captured them.
• Banner and Eddie learned the truth about their captivity, and anger—especially Banner's—rose.

Nick recruited Banner and Eddie into S.H.I.E.L.D., while Peter recognized Eddie and alerted Tony. Nick then assembled S.H.I.E.L.D.'s superhuman forces for an operation, but Thor challenged Steve's appointment as team leader.

• Nick invited Banner and Eddie to join S.H.I.E.L.D., and both accepted, though Banner reserved the right to seek revenge later.
• Peter spotted Eddie with Nick and Banner, and Eddie recognized him as Spider-Man.
• Peter called Tony to report that Banner and Eddie had been taken by S.H.I.E.L.D., and Tony told Peter not to act rashly.
• Nick brought Banner and Eddie to a meeting with Steve, Flint, and Thor to prepare for an operation.
• Nick asked Steve to lead the operation, but Thor objected and argued that he should lead because he knew Loki.

Thor rejected Nick's plan to work with Steve, left S.H.I.E.L.D., and tracked Loki to the Times Building. Their confrontation began as Loki prepared to use the Tesseract, while Tony arrived to watch and Thor summoned a storm over New York.

• Thor refused to take orders from Steve and left Nick's meeting, ending S.H.I.E.L.D.'s first gathering on bad terms.
• Thor left S.H.I.E.L.D. and used his senses to locate Loki in New York.
• Loki told Hawkeye the emitter tower was nearly ready and said Thor would provide the energy they needed.
• Thor confronted Loki at the Times Building and demanded that he return to Asgard, but Loki refused and provoked him.
• Thor struck Loki with lightning, but Loki reappeared among dozens of illusions as Tony flew in to watch.
• Thor failed to identify Loki's true form and summoned dark clouds over New York with Thundering Might.

Thor channeled lightning into the Energy Emitter, allowing Loki to activate the Tesseract and open a portal above New York. Tony learned that Loki was being backed by a powerful figure, then left Loki with an offer to help if he ever needed to escape; S.H.I.E.L.D. watched the portal form and feared what might come through.

• Thor summoned lightning and directed it into the Energy Emitter while Loki used the Scepter to guide the energy.
• Loki told Tony he planned to open a portal and bring an army to Earth, and Tony revealed that he knew a Supreme was backing him.
• Tony and Loki discussed Loki's role as cannon fodder, and Tony gave Loki a business card before leaving.
• The Tesseract activated, sending a spatial pulse through New York and opening a huge portal above Times Building Plaza.
• Nick asked S.H.I.E.L.D.'s scientist what the portal was for, and the scientist warned that it could transport weapons, resources, or aliens.

Nick ordered a massive evacuation and military blockade as Loki's portal threatened New York, while Steve and the others went to stop Loki and destroy the device. Loki's illusions overwhelmed the team, leaving only Hulk standing as his target.

• Nick ordered S.H.I.E.L.D. and the military to seal off the area, evacuate civilians, and prepare for battle.
• Nick sent Steve and the others to bring Thor back and try to destroy the portal device.
• Loki told Thor that Thor's drained divine power had fueled the Tesseract and opened the portal.
• Steve struck down an apparent Loki, but Thor warned that the body was an illusion and the real Loki was still attacking.
• Loki used attacks that shifted between illusion and reality, knocking down the team until only Hulk remained standing.

After Loki overwhelmed S.H.I.E.L.D.’s team, Nick decided Tony was their best hope of stopping him and sent Natasha to persuade Tony to help. Tony picked Natasha up from Stark Industries, leaving her mission’s success uncertain as he took her to dinner.

• Steve and Eddie carried the exhausted Thor away while Banner and Flint retreated from Loki under the soldiers’ gunfire.
• Nick watched the battle through satellites and despaired of the team’s chances against Loki, then considered asking Tony to intervene.
• Nick called Natasha and ordered her to make Tony help, telling her New York’s fate depended on her.
• Natasha called Tony, who told her he was coming to pick her up and gave her the day off.
• Tony arrived at Stark Industries, picked up Natasha, and drove off to take her to dinner.

Tony agreed to help Nick deal with Loki on the condition that Natasha leave S.H.I.E.L.D., while Natasha chose not to use their relationship to influence Tony. At S.H.I.E.L.D., Nick learned the Space-Time Portal would open by eight the next morning, and the team considered dangerous ways to stop it.

• After spending the day with Natasha, Tony asked why she had contacted him, and she explained that Nick wanted his help with Loki.
• Tony promised to help, but Natasha declined to make their relationship transactional and left the decision to him.
• Tony told Nick he would help only if Natasha left S.H.I.E.L.D.; Nick agreed to respect her decision, and Tony told Natasha to help him run the company.
• Nick joined Steve and the others in the conference room, where James said the Space-Time Portal would open by eight the next morning.
• James explained that the portal could be closed by overwhelming it with energy or removing the Tesseract from its emitter, though either option posed serious risks.

Nick planned for Tony to handle Loki while the others destroyed the device and retrieved the Tesseract, but the team waited anxiously for Tony to arrive. The Space-Time Portal opened over New York and revealed an alien army, just as Tony appeared and struck Steve aside.

• Nick said Tony would handle Loki, arguing that letting Steve and the others try again risked millions of civilians and could force him to use weapons of mass destruction in New York.
• Nick told the team to wait until morning because Tony had not agreed to act sooner.
• By seven in the morning, the military had evacuated residents around the Times Building, while Nick, Steve, and the others waited for Tony.
• At eight, the Space-Time Portal opened and revealed a vast starfield filled with spacecraft and an alien army descending toward Earth.
• Tony arrived in a silver-white supercar, and when Steve charged at him, Tony slapped him flying.