Chapter Summaries

Stephen Strange read Christine’s documents about the Foundation and learned that the coast might offer help with his condition, so he traveled there. He arrived as two beams of light rose from the sea and learned that Tailed Beasts were about to appear.

• Christine gave Strange documents about the Foundation, superhumans, and possible ways to address his condition.
• Strange found leads pointing to the Sorcerer Supreme’s Sanctum and to unidentified superhumans along the coast.
• Strange told Christine he would go to the coast, and she wished him luck.
• Strange traveled west, used his supernatural appearance to scare off ordinary attackers, and fought superhuman robbers who targeted him.
• Two beams of light rose from the sea as Strange reached the coast, and a burly man told him that two Tailed Beasts were about to appear and could grant power to those they approved.

Superhumans fought for the chance to obtain Tailed Beasts as Strange and Tony questioned the rumors and learned about powerful forces behind them. Tony joined Krillin and Tien Shinhan in confronting two Tailed Beasts after they appeared and destroyed a town.

• Strange grew suspicious of how widely the Tailed Beast rumors had spread, while Superhumans battled for a chance to claim one.
• Magneto, the Sorcerer Supreme, offered Strange access to magic if he obtained a Tailed Beast, then disappeared.
• Captain Aizen promised Tony the Soul Society would recognize his right to possess a Zanpakutō if he obtained a Tailed Beast, leaving Tony terrified.
• Tony learned from Tien Shinhan that the Soul Society had thirteen divisions and decided he had to secure a Tailed Beast.
• Two Tailed Beasts, an enormous nine-tailed fox and an enormous tabby cat, appeared and razed a town with a Tailed Beast cannon.
• Krillin and Tien Shinhan fired Kamehameha attacks at the Tailed Beasts.

Krillin and Tien Shinhan wounded the Tailed Beasts, but the creatures rose again, and Strange learned they were sentient beings. After the beasts gave power to Strange and Tony and were taken away, Jiang Xiang began guiding Strange through visions while the Time Variance Authority arrived to arrest Tony.

• Krillin and Tien Shinhan warned Tony that the Tailed Beasts had survived their attack, while several Superhumans were injured by the beasts’ corrosive energy.
• Tony tested whether drones could contain Tailed Beast energy, and the police and military evacuated as the beasts rose again.
• Strange saw the Tailed Beasts’ emotions and learned through their memories how a human betrayed the Seven-Tails after receiving its help.
• Two-Tails and Nine-Tails gave portions of their power to Strange and Tony before a dark yellow sponge took them away.
• Jiang Xiang guided Strange through visions and implanted embryonic laws and seeds into his body.
• The Time Variance Authority appeared before Tony and declared him under arrest for disrupting the multiverse’s timelines.

Tony Stark and his allies fought off a Time Variance Authority squad that came to arrest him, while Jiang Xiang showed Strange scenes to help him understand time magic and advised him to learn mind magic. The chapter left Strange hoping that training could ease his mental symptoms.

• The Time Variance Authority squad demanded that Tony Stark submit to arrest, but Tony refused and prepared to fight alongside Krillin and Tien Shinhan.
• The squad captain lost contact with headquarters and ordered an attack, so Tony and his allies took to the sky as the squad pursued them with advanced flight technology.
• Vulcan's systems launched a missile barrage against the squad while Tony watched from the sky.
• Jiang Xiang traced the squad's timeline and learned that its members came from other universes and had been turned into employees after the Time Variance Authority altered their memories.
• Strange told Jiang Xiang that something was wrong with his body, and Jiang Xiang said the problem was in his mind and that mind magic could ease his symptoms.

Strange questioned his growing mental power after Jiang Xiang and Magneto left him coordinates. Elsewhere, Tony’s bombardment failed to defeat the Time Variance Authority squad, whose equipment had been disabled, and Captain Peter insisted they still had to stop the spacetime anomaly.

• Strange wondered whether his mental illness was causing physical symptoms as his power continued to rise.
• Jiang Xiang told Strange he could find him at Kamar-Taj, then vanished with Magneto and left coordinates behind.
• Tony used his Vulcan destruction cannon to bombard the Time Variance Authority squad, but Tien Shinhan warned that the enemies might still be alive.
• Krillin sensed no living presence, but a gale cleared the haze and revealed the squad had survived behind a spatial barrier.
• Captain Parker learned the squad’s time and space equipment had stopped working, while Ned admitted he could barely use magic.
• Tony urged the squad to surrender, but Peter declared that they had to deal with the spacetime anomaly.

Tony captured the Time Variance Authority squad and interrogated Captain Parker about why they had targeted him. Parker claimed Tony’s deviation from his predetermined course had caused a severe Spatiotemporal Mutation that could threaten other universes, leaving Tony doubtful but concerned.

• Peter insisted that spacetime anomalies endangered everyone, but Tony attacked the squad with missiles and Zanpakutō abilities, knocking them down and capturing them.
• Jiang Xiang secretly used an illusion to make the squad believe their teammates had died, driving them toward mental distress.
• Captain Parker regained awareness, demanded that Tony leave his teammates alone, and was trapped inside his detention room.
• Tony promised the squad would be safe if Parker cooperated, and Parker explained that they had targeted Tony to stop a Spatiotemporal Mutation.
• Parker said the Time Variance Authority's instruments had detected Tony's abnormal deviation from Iron Man's predetermined course and warned that spacetime anomalies could destroy universes.

Tony arranged to test Captain Parker’s spacetime anomaly claims while transferring a captured visitor from a parallel timeline to U.S. custody. After a brief court proceeding in Los Angeles, the prisoner was taken to a private military research base.

• Tony asked Captain Parker where the spacetime anomaly detector was and planned to test it before trusting his claims.
• Tony sent a prisoner aboard his precision aircraft to Los Angeles and arranged for the United States and other countries to share responsibility for the captured team members.
• Military personnel received the naked, heavily restrained prisoner, identified as Eddie Blank, a reporter in his own world and a B-rank member of the Time Variance Authority.
• Eddie was brought before a Los Angeles courthouse for a brief proceeding and then taken into military custody at a private research base.

Eddie was released from detention after enduring torture and a staged court proceeding, while Freddy decided that the Freak Alliance should make its presence known. As the military escorted the prisoner along a sealed Los Angeles avenue, Freaks prepared to attack the arriving visitors from parallel worlds.

• Eddie reflected on the interrogation and torture he had endured before the military staged his court proceeding.
• Eddie chatted with his interrogator about their worlds and admitted he had been a reporter before joining the Time Variance Authority.
• Freddy watched the news, complained that it ignored the Freak Alliance, and decided the group should act.
• Freaks monitored the avenue leading to the secret prison as the military cleared traffic and escorted a vehicle toward their target.
• A red figure hid in the clouds and prepared to show humans a Freak's fighting power as the vehicle approached.

A monstrous figure emerged in the crimson fog and used psychic power to turn the military escort into a bloody massacre. The Superhuman squad stayed hidden and waited for reinforcements as the soldiers slaughtered one another.

• The military deployed Colonel Gollum, ordinary soldiers, and a Superhuman squad to escort a prisoner through the hurricane and fog.
• A huge figure dropped from the sky and vanished into the crimson fog, prompting the Superhuman squad to investigate.
• Colonel Gollum realized four soldiers sent to scout had been missing for over ten minutes.
• The monster roared, and Lieutenant Colonel Samuel shot Colonel Gollum as gunfire erupted among the military vehicles.
• The Superhuman squad's captain recognized that the monster was manipulating minds and kept his team hidden while requesting reinforcements.

Tony reconsidered the risks of involving ordinary people in superhuman conflicts after hearing of the Experimental Team’s disastrous defeat, while Rhodey warned him against fully activating the Ultron Initiative. As Eddie insisted that spatiotemporal mutations would eventually destroy the world, the Interrogator collapsed and Los Angeles suffered devastation from the Red Monster.

• Tony watched footage of the Military’s Experimental Team being slaughtered by the Red Giant and asked Rhodey whether ordinary people should be involved in superhuman conflicts.
• Rhodey warned Tony that the Ultron Initiative’s versatile Nanobots and artificial intelligence could become dangerous if they went out of control.
• Tony acknowledged that he had been impatient but considered other approaches without appearing to abandon his plans.
• The Interrogator questioned Eddie about his world, and Eddie said spatiotemporal mutations had to be eliminated to prevent the entire world’s destruction.
• As the fighting outside neared its end, the Interrogator smiled, fell to the floor, and his eyes lost their red color.
• The Red Monster rampaged through Los Angeles, destroying streets and cars and killing countless people.

Tien Shinhan arrived to stop the rampaging Red Figure and sealed him inside a specially made Rice Cooker. With the monster contained, the immediate threat to the city ended.

• The military withdrew its jets and tanks after their attacks failed to harm the Red Figure, while soldiers and police continued evacuating civilians.
• Tien Shinhan arrived, and S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Coulson ordered agents to record how he handled the monster.
• Tien Shinhan knocked the Red Figure down with a Tri-Beam and restrained him with a Cross Lock.
• The Red Figure's Mind Power attacked Tien Shinhan, but Tien Shinhan resisted while keeping him pinned.
• Tien Shinhan threw the Red Figure into the air and sealed him inside the Rice Cooker with the Evil Containment Wave.

After the Los Angeles battle, Tony Stark announced that Stark Energy Group would unveil robots built with his Zanpakutō's power. Back at Stark Tower, Rhodey warned Tony that his Ultron Initiative was extremely dangerous.

• Tony reviewed supernatural incidents and decided to address the recurring threat, while military leaders tried to discover his plans for the aftermath of the Los Angeles battle.
• Tony rejected the military leaders' attempts to probe him, blaming their teams for failing to help during the battle while seeking a share of the victory's spoils.
• Tony arrived at the Stark Energy Group press conference in his armor and presented simplified robots intended for household and industrial uses.
• Rhodey confronted Tony at Stark Tower and warned him that the Ultron Initiative was extremely dangerous.
• Tony argued that the risks of progress did not justify abandoning it.

Tony inspected a robot manufacturing site with Banner and Ivan, revealing his concerns that robots could displace ordinary workers even as they protected people. He asked the two experts what they thought of the machines, leaving his purpose for gathering them unclear.

• New York began recovering as Stark Energy Group and Vought Pharmaceuticals created jobs and companies and independent operators returned to the city.
• Tony used his armor and robots to excavate an underground space for a planned robot-parts factory, then received JARVIS's notice that the excavation was complete.
• Tony worried that efficient robots might replace people in most jobs and leave ordinary workers unable to earn a living.
• Banner reflected on Zhang Fei's accounts of a world where robots and other artificial beings had become commonplace, while Ivan argued that assistive machines were inevitable.
• Ivan and Banner discussed the robots before Tony arrived by helicopter and exchanged barbs with Ivan.
• Tony asked Banner and Ivan for their opinions of the robots, and Ivan recognized that their technology far surpassed current standards.

Tony Stark invited Ivan and Banner to join his Ultron Initiative, and both said they needed time to consider. Later, General Ross offered Tony permits for additional energy plants while asking for help with robots, explaining that soldiers faced danger from islands and derelict ships appearing near the West Coast.

• Ivan told Tony that his robot designs looked unimpressive, then mocked their potential as weapons.
• Banner asked whether Tony needed mass-produced robots for a larger plan, and Tony showed them his Ultron Initiative.
• Ivan saw promise in the plan, but he and Banner declined to join immediately.
• After the Freak Alliance circulated its information, the United States faced upheaval and an urgent need to replenish its forces.
• General Ross offered Tony permits for one hundred additional energy plants while seeking help from the Stark robots.
• General Ross explained that soldiers were in danger because islands and derelict ships kept appearing near the West Coast after General Sponge emerged.

At Eddie Naval Base, Orochimaru observed a serum experiment using genetic material from the island of giant beasts. The wolf-dog survived its apparent death and began transforming further after a rift released black energy into its body.

• Tony agreed to provide robots for General Ross's operation in exchange for being left in peace to develop his energy factories.
• Researchers gave a dog a dark blue serum made from genetic samples taken from the island, and it grew into a massive, mutating wolf-dog.
• Orochimaru studied the creature's changing genes and secretly disabled a monitor when its vital signs appeared to fail.
• The wolf-dog revived, attacked the researchers, and tore a man in two as the survivors fled.
• A rift opened beside the creature, and black energy entered its body, causing extra limbs and shoulder masses to grow as strange patterns appeared on its skin.

A military experiment turned a wolfdog into a rampaging, regenerating monster, and the military destroyed the base to stop it. After hearing Captain Parker describe universe-wide spatial mutations, Tony learned that the military had discovered strange islands and sent his robots to explore one, where a soldier suddenly became unable to open his eyes.

• The wolfdog transformed, unleashed a blast of black energy, and attacked the researchers before the military ordered an evacuation and bombed the base.
• Captain Parker told Tony that spatial mutations had devastated his world and led him to join the Time Variance Authority.
• Tony learned that the military had discovered islands filled with strange creatures and ordered closer monitoring.
• Military soldiers and Stark robots entered an island that seemed larger inside than it had appeared from outside.
• A soldier suddenly found that he could no longer open his eyes.

A wave of supernatural incidents spread across Blue Star, including a deadly shadow attack and a circus that seized control of a remote town. Jiang Xiang and Odin found no explanation for the disturbances, while visions from the Time Stone still showed Asgard being destroyed.

• A huge pair of scissors severed the soldiers’ shadows on the island, and the Clown King announced that his agreement with the Foundation was over.
• The Clown King and the Puppeteer revealed the circus’s true forms and used their powers to take control of a remote town.
• Jiang Xiang investigated the growing incidents and found that the Dimensional Array showed nothing wrong with Blue Star.
• Jiang Xiang summoned Odin, but Odin also failed to identify the force interfering with the world.
• Jiang Xiang showed Odin visions from the Time Stone, which still depicted Asgard’s destruction.

Jiang Xiang and Odin searched for the gate to Hell as supernatural crises spread, while Tony Stark and General Ross investigated a demonic rift outside New York. Tony opened a sealed formation inside the gate, causing an ominous presence to surge before an ashen-white statue appeared and restored the area to calm.

• Jiang Xiang showed Odin an image of a gate to Hell, and they discussed searching the planets for its location.
• As supernatural incidents worsened, S.H.I.E.L.D., S.W.O.R.D., and H.A.M.M.E.R. shifted to supporting the Avengers, while countries gathered their superhumans.
• Tony Stark and Thaddeus Ross led teams through separate rifts and discovered that both gates opened into the same space.
• Tony examined skeletal ashes and a magic circle beside a massive boulder, then identified the circle as a storage formation.
• Tony altered the formation to retrieve what it contained, unleashing a powerful ominous presence before an ashen-white statue appeared and made it vanish.

Tony Stark’s team found an ordinary-looking Angel Statue and a damaged scroll case beyond the Dark Gate, then returned to the United States as the gate closed. In his laboratory, Tony restored the paintings and discovered a message addressed to him more than fourteen hundred years in the future.

• Tony had JARVIS analyze the Angel Statue twice, but the results showed it was ordinary stone, so Thaddeus Ross ordered the military team to move it.
• Tony found a scroll case containing ancient, damaged paintings and grew suspicious that someone had arranged their discoveries.
• The team found no further clues and evacuated through the Dark Gate, which closed after they returned to the United States.
• Ross left the scroll case with Tony for analysis, while the soldiers carried away the Angel Statue.
• JARVIS dated the paintings to about fourteen hundred years earlier and restored their contents overnight.
• Tony woke to the first restored sentence, which greeted Iron Man—Tony Stark—more than fourteen hundred years in the future.

Tony read a letter from Locke Stark, his great-grandson, who had been sent back to the sixth century and trapped in a cathedral, and recognized the sinister Angel Statue in Locke’s drawing. At a military base, seven soldiers were trapped with the statue and struggled to keep it watched so it would not kill them.

• Tony examined Locke Stark’s drawings and read his account of traveling back in time to the sixth century and living inside a seemingly endless cathedral.
• Tony noticed that Locke’s drawing showed a sinister Angel Statue and had JARVIS compare it with the statue recovered from behind a door.
• Tony suspected the statue was connected to the disappearances and called General Ross.
• Major General Maude learned that seven soldiers had vanished from the military base, with no research team claiming responsibility.
• The missing soldiers found themselves trapped in the statue’s storage facility and realized they had to keep someone watching it to prevent it from killing them.