Chapter Summaries

Su Ming, Deadpool, and Spider-Man found Santa Claus drunk and suicidal after he lost his factory, wife, and reindeer. Deadpool agreed to help him recover them in exchange for free peppermint candy for life.

• Su Ming and Deadpool disarmed Santa Claus, who begged them to kill him, and Su Ming forced him back into his house.
• Santa Claus told Peter that his factory had been taken over, his wife and reindeer had left him, and he had no gifts for Christmas.
• Deadpool offered to kill the people who took the factory, then negotiated to help Santa Claus recover everything in exchange for a wish.
• Santa Claus refused Deadpool's wish to be killed, and Peter stopped Wade from shooting him while arguing that Santa Claus was not omnipotent.
• Su Ming examined and memorized the markings on a statuette of an ancient god, considering how Magik could use the information.
• Deadpool agreed to help Santa Claus for free peppermint candy for life, and Santa Claus eagerly shook his hand.

Su Ming uncovered that Santa Claus had hidden his wife, reindeer, and presents to thwart a vampire plan to infect children through Christmas gifts. Santa Claus admitted the danger, and Su Ming prepared to negotiate with him as the deadline to deliver the presents approached.

• Su Ming sent Deadpool to find Mrs. Claus and Spider-Man to locate the reindeer while he stayed with Santa Claus.
• After the others left, Su Ming confronted Santa Claus and revealed that he knew the old man had deliberately hidden his family and abandoned factory as bait.
• Santa Claus admitted that vampires had pressured him to distribute parasite-filled gifts to children, so he concealed the presents to stop their plan.
• Su Ming identified the plot as part of the bloodkin's weapons program and told Santa Claus he would negotiate terms with him.

Su Ming explained that demons had arranged Deadpool’s contract to protect Santa Claus from a scheme to turn Christmas-celebrating children into Vampires and harvest their souls. As Vampires attacked Santa’s home, Su Ming thwarted their attempts to force him outside and blasted the attackers with their own grenades.

• Su Ming signed a contract with Santa Claus, arranging for Santa’s factory to produce Captain America merchandise in exchange for protection.
• Su Ming explained that Demon Children had hired Deadpool to draw him and Deadpool to Santa, and that the contract had ultimately been intended to protect Santa from a Vampire plot.
• Su Ming and Santa Claus realized that the plan involved turning children into Vampires so demons could harvest their souls.
• Su Ming sensed someone approaching, hid near the door, and watched a Vampire appear outside Santa’s window before it vanished as smoke.
• The Vampires tried to drive Santa out by throwing tear gas and then grenades down the chimney, but Su Ming returned the attacks and killed the attackers outside.

Su Ming and Strangle repelled the Vampires’ attacks on Santa Claus’s cabin while the Vampire warlock struggled to devise another plan. When the Vampires finally charged through the open door, a crimson light appeared inside the cabin and blasted them back.

• Su Ming had Strangle shoot the Vampires’ flamethrower fuel tanks, setting their attackers ablaze.
• The Vampire warlock changed tactics several times while Su Ming and Santa Claus waited inside the cabin.
• After a superior berated him over a satellite phone, the warlock ordered the Vampires to charge through the door.
• The cabin door opened by itself, and the warlock fired a burst into the sky to signal the attack.
• A crimson point of light appeared in the doorway and hurled the charging Vampires backward, tearing many apart.

Deathstroke wiped out the Vampires attacking Christmas Cottage, then caught up with Doctor Strange, who explained his role as an Avengers liaison and described their Arctic base. Su Ming sent Strange to deal with the missile-launching navy and tasked him with warning Dracula, while he waited at the cottage to give Deadpool a Christmas present.

• Deathstroke killed the fleeing Vampire warlock with a flash device and an Incendiary Bomb, then confirmed that none of the Vampires carried blood-sucking parasites.
• Su Ming told Santa Claus that Spider-Man would trace the stolen satellite phone and Deadpool would hunt the Vampires' leader, while he planned to warn Dracula.
• Doctor Strange arrived at Christmas Cottage after investigating the battle and told Su Ming that he served as a liaison to the Avengers, whose Arctic base occupied a hollow Celestial shell.
• Doctor Strange described the Avengers' vacation base and assured Su Ming that he maintained his martial training.
• Su Ming sent Doctor Strange to deal with the navy that had launched the missiles and to warn Dracula about Deadpool's impending attack on another descendant.
• Santa Claus praised Su Ming as a good brother for taking care of Deadpool, and Su Ming agreed while preparing to give his cousin a Christmas present.

Deadpool and Spider-Man rescued Mrs. Claus and returned to the Arctic, where Su Ming sent them to eliminate Vampires while he investigated a Fel Engine. After the mission, Su Ming recovered a Soul Stone and arranged for Santa Claus to visit Peter’s home, leaving Peter uneasy about the adults’ plans.

• Peter found Deadpool with Mrs. Claus near the Savage Land, and the three returned to Santa’s cottage in the Arctic.
• Deadpool and Peter rejoined Su Ming, who explained the Vampire situation and sent them out to handle the mission.
• Su Ming examined the Fel Engine, extracted a purple Soul Stone, and decided to seek Hela’s help with his plan for Deadpool.
• Deadpool and Peter returned after destroying the Vampires, and Deadpool asked for his promised Christmas present.
• Su Ming showed Deadpool the Soul Stone, then arranged for Santa Claus to visit Peter’s home and meet his aunt.

Su Ming and Deadpool traveled to Hela’s realm with the Soul Stone to ask her to extract Su Ming’s cousin’s soul. Hela agreed to help and eagerly asked whether Su Ming wanted his cousin to “Kick the Bucket.”

• Su Ming declined to ride a Christmas sleigh and left Peter with a promise to meet again while he and Deadpool went to find Hela.
• Thor drank at the Avengers’ base while Doctor Foster lay passed out, and Doctor Strange accepted Dracula’s invitation to watch a vampire musical.
• Su Ming and Deadpool traveled through Asgard and Vanaheim into the Underworld.
• Deadpool complained about Hela, who told him to leave and asked Su Ming what he wanted.
• Su Ming presented Hela with the Soul Stone and asked her to help extract his cousin’s soul so he could kill him.
• Hela accepted the request with interest and asked whether Su Ming wanted his cousin to “Kick the Bucket.”

Su Ming sent Deadpool’s soul to Death in the Soul Stone, where Death welcomed Wade and recognized the aura of another Death on Su Ming. Death compared herself with that higher-level counterpart, and Su Ming was left asking what she meant by being more like a person.

• Su Ming and Hela removed Deadpool’s soul from his body and sealed it in the Soul Stone after Deadpool gave his last requests.
• Su Ming left Deadpool’s corpse for Fenrir to drag away and traveled to Death’s domain with the Soul Stone.
• Su Ming presented Wade’s soul to Death, who paused her duties and took him to a secluded garden while Mephisto watched.
• Death sensed the presence of another Death on Su Ming and explained that the two differed in power, concepts, and freedom.
• Su Ming asked Death what she meant by being more like a person.

Su Ming received a Black Lantern Ring from Death, then returned to 1955 and learned that Natasha had taken over the Black Widow codename. He arranged for her to infiltrate SSR and keep watch on Nick Fury.

• Death gave Su Ming a Black Lantern Ring and explained that it could control the dead, though it would produce only hateful zombies.
• Su Ming returned to 1955 and failed to recreate a Red Lantern power source before settling in Hawaii.
• Natasha told Su Ming that Dotty had surrendered the Black Widow codename after infiltrating Hydra, and Natasha had claimed it.
• Su Ming approved Natasha’s new codename and offered her a long-term undercover assignment in SSR.
• Su Ming told Natasha to rise through SSR’s ranks and monitor Nick Fury, whom he called Black Egg.

Su Ming took Natasha and Gin to Sochi for a meal and a hot-spring retreat, stopping at S.P.E.A.R. to exchange money. Zheng Xian hinted that Leviathan had discovered Element Zero, but Su Ming refused to take on another job and left for his vacation.

• Natasha asked Su Ming and Gin to visit her homeland for a meal before her long-term mission began.
• Gin and Natasha changed into dresses, and Gin told Natasha about her past as a Valkyrie in Valhalla.
• Su Ming brought the two women to Sochi, where they planned to eat local dishes and enjoy the hot springs.
• Su Ming visited Zheng Xian at the Sky Ring base and exchanged money for Rubles.
• Zheng Xian mentioned a rumor that Leviathan had found Element Zero in Earth's core and offered to join Su Ming on another job.
• Su Ming rejected Zheng Xian's proposal and left with the exchanged money.

Su Ming, Natasha, and Gin vacationed in Sochi while Natasha received word that the SSR had been dissolved, and Su Ming predicted it would secretly re-form under a new name. Meanwhile, Howard and Steve escaped Cuba and returned to New York, where Howard learned he had lost his job and encountered a mysterious figure.

• Su Ming, Natasha, and Gin toured Ostrovsky’s villa and settled into a luxury inn in Sochi.
• Natasha forged a KGB letter of introduction, and the three spent a week relaxing around the Black Sea.
• Natasha received Spider Web intelligence that Congress had dissolved the SSR, and Su Ming said its personnel would likely regroup under a new name.
• Howard and Steve escaped their pursuers in Cuba, reached a Coast Guard warship, and used Howard’s money to return to New York.
• Howard saw a newspaper report that he was unemployed, then a charcoal-black figure approached him from the crowd.

Howard and Steve were brought to The Playground as the dissolved SSR was reorganized into a new agency led by Peggy. Steve and Peggy postponed their wedding, but the President’s restrictions left Steve unable to rejoin the team except as a clerk, so he chose retirement and comic drawing instead.

• Fury and the Howling Commandos picked up Howard and Steve, then took them to The Playground, a secret underground base for the new agency.
• Fury told Steve that Peggy had been appointed the agency’s first director, prompting Steve to quietly mourn their postponed plans to marry and travel.
• Peggy and Steve kissed in private, and she explained that their fight against their enemies had to come before their life together for at least another year.
• Peggy told Steve that the President had forbidden him from appearing in public and that he could only work as her clerk or secretary.
• Steve declined a clerical role, said he would retire and draw comics, and left Peggy feeling as though everyone had abandoned him.

Steve left after handing Peggy his shield, and Peggy’s team established the Logistics Directorate as the new agency’s name. In Sochi, Su Ming arranged for Natasha to infiltrate the Directorate as a Leviathan defector, leaving her to prepare for a staged escape and offer of allegiance.

• Peggy asked Steve to leave his shield behind, and Steve handed it over before leaving the meeting and heading for his old home in Brooklyn.
• Peggy explained Steve’s departure to the others, then accepted Howard’s proposed name and called the new agency the Logistics Directorate.
• Su Ming told Natasha and Gin that Natasha would join the Directorate posing as a Leviathan defector and use intelligence about Leviathan to gain senior status.
• Su Ming promised to stage a pursuit with car chases, explosions, and assassinations so Natasha could escape with intelligence and valuable items.
• Natasha agreed to the plan and toasted with Su Ming and Gin.

Su Ming prepared Natasha Romanoff to defect from Leviathan with forged intelligence, while Gin left for Vanaheim and Su Ming planned to pursue Element Zero. Three days later, Steve encountered Natasha fleeing Leviathan agents beneath New York and agreed to help her despite no longer being Captain America.

• Su Ming gave Natasha documents about the Red Guardian Program and Echo Plan to use as proof of her defection, and she destroyed the originals after photographing them.
• Su Ming told Natasha to collect modified Leech Serum from Spider Web headquarters before presenting her intelligence to SSR.
• Su Ming planned to use fresh cannon fodder to support Natasha's escape and to pit Leviathan against the new SSR to obtain Element Zero, while Gin departed for Vanaheim.
• Three days later, Steve sensed explosions beneath Central Park and ran through the sewers toward the gunfire in Brooklyn.
• Steve encountered Natasha, who said she was defecting from Leviathan to SSR with intelligence that could save hundreds of millions of lives.
• Steve told Natasha that SSR had disbanded and he had retired, but agreed to help her escape.

Steve and Natasha escaped through the sewers and boarded a subway while Su Ming secretly staged the chase to test Steve and help Natasha gain his trust. Natasha used details supplied by her boss to persuade Steve that she had defected from Leviathan, but Deathstroke was waiting at their next stop.

• Steve and Natasha fled Leviathan’s pursuers through the sewers as Natasha claimed she had escaped to seek freedom in the United States.
• Steve identified Natasha as a Black Widow, rejected her suggestion to seek help from the police, and followed her plan to reach the subway.
• Su Ming watched them escape, gathered the undead actors, and prepared more staged chase scenes, including a car pursuit and a mini-boss.
• On the subway, Natasha pretended her wounds were weakening her and steered Steve toward meeting his leader while winning his sympathy with shared interests and stories about the Red Room.
• Steve grew to trust Natasha and hate Leviathan as she used information from her boss to fool him, unaware that Deathstroke awaited them at the next station.

Steve and Natasha survived a brutal pursuit by Leviathan and headed toward The Playground, with Steve still unsure whether Natasha could be trusted. Natasha revealed that Leviathan was mass-producing Red Guardians and intended to capture and dissect Steve’s Godfather and Agent 13.

• Steve and Natasha defeated the towering Red Guardian by ramming him with a vehicle and detonating its fuel tank, after which the remaining pursuers’ vehicles exploded.
• Steve carried a blindfolded Natasha toward The Playground and explained that Peggy and Fury would decide whether she could be trusted.
• Natasha claimed Leviathan’s Red Guardian program could lead to World War III and said her own enhancement only prevented her from aging.
• Steve mentioned that his Godfather and Agent 13 also did not age, and Natasha revealed that Leviathan had placed them on its watch list for capture and dissection.
• Steve quickened his pace after learning that Leviathan planned to target the two people he knew.

Su Ming investigated Leviathan’s use of Zerium and brought Wong to the Polar Bear territory to search for signs of Dark Magic. After the Cloak of Levitation found a target, Su Ming and Wong set out to investigate.

• Su Ming decided to investigate whether Leviathan had uncovered Zerium and recruited Dog-Headed Humanoids for Dormammu.
• Magic Prince Monark refused to join the mission, so Su Ming brought Little Wong from Loyalty Academy instead.
• Su Ming and Wong searched the wilderness near the Bering Strait while camping and sharing a meal.
• Su Ming asked Wong to call him “sir” and imagined him as a butler before the Cloak of Levitation returned with the target’s location.
• Su Ming entered combat mode, had Strangle eat the remaining venison, and flew off with Wong to investigate.

Su Ming and Wong investigated a Leviathan outpost at the Tunguska crater and found signs of a recent massacre amid evidence that the site had been abandoned for weeks. The mismatched clues led Su Ming to conclude that two other groups were involved, and they prepared for a confrontation.

• Su Ming and Wong reached the Tunguska crater, where Cloak sensed a faint trace of dark energy underground.
• Su Ming spotted Leviathan buildings and recent tracks leading toward the crater, despite the area appearing deserted.
• Su Ming and Wong found many dead Leviathan personnel, but Su Ming noted that the corpses did not account for all the outpost’s residents.
• Wong examined the bodies and found that they had died less than an hour earlier, while footprints inside the buildings were about a month old.
• Su Ming concluded that two enemy groups had been at the site, one possibly using time or psychic abilities, and Wong realized a battle was likely.

Su Ming explained the clues at the research station and took Wong underground to investigate the source of the strange energy. He left Wong queasy but determined to continue after they found a mutated beast in the tunnel.

• Su Ming deduced that Leviathan had found Zero Matter beneath the drained lake and reconstructed how three groups had entered the station and descended underground.
• Su Ming rejected waiting to ambush the survivors and flew with Wong to the passage at the bottom of the pit.
• Su Ming dragged the reluctant Wong into the tunnel and found a frozen, bloodied beast blocking the way.
• Su Ming identified the beast as a mutated creature that ate people and could be killed by bullets, making Wong dry-heave when he learned it had a human hand in its stomach.
• Su Ming split the beast with his greatsword and led Wong into the darkness.

Su Ming and Little Wong descended through a frozen tunnel into an underground cave system, following a blood trail in search of survivors. As they explored, Su Ming learned that Wong had a farmer fiancée named Zhang Aimei and heard the unusual history of Wong’s family.

• Su Ming and Little Wong reached a natural underground cave where three paths carried traces of dark energy and footprints.
• Su Ming chose the bloodstained path and taught Wong to favor cold weapons over guns in the cramped tunnels.
• Su Ming sensed a living person ahead and joked that he might find Wong a wife, learning that Wong was engaged to Zhang Aimei.
• Su Ming recalled how Wong’s ancestor Kan had traveled to Siridar, married Princess Shialmar, and founded the Guardians after returning to Earth.
• Su Ming asked what Wong would name a future child, and Wong suggested Alexander.