Chapter Summaries

Tony joined the battle against the invading alien army, while Steve, Nick, and the others fought the soldiers in the streets. On the Times Building, Tony and Loki watched the battle together as Loki questioned whether the weak could control their own fate.

• Tony arrived at the Times Building and flew toward the Space-Time Portal on a Night Bat ninja.
• Nick sent Steve and the others into action as American troops and alien soldiers clashed beneath the portal.
• Flint, Banner, Steve, and Thor fought through the alien ranks, with Thor unleashing Thundering Might.
• Nick watched the battle and hoped Tony would stop Loki, unaware that they were standing together atop the Times Building.
• Loki told Tony that he had lost interest in ruling Earth because a hidden Supreme and a powerful being were using him as a pawn, then asked whether Tony resented being powerless.

Tony and Loki fought to test their abilities, with Loki's Illusion Made Real repeatedly confusing Tony's senses. Tony used the Sheep Talisman's astral projection to locate Loki's true body, leaving him poised to attack.

• Loki challenged Tony to a real fight to test the strength behind his confidence.
• Tony opened the fight with eye lasers, but Loki's illusions made them miss.
• Loki struck at Tony, but Tony stopped the punch with Telekinesis and explained that he used psychic power.
• Tony trapped Loki's real body and fired lasers, but Loki distorted Tony's perception so the attacks missed.
• Tony used the Sheep Talisman to project his soul, saw through Loki's illusions, and found Loki's true body.

Tony defeated Loki’s attack and revealed that he controlled the rule of fire, leaving Loki astonished and willing to accept Tony’s invitation. Tony left the Times Building with Loki while Steve’s team stayed behind to deal with the Tesseract and Energy Emitter.

• Loki survived Tony’s laser attack, healed his chest, and revealed his power over flames.
• Tony summoned flames controlled by the fire rule, shocking Loki with his ability to control the rule itself.
• Tony watched S.H.I.E.L.D. agents fight the alien soldiers instead of retrieving the Tesseract and Energy Emitter himself.
• Steve and the others reached the rooftop, saw Tony and Loki together, and Steve accused Tony of betraying humanity.
• Tony invited Loki to leave with him, and Loki accepted; Thor called after Loki, who departed with Tony after telling Thor to see him around.

After Loki left with Tony, Steve kept the Tesseract from Nick, questioning whether it was safe to give it to Tony. At Tony’s villa, Loki and JARVIS bonded over artificial intelligence, and Tony offered Loki a laboratory to pursue the research.

• Steve removed the Tesseract and closed the Space-Time Portal, causing the Energy Emitter to explode and destroy several buildings.
• Steve refused to hand the Tesseract to Nick until he knew what Nick planned to do with it, warning that Tony might return it to Loki.
• Nick postponed the decision and sent Steve and the others to help rescue the injured, leaving the Tesseract in Steve’s custody.
• Tony brought Loki to his restored seaside villa, where Loki met JARVIS and discussed artificial intelligence with him.
• Tony offered to set up a laboratory where Loki could research artificial intelligence with JARVIS, and Loki accepted.

S.H.I.E.L.D. chose to prepare for a confrontation with Tony rather than hand over the Tesseract, while Tony remained unaware of Nick’s plans. After Reed and his companions returned gravely injured from space, Nick visited Reed to seek help developing an Enhancement Serum.

• Thor suggested killing Tony, but the others rejected his idea and he sat back down.
• Nick redirected the meeting toward finding ways to increase their strength, and Steve proposed bonding with symbiotes.
• Banner offered his blood as a test subject for an Enhancement Drug, while Flint, Eddie, and the others pledged to oppose Tony.
• Tony received Reed’s call about the planned space expedition, then spent the next week enjoying a peaceful routine.
• Tony rushed to Maria Hospital after learning Reed and the others had returned with serious injuries, where he found Nick waiting outside Reed’s ward.
• Nick entered the ward hoping Reed could help S.H.I.E.L.D. develop an Enhancement Serum after its scientists failed to study Banner’s blood.

Nick Fury visited Reed and the others in the hospital and offered them medical care, compensation, and jobs at S.H.I.E.L.D. Reed distrusted the generous offer, but Nick sowed doubt about Tony Stark’s promises, and Ben agreed to join S.H.I.E.L.D.

• Nick Fury visited the injured Reed, Johnny, and their two companions, claiming he had come on the government’s behalf.
• Johnny told Nick that their burns and muscle damage would likely leave them disabled, and Nick offered them treatment, jobs at S.H.I.E.L.D., and one million dollars each.
• Reed rejected Nick’s offer, citing the team’s agreement with Stark Industries.
• Nick warned Reed that Stark Industries might abandon them once they were no longer useful, making Reed and the others question Tony’s support.
• Ben accepted Nick’s invitation to join S.H.I.E.L.D., and Nick asked the others what they would do.

Nick recruited Ben, Johnny, and Susan into S.H.I.E.L.D., while Reed stayed with Stark Industries, splitting their team before the Fantastic Four could form. Tony welcomed the split because he believed the resulting betrayal and hurt could make the others easier to draw into the Dark Alliance.

• Ben and Johnny agreed to join S.H.I.E.L.D., while Reed rejected Nick’s offer and remained with Stark Industries.
• Susan initially hesitated, but she joined S.H.I.E.L.D. after Johnny urged her not to abandon him.
• Tony revealed that he had used Telekinesis to listen to the room and welcomed the team’s breakup as a chance to turn them darker.
• Nick announced that everyone except Reed would be moved to private hospital rooms, then tried to gloat to Tony.
• Tony thanked Nick for taking the others off his hands and called him a good guy, leaving Nick bewildered.

Tony took Reed’s soul to spy on Johnny, Ben, and Susan, intending to make Reed believe his friends had turned against him. Their conversation began supportively, but Tony’s dark energy twisted their words into accusations that Reed had betrayed their friendship and love.

• Tony told Reed that the others might see his choice to stay at Stark Industries as betrayal, then persuaded him to hear what they said about him.
• Tony used the Sheep Talisman to pull Reed’s soul from his body and took him to the intensive care room where Johnny, Ben, and Susan were talking.
• Reed heard the three speaking without malice and told Tony that he had been right to trust them.
• Tony sent dark energy into Johnny, Ben, and Susan, causing them to accuse Reed of abandoning them and betraying their friendship and love.

After Tony turned Reed’s friends against him, Victor visited Reed in the hospital and revealed that he wanted the Cosmic Storm information in Reed’s mind. Reed defended himself when Victor attacked, and the chapter ended as Reed took Victor’s energy beam at full strength.

• Tony’s dark aura made Ben, Johnny, and Susan condemn Reed as a traitor, but their anger vanished after Reed left, and Tony departed smiling.
• Tony found Reed awake in his hospital room, then left, believing he had planted a seed of darkness.
• Victor arrived with tulips and asked Reed about the Cosmic Storm information, then admitted he needed what was in Reed’s head.
• Victor reached for Reed, but Reed struck at him and his fist passed through Victor’s insubstantial body, punching a hole in the wall.
• Victor blasted Reed with energy, and Reed grew into a giant and braced himself against the attack.

Reed escaped Victor by discovering he could stretch his arm, but Victor pursued him through the city until S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Military surrounded him. Reed hoped the commotion would draw Tony to his rescue, but Tony was at Potts's House and had ignored his phone.

• Victor overpowered Reed in the hospital, but Reed leapt through a window and stretched his arm to catch a railing and slow his fall.
• Victor realized Reed had gained another ability from the Cosmic Storm and pursued him, while Reed fled through the streets and caused widespread panic.
• Nick learned that superhumans were fighting downtown, received a furious call from the Secretary of Defense, and ordered the Captain and others to respond.
• S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Military cleared the streets and formed a cordon, trapping Reed between the authorities and Victor.
• Reed realized the authorities had blocked his escape and that Tony was the only person who could save him.
• Tony stayed at Potts's House with his phone put aside, unaware of the chaos and Reed's plight.

Reed charged S.H.I.E.L.D.’s forces, shrugged off their Apocalypse One weapons, and revealed that his powers came from Banner. Banner fought him, but Reed’s stretching ability repeatedly caught him off guard, leaving the battle unresolved.

• Nick ordered the troops to open fire on Reed, but their bullets failed to harm him.
• S.H.I.E.L.D. agents fired Apocalypse One at Reed, yet he emerged from the blast without any wounds.
• Nick asked Banner to intervene, and Banner transformed and struck Reed, knocking him into a crater.
• Reed told Banner that his power came from him and admitted he was one of Tony’s people.
• Banner charged again, but Reed stretched his arm more than a hundred meters and punched Banner out of the air.

Victor intercepted Thor and overwhelmed him, then froze Steve, Flint, and Eddie’s attacks as they confronted him. Steve and Flint were left unable to advance or retreat while Eddie remained trapped in ice.

• Nick sensed Victor was dangerous and sent Steve and the others to deal with him.
• Thor charged Victor and attacked with Mjolnir, but Victor absorbed the lightning and blasted Thor to the ground.
• Steve, Flint, and Eddie confronted Victor while Banner kept Reed occupied.
• Victor used Ice Seal to freeze Steve’s shield, Flint’s sand, and Eddie inside a block of ice.
• Steve and Flint stood frozen in indecision, unwilling to abandon their duty but fearing Victor’s power.

Tony gathered the Dark Alliance on a rooftop above the battle on First Avenue and ordered them to attack everyone except Reed. As his allies fought, Victor noticed Tony and sensed the threat he posed.

• Tony learned from the news that Reed was on First Avenue and used the Shadow Kingdom to gather Peter, Doctor Octopus, Norman, Bucky, and Happy.
• Tony ordered the Dark Alliance to join the fight, telling them to spare Reed and kill as many of the others as they could.
• Peter attacked Flint, Norman bombed the soldiers, Happy fought Banner, and Bucky and Doctor Octopus teamed up against Steve.
• Victor spotted Tony watching from the rooftop, and the two met each other's gaze.

Tony confronted Victor to protect Reed, and their clash ended in a stalemate when neither could hurt the other. Victor then revealed a portal to Lava Hell and threatened Tony’s people, leaving the confrontation unresolved.

• Tony approached Victor and said he wanted to test his strength and kill him if he could.
• Victor and Tony exchanged powerful attacks, while Venom was caught in the battle’s heat and blast but survived.
• Victor recognized that Tony’s transparent air barrier had protected him, and both fighters stopped attacking.
• Tony realized he needed a decisive finishing move and agreed that Reed’s captors were his subordinates.
• Victor offered to spare Tony’s people if Tony handed over Reed, then opened a gateway to Lava Hell, home of the Lava Demons.

Tony defeated Victor’s Lava Demons with his Shadow Trolls, then burned Victor’s body to ash as Victor warned he would return after escaping hell. Tony summoned a vast Shadow Army over First Avenue and ordered it to kill the gathered S.H.I.E.L.D., Military, and superhuman forces.

• Victor summoned Lava Demons and demanded that Tony hand Reed over, but Tony answered by summoning disciplined Shadow Trolls.
• The Shadow Trolls repeatedly revived and overwhelmed Victor’s Lava Demons, forcing Victor to stop summoning and admit defeat.
• Victor tried to flee, but Tony used the Rabbit Talisman to catch him and burn him to ash; Victor warned he would return once he walked out of hell.
• Tony realized Victor’s dead body was not his true body, then turned toward the fighting near S.H.I.E.L.D. to end the battle.
• Tony filled First Avenue with a vast Shadow Army, ignored Nick’s plea to stop, and ordered the army to kill.

Tony led the Shadowkhan in a devastating assault that overwhelmed S.H.I.E.L.D.'s forces, while he killed Venom and demanded that Nick retrieve his belongings. Steve and the surviving heroes retreated, and Tony left Nick alive only because he still had a use for him.

• The Shadowkhan slaughtered the Military's soldiers as Steve and his allies fought back, while Peter and Norman killed Flint with Pumpkin Bombs.
• Venom abandoned Eddie and fled, but Doctor Octopus intercepted him and pinned him down with his Mechanical Arms.
• Venom escaped Doctor Octopus as a liquid, but Tony lifted him into the air and burned him to vapor.
• Nick ordered Steve and the surviving S.H.I.E.L.D. members to retreat as their forces fell.
• Tony seized Nick and demanded his belongings, then warned him not to mistake his usefulness for protection before tossing him aside.

After Tony rescued Reed and withdrew, he covered up the massacre while Potts used Stark Industries and the Osborn Group’s influence to suppress the government’s response. S.H.I.E.L.D. accepted that it could not punish Tony, leaving Nick and Steve with no way to retaliate.

• Tony checked that Reed was safe, then ordered the Shadowkhan to remove the bodies and the Dark Alliance to erase nearby surveillance footage.
• News of the deaths spread, prompting U.S. officials and military leaders to call for action against Tony and Stark Industries.
• Potts mobilized Stark Industries’ and the Osborn Group’s political connections, silencing the officials who had targeted Tony.
• Steve demanded an explanation from Nick, who said S.H.I.E.L.D. had no evidence and that plutocrats controlled the country.
• Nick reflected that Tony could kill him before Captain Marvel could return, while Steve and the others realized they had no way to challenge Tony.

After a month of peaceful living, Tony learned that three attack helicopters had targeted his seaside villa, only for Loki to stop them. Tony and Loki traced the terrorist threat to a manor in the Eagle Kingdom and confronted the man behind it.

• Potts worried that Tony had risked himself during the First Avenue incident, and Tony promised not to handle such dangers himself again.
• Tony returned to his playboy lifestyle, while Loki stayed at the seaside villa and focused on studying artificial intelligence.
• Loki used illusions to divert bombs from three attack helicopters into the sea, then erased the helicopters before they could damage the villa.
• JARVIS identified the helicopters as Stark Industries models and showed Tony a terrorist declaration that named the villa as a target.
• Tony asked Loki to use the Tesseract to locate the man in the broadcast, and they opened a portal to his manor in the Eagle Kingdom.
• Tony cut off the man's livestream and entered his room with Loki, startling the terrorist.

Tony interrogated the man who attacked his home and used JARVIS to identify possible masterminds, including Killian, whom Tony's predecessor had once humiliated. Unable to locate Killian, Tony left Loki to guard the villa and drove to Manhattan to check on Reed and claim his rewards.

• Tony questioned the attacker, who said a wealthy man had hired him to stage the attack, then left with Loki through a portal.
• Tony gave JARVIS the mastermind's description, and JARVIS identified Ailuo, Killian, and Hadd as possible matches.
• Tony remembered that his predecessor had mocked and dismissed Killian, but JARVIS could not locate Killian.
• Tony told JARVIS to monitor online activity and asked Loki to protect the villa.
• Tony drove to Manhattan to visit Reed and unlock his rewards.

Tony visited Reed in the hospital, recruited him into the Alliance, and gained the Ox Talisman, which greatly strengthened his body. Meanwhile, a mysterious man ordered the execution of the prisoner who had impersonated him.

• Tony visited Reed at Maria Hospital, gave him tulips, and confirmed that Reed had agreed to join the Alliance.
• The system recruited Mister Fantastic, Reed, as a Dark Alliance member and issued Tony a reward.
• Tony drew the Ox Talisman, whose transformation increased his strength and bone density, and he added the Shadow Alien corps to his roster.
• A man speaking through a screen demanded that the tortured impostor identify who had hired him.
• When the impostor claimed he could not contact his employer, the man ordered his execution, and a guard cut his throat.