Chapter Summaries

Deathstroke and Captain Marvel attacked Zola’s giant sandworm, using its eyes as a route to reach its brain and obtain its memories. As the worm bled in the desert, Deathstroke explained that Zola had targeted Captain America because of a personal grudge.

• Deathstroke and Captain Marvel flew toward the sandworm while Elsa rescued the buried Guardians of the Galaxy and Groot sheltered them.
• They dodged the worm’s laser turrets, and Deathstroke suspected another party had supplied Zola with the technology.
• Deathstroke and Captain Marvel decided to enter through the worm’s eyes to reach its brain.
• Deathstroke cut open one of the worm’s eyes with Godslayer, then carved a cross-shaped wound as the creature thrashed.
• Deathstroke told Captain Marvel that Zola’s involvement stemmed from a personal grudge against Captain America.

Deathstroke and Carol found Doctor Zola’s laboratory city in the giant bug’s memories, while Tony tried to recruit help against the Skrulls after Deadpool refused to join the effort. The group planned to bring Jessica Jones into the search and seek help from the X-Men.

• Deathstroke ordered Strangle to consume the giant bug’s semi-mechanical brain, learning that Doctor Zola’s laboratory and a city were nearby.
• Carol suggested Captain America and the others might be held at the laboratory, and Deathstroke carried the wooden sphere as they set off toward the city.
• Deadpool rejected Tony’s offer to help rescue the Skrulls and left with Domino and Inoz to celebrate.
• Coulson arranged for agents to transfer the Skrull captives to the Obelisk while he and Cavalry stayed with Tony.
• Tony asked Peter about Jessica Jones, then told him to contact her and began planning to seek help from the X-Men.

Deadpool, Domino, and Inez failed to reach Margaret Sisters Bar, encountered the Punisher, and learned he was looking for Deadpool about Kingpin’s son. After the Punisher warned them away from Big Bird's Funhouse, Inez invited the group to drink at her place.

• Deadpool took Domino and Inez toward Big Bird's Funhouse after Margaret Sisters Bar had closed, and Domino offered the money she had found to pay for drinks.
• Deadpool ran into the Punisher, who asked whether Deadpool had arranged Kingpin's son's death and warned him not to interfere with his campaign against Kingpin.
• Deadpool denied remembering the killing, refused to promise he would stay out of the Punisher's way, and learned that Kingpin had survived a gunshot.
• Domino and Cowboy criticized the Punisher's revenge-driven methods, while Deadpool joked about opening an Anti-Hero burrito shop for him and Cousin.
• Inez invited Deadpool and Domino to drink at her apartment, and Deadpool agreed, saying Vanessa would not mind.

Deadpool fled after his encounter with Inez and Domino, then found a Symbiote in the Hudson River and invited it to possess him. The Symbiote entered his body, but Deadpool’s regenerating, rotten brain and disturbing memories left it horrified and seemingly trapped.

• Deadpool crawled into a Hell's Kitchen alley, healed his missing lower body, and vowed to return for Inez and Domino.
• Deadpool ran to the Hudson River and spotted a shadow in the water while relieving himself.
• Deadpool teased the shadow with his bloody urine, then discovered it was a weakened Symbiote.
• Deadpool persuaded the Symbiote to possess him so he could use its strength against Inez.
• The Symbiote explored Deadpool's rotten, endlessly regenerating brain and recoiled from his memories as it realized it was trapped.

Star-Lord’s crew explored Doctor Zola’s cybernetic city and discovered that its technology used ancient Rune Symbols rather than Earth’s usual binary code. Su Ming and Elsa concluded that Zola had an Asgardian ally and realized Odin had launched a plan.

• Star-Lord complained about the crew’s rough landing while Drax offered him urine and then asked Deathstroke to let him join his ship.
• Su Ming observed the city’s genetically modified, impoverished residents and wondered how Zola had acquired advanced technology.
• Gamora stole a wrist terminal, and Rocket cracked it to access its data.
• Rocket found that the terminal’s programming used a language unlike Earth’s binary systems.
• Su Ming and Elsa identified the code as Rune Symbols, the language of Yggdrasil, and Su Ming inferred that an Asgardian was supporting Zola and that Odin had begun his plan.

Tony Stark tried to persuade Professor X to use the Brainwave Amplifier to find the Skrulls, but Charles refused on moral grounds. After Magneto warned Tony to leave, Tony gave up and devised a plan to make the Skrulls come to him.

• Tony offered Professor X money, equipment, and political support in exchange for help locating the Skrulls, but Charles refused to invade people's privacy or lend him the Brainwave Amplifier.
• Charles explained the privacy violation to Tony by asking whether Tony would accept someone viewing his mother's memories, and Tony objected.
• Magneto moved Tony away and threatened the United States military, while Charles promised that the Mutants on the island would not strike first or interfere in other countries' affairs.
• Tony abandoned his attempts to persuade Professor X and decided to draw the Skrulls out instead of searching for them.

Daisy asked Wanda to contact Su Ming because she was unsure what to do about Hela staying at her home. Wanda reached him through a magical video call, where he was fighting Biological Weapons in a Cyberspace.

• Daisy complained to Wanda and Jean about Hela moving in with her and said she could not reach Su Ming.
• Wanda used magic to break through a barrier and contacted Elsa, who said she and Su Ming were isolated in a Cyberspace.
• Daisy asked Elsa to get Su Ming to pause his fight so they could speak with him.
• Elsa called to Su Ming, who stopped tearing apart Biological Weapons and greeted the women while they ate watermelon.

Deathstroke discussed Earth’s crisis with Daisy, then led the group through a sewer market in Z City while promising to handle the Skrull infiltrators. He also proposed sending Carol’s brother Joe to Hell to become a demon sorcerer, leaving Carol to consider the idea.

• Daisy told Deathstroke that Loki had announced Odin’s death while holding Gungnir, and Deathstroke concluded that Hela could be kept occupied by taking her to a game-console factory with Ciri.
• Deathstroke said he had a plan to find the hidden Skrulls and ended the call before leading the group toward the laboratory.
• Rocket guided Deathstroke and the others through a crowded sewer market while Star-Lord joked about buying an implant and Drax dug up a maggot to sell.
• Deathstroke noticed Carol worrying about her brother Joe being forced to fight the Skrulls and promised a way to stop Mary from sending him into battle.
• Deathstroke suggested Joe might become a demon sorcerer by going to Hell and attaching himself to a high-ranking Succubus, and Carol began considering the plan.

While leading the Guardians through the sewers toward Zola’s lab, Deathstroke used the detour to issue secret orders concerning the Skrulls, Asgard’s succession, and the wider universe. He then stopped the group at a ramen stall, where he traded a severed Biochemical Weapons arm for food.

• Deathstroke secretly ordered the Battle Sisters and Ordo Xenos personnel to help Daisy’s group eliminate Skrulls on 40K Earth without alerting the public.
• Deathstroke arranged for Ciri to take Hela to Baldr in Limbo, intending Baldr to die fighting the Serpent in Thor’s place.
• Deathstroke contacted Gin to keep the universe’s factions stable and avoid provoking a war with the Kree.
• Deathstroke offered the Guardians ramen in the sewers, prompting Star-Lord to insist they were not bandits and had no local currency.
• Deathstroke traded a severed Biochemical Weapons arm for several bowls of noodles at the stall.

Deadpool discovered that Inez and Domino had robbed him, but he accepted the loss and joined Cable on a new job. Teleported into a Skrull gathering, he tried to persuade the aliens to hire him to help conquer Earth.

• Deadpool searched for Inez and Domino, while Venom secretly planned to escape his disgusting host.
• Cable told Deadpool that Inez and Domino had stolen the money and fled to Cuba, but Deadpool said he had enjoyed their company.
• Cable teleported Deadpool to a Skrull spaceship and told him to kill the Skrulls and sell them to Tony.
• Deadpool faced hundreds of armed Skrulls, revealed his face, and proposed training them to conquer Earth for a fee.

Deadpool endured repeated attacks from a Skrull squad aboard a warship, regenerating each time and taunting his enemies. With Venom helping him stay alive, he finally remembered he could fight back and charged the Super Skrulls.

• Skrull Noble Captain Ak'stak ordered the Super Skrulls to kill Deadpool, blaming his videos for hurting the Skrull military's appetite and combat effectiveness.
• The Super Skrulls blasted Deadpool into a crater, but he regenerated and mocked them before they attacked him again.
• Deadpool repeatedly rose from the barrages, provoking the Super Skrulls until they unleashed their full powers and wrecked the conference room.
• Venom helped Deadpool heal because it feared the Skrulls would capture it if Deadpool were defeated.
• Deadpool realized he could use Venom and charged the Super Skrulls with a sharp piece of broken metal.

After eating in the sewer market, Deathstroke delayed the fight against Zola and took Carol to browse, while Tony proposed using Vision to help identify the Skrull queen for a trap. The Guardians continued teasing Peter, and Tony left the Quinjet without explaining how Vision would help.

• Peter ate more noodle soup than anyone else before declaring that anyone who rejected him as captain could leave, and the Guardians walked away to tease him.
• Deathstroke suggested the group browse the market before fighting Zola, and Carol agreed because she trusted him.
• Su Ming pulled out a severed biological-weapon leg and said he would trade it for a hovercar.
• Tony explained a plan to lure the Skrulls with a recording of someone impersonating their queen, but Coulson pointed out that they did not know what she looked like.
• Tony said Vision could use his knowledge of psychology and hypnosis to learn the queen's appearance from the Skrull prisoners, then ran to the cockpit as Peter questioned his reasoning.

The Avengers planned to use brainwashing equipment to investigate the Skrulls, while Coulson asked Peter and Jessica to find the missing Fury. Fury was at home, secretly holding his Hydra wife, Valentina, captive and seeking information about what Hydra knew of the Skrulls.

• Vision proposed using Red Room brainwashing equipment to interfere with Skrull brainwaves, and Tony agreed to buy it.
• Daisy used the Bifrost to retrieve the equipment while Coulson arranged for Skrull prisoners to be brought in.
• Coulson asked the team to find Fury, so Peter and Jessica agreed to search for him.
• Fury questioned Valentina, a senior Hydra agent he had kept imprisoned for decades, about Hydra's knowledge of the Skrulls.
• Fury offered Valentina a deal, and she agreed on the condition that they discussed in private.

Deadpool regretted killing the Skrulls he had meant to capture and considered selling Venom instead, while Peter and Jessica tracked down a man they believed was Nick Fury. Peter concluded the apparent Fury was a Skrull impostor and attacked him with Jessica.

• Deadpool realized he had killed and let Venom devour the Skrulls he had planned to sell, then called Midnight Express to deliver his uniform to the snowy mountain base.
• Deadpool decided he might sell Venom to Tony Stark, while Venom grew alarmed by the strange thoughts it was sharing with its host.
• Little Bug spotted a man he suspected was Nick Fury, and Jessica followed him into the alley.
• Peter confronted the man, decided he was a Skrull posing as Fury, and attacked him; Jessica joined in with a flurry of strikes.

Peter and Jessica discovered that the black-clad figure they had attacked was an LMD, a mechanical double of Nick Fury, and Coulson explained the danger posed by malfunctioning LMDs. The chapter ended with Coulson ordering Peter to bring the robot’s head back for immediate destruction because it could imitate Fury’s security credentials.

• Jessica punched the fake Fury hard enough to tear off its head, revealing that it was a robot rather than a Skrull.
• Peter video-called Tony and showed the group the burning, headless LMD.
• Coulson identified the machine as Fury’s Life-Model Decoy and explained that long-running LMDs could mistake themselves for real people and kill their owners.
• Coulson warned that LMDs could replicate Fury’s voice, eyes, fingerprints, and other credentials, and said they could self-destruct with the force of twenty kilograms of Cyclone Explosives.
• Coulson ordered Peter to bring the LMD’s head back so S.H.I.E.L.D. could destroy it immediately.

Tony realized an LMD could be modified to imitate the Skrull Queen, while Daisy retrieved brainwashing equipment from a former Red Room base in Ukraine. Deathstroke’s armored sisters arrived to take Daisy and the equipment to Great Sister Efferal, as Leader Vasily canceled his plan to follow them and ordered his people to gather intelligence.

• Tony suggested using an LMD to imitate the Skrull Queen, and Coulson ended their call before contacting Commander Maria.
• Daisy inspected a former Red Room base with a fat general, who offered her brainwashing equipment and other military goods.
• Daisy hesitated over how to transport the equipment when a flying craft carrying armored women descended nearby.
• The white-haired sister captain identified herself as Deathstroke’s ally, showed Daisy a spatial tool, and invited her to meet Great Sister Efferal.
• Daisy joined the sisters, who loaded the equipment aboard their craft and flew away.
• Leader Vasily changed from the fat general’s appearance and canceled the operation to follow Daisy, ordering his comrades to gather intelligence.

Deathstroke explained how Doctor Zola’s preferences shaped the market and turned the severed leg into trade goods. The Guardians realized they could make its bone valuable by using magic to make it incomprehensible to technology.

• Gamora, Rocket, Drax, and Groot explained how Doctor Zola’s concentrated control over resources shaped the market, while Peter complained that his teammates were no longer acting like illiterates.
• Deathstroke stripped the severed leg of its boot, toenails, and flesh, selling the parts and leaving only a bone.
• Deathstroke explained that people imitated Doctor Zola and prized whatever he liked, then asked what the scientist would want.
• Rocket suggested that Zola would value something even he could not understand, and Deathstroke rewarded him with snacks and a cigarette.
• Gamora suggested Elsa could use magic to make the bone incomprehensible to technology, and Deathstroke handed Elsa the bone and whispered instructions.
• Peter protested when Deathstroke joked about his intelligence, while the Guardians reassured him that they would not abandon him.

Deathstroke explained why Peter would drive the escape vehicle, then had Elsa finish a magical bone flute and took it to a sewer-market shop to trade for a hovercar. He demonstrated the flute’s supposed ability to answer questions, leaving the shopkeeper intrigued by the strange device.

• Deathstroke told the group that Peter should drive the hovercar while the stronger fighters rescued Captain America and the others from Zola.
• Elsa finished the glowing, jeweled magic bone according to Deathstroke’s instructions.
• Deathstroke found a large general-goods shop and entered with the group to sell the bone flute.
• The shopkeeper scanned the flute, then asked Deathstroke what it was.
• Deathstroke claimed the flute was a high-tech problem solver and demonstrated it by asking what to call a father’s younger brother.

Su Ming's group sold a magical question-answering bone to a shop owner and drove toward Zola's laboratory. Meanwhile, Steve woke in Zola's lab, where Zola prepared to use an Ultimate Weapon on him.

• Su Ming let the blond shop owner test the bone, and the Adjutant answered his questions, including how to deal with an unsolvable question.
• The shop owner was thrilled by the bone's answers and bought it from Su Ming's group.
• Rocket drove the group through the sewers toward Zola's laboratory as they joked about their profitable sale.
• Steve woke strapped to an operating table in Zola's laboratory and recognized Zola in a mechanical television-like body.
• Zola approached Steve with an Ultimate Weapon and began explaining its abilities after Steve mocked him.

Doctor Zola revealed that he had brought 300,000 Skrulls to Earth and planned to use the resulting panic to help Hydra take control of the world. He explained the scheme to the captive Steve, while Hydra prepared to target heroes with Sentinel Robots.

• Steve secretly struggled against the Skrull Alloy restraints, but Zola noticed and mocked him.
• Zola admitted that he had worked with the Skrulls, bringing them to Earth in exchange for help capturing Steve.
• Zola explained that Hydra planned to expose Skrulls, provoke public fear, and use the chaos to seize power through the United Nations and the Heaven's Eye plan.
• Zola said Hydra would exploit the lack of Skrull detection research to accuse opponents of being spies and turn the public against them.
• Zola revealed that Hydra had contacted Bolivar Trask about supplying Sentinel Robots to eliminate heroes who resisted.