Chapter Summaries

Su Ming explained the limits of exploiting the Shi'ar’s art ban to Peter and warned him that their technology and weapons made small tricks useless. After Daisy and Jean Grey finished getting ready, the group prepared to meet the Shi'ar, leaving Peter still confident he would never bring female crew members aboard his future ship.

• Su Ming told Peter that the Shi'ar could use AI and planet-killing weapons to crush resistance, and that their rulers could change the laws governing art.
• Peter wondered if music or dancing could let him defeat the Shi'ar, but Su Ming explained that he had already tried similar tactics and that imperial decrees controlled the consequences.
• Su Ming warned Peter that even the Phoenix might not match the Shi'ar’s trump cards, including the M'Kraan Crystal, and taught him never to speak too absolutely.
• Peter insisted he would never take female crew members, while Su Ming hinted that he might change his mind someday.
• Daisy and Jean Grey returned after more than an hour, and Daisy showed Su Ming her outfit and asked him to smell her before he led the way out.

Deathstroke's group traveled to Chandilar to meet First Princess Lilandra and discuss the Shi'ar civil war. Su Ming offered assistance but said he wanted to negotiate a condition first.

• Deathstroke and Gladiator exchanged diplomatic pleasantries on arrival, and Daisy repeated Deathstroke's speech before the group boarded the imperial transport.
• Gladiator led the group through the imperial residence and explained that Featherfall and forty-three percent of the administrative planets had sided with the Second Princess and outsiders.
• Su Ming and Gladiator discussed the destruction of a planet and agreed that the Second Princess's fleet sent to Earth would be returned after its crew was killed.
• Gladiator introduced the group to First Princess Lilandra, who asked Su Ming for help as the civil war claimed lives.
• Su Ming conjured a throne with Strangle and told Lilandra he would help if they could agree on a condition.

Lilandra recounted the Shi'ar succession crisis and negotiated with Su Ming for help against Deathbird in exchange for resources and other concessions. After Su Ming agreed in principle, Charles Xavier arrived to speak with Lilandra, who reacted to him with unexpected excitement.

• Lilandra explained that the M'Kraan Crystal had left D'Ken comatose and that Deathbird had seized power, beginning a secret civil war against her.
• Lilandra offered technology, resources, manpower, and allies for assistance, while Su Ming refused the M'Kraan Crystal and agreed to negotiate the terms of a deal.
• Su Ming told Lilandra that Jean Grey's guardian wanted to speak with her and opened a portal for the visitor.
• Charles Xavier emerged in a wheelchair, introduced himself, and said he would take responsibility for Jean's troubles.
• Su Ming slapped Charles on the head, while Lilandra asked him not to hit Charles and reacted excitedly to the professor.

Su Ming discussed the Shi'ar civil war with Lilandra and agreed to help her defeat Vulcan and Deathbird. The group settled on an operation to kill Vulcan, return Scott to Charles, and leave Deathbird to Lilandra.

• Lilandra questioned Charles about his origins, age, and interests, then spoke privately with him for nearly two hours.
• Su Ming told Kitty to stay out of the coming battle, though she chose to remain on the palace flagship.
• Lilandra explained that Vulcan and Deathbird had more troops and political support, while Gladiator alone could not reliably defeat them.
• Jean Grey argued that Vulcan should not be killed, but Phoenix stirred inside her until Charles calmed her.
• Su Ming decided the operation would kill Vulcan, return Scott to Charles for education, and leave Deathbird for Lilandra to handle.

The First Princess agreed to Deathstroke’s plan to eliminate Vulcan, while Charles stayed behind with her as the team departed for Featherfall. The group reached the rebel stronghold and saw that many Council members had joined Deathbird, setting the stage for their strike.

• The First Princess agreed to the plan and asked Charles to stay with her while Deathstroke and the others left.
• Gladiator piloted the team through an asteroid field and past a battle between Shi'ar fleets.
• Gladiator warned the team that Skrulls were infiltrating Earth, but Su Ming said he could identify them and was allowing them to enter.
• Gladiator guided the spacecraft to Featherfall, where the team hid on a natural satellite and surveyed the assembled fleets.
• Su Ming observed that more than half the Council had sided with Deathbird, and Gladiator said the rebels would be given death for rejecting Shi'ar's rule.

Deathstroke and Su Ming planned to lure Vulcan into a distant battle, while Vulcan reassured Cyclops that Jean Grey was safe and promised him a place in the Shi'ar Empire. A report from Featherfall’s enemy capital arrived, and its footage shocked Vulcan, Deathbird, and Cyclops.

• Su Ming agreed that Gladiator would lure Vulcan away from Featherfall and said he had a plan, though it might require a sacrifice.
• Vulcan assured Cyclops that Jean and the Phoenix Force were safe, and promised Cyclops and other useful Mutants a place in his future empire.
• Vulcan promised Deathbird they would marry soon, while Cyclops waited anxiously for news of Jean.
• An official delivered storage devices from the enemy capital, and Cyclops handed one to Vulcan to play.
• Vulcan projected the report before himself, Deathbird, and Cyclops, and all three reacted with shock.

Vulcan found explicit videos that appeared to show Deathbird with the former Royal Guard captain, rejected her denials, and threw her out of the palace. He killed the guards who witnessed the scene, then ordered Scott to handle his chores.

• Scott and the guards watched as Vulcan discovered that the storage devices contained videos of apparent encounters between Deathbird and Gladiator rather than information about Jean Grey.
• Deathbird denied the videos were real, but Scott urged her to explain them to Vulcan.
• Vulcan slapped Deathbird, demanded to know how long she had been involved with the former Guard Captain, and then blasted her through the palace doors.
• Vulcan killed the guards who had witnessed the incident and asked Scott to keep quiet about it.
• Scott agreed to summon cleaners, fetch wine, relay Vulcan's lunch request, fix a bathroom pipe, and gather earthworms for fishing.

Su Ming exposed Vulcan and Deathbird’s scandal across Featherfall, turning the royal family into the subject of public gossip and driving Deathbird from the palace. He then planned to use Gladiator to lure Vulcan into a staged Trial by Combat three hundred light-years away.

• Scott returned to the Throne Room with earthworms, and Vulcan realized too late that the scandal had already been broadcast across Featherfall.
• Shi'ar citizens watched the videos and spread rumors that the Second Princess’s affair with Gladiator explained the civil war.
• Su Ming praised Gladiator for helping undermine Vulcan and explained how Deathstroke had gathered information and released the altered recordings.
• Gladiator worried about the damage to the royal family’s reputation, but Su Ming said Charles could erase the planet’s memories afterward.
• Su Ming told Gladiator to challenge Vulcan to a Trial by Combat and lure him to a distant battlefield, where the group would attack on a signal.

Su Ming persuaded Gladiator to lure Vulcan into a duel in space, hoping to defeat him without involving the others or drawing outside attention. Gladiator agreed, while Su Ming and the team prepared to follow, and Gladiator insisted he would remain loyal to the royal family.

• Su Ming explained how Vulcan’s conflict with Gladiator could be exploited and how a duel far from Featherfall would keep Scott and rival empires out of the fight.
• Gladiator agreed to return to space and lure Vulcan into battle, asking Su Ming not to punish Deathbird for her role in the crisis.
• Su Ming joked that Gladiator could marry into the royal family or even take the throne, but Gladiator rejected both possibilities and reaffirmed his loyalty.
• Su Ming told Gladiator to stall Vulcan in nearby orbit while the others prepared, then caught Daisy, Jean Grey, and Peter watching the screen outside.
• Daisy blamed Peter for watching and twisted his ear, while Star-Lord doubted her excuse.

Deathstroke’s group prepared to lure Vulcan into a fight near the star, then erase the planet’s memories to conceal what happened. Jean Grey contacted Professor X for help, while Deathstroke explained how Kitty and Emma could support the plan.

• Vulcan flew out of the palace and smashed screens displaying the fake videos, while Deathstroke’s group watched from the moon.
• Deathstroke ordered Gladiator to break into a Council warship, challenge Vulcan over the broadcast system, and draw him toward the star’s gravity well.
• Deathstroke told Jean Grey to contact Professor X and arrange memory-erasing equipment with Emma and the other telepaths.
• Deathstroke explained that Professor X had brought Kitty to make Emma more likely to help control the Phoenix if Jean lost control.
• Jean asked to see Scott, but Deathstroke said they would alter Scott’s memories after killing Vulcan, and she accepted.
• Deathstroke let Star-Lord take the helm as the group prepared to leave.

Vulcan’s anger at the Black Hand and the public humiliation arranged by Su Ming drove him to accept Gladiator’s Trial by Combat. The two began their duel in orbit, and the battle moved far from Featherfall with no victor yet revealed.

• Vulcan searched Featherfall for the Black Hand, smashing screens as Cyclops waited for him in the palace.
• Gladiator broadcast a challenge, claiming Cal'syee as his and demanding that Vulcan yield her or fight him in orbit.
• Provoked by the people watching him, Vulcan flew into space to meet Gladiator.
• Vulcan and Gladiator exchanged a blow that shook nearby fleets and sent their battle racing dozens of light-years away.
• The tremors faded, leaving Featherfall’s people to wonder which warrior would win.

Vulcan pursued Gladiator through space, convinced that Deathbird and Gladiator had betrayed him, until Gladiator turned the chase around and confronted him. As they faced off, Vulcan revealed that ambition—not just revenge—had kept him from acting sooner, and Gladiator attacked.

• Vulcan chased Gladiator and struck his shoulder, while imagining that Deathbird and Gladiator had plotted to use and kill him.
• Gladiator fled as Vulcan pursued him, unaware that Deathstroke and Phoenix were no longer in sight.
• Gladiator stopped, dodged Vulcan’s punch, and counterattacked, sending him flying.
• Gladiator confronted Vulcan and asked why he had not sought revenge after returning to the Shi'ar.
• Vulcan said he had wanted more than revenge, and golden light surged toward him.

Gladiator and Deathstroke worked together to defeat Vulcan, with Daisy helping deliver the final blow. Su Ming then began destroying Vulcan’s body and erasing every trace of him to prevent his Super Healing from bringing him back.

• Gladiator trapped Vulcan in a brutal hand-to-hand fight and used feints to distract him.
• Deathstroke stabbed Vulcan from behind, severing his spine and vital organs.
• Daisy struck Vulcan’s head with Mjolnir, and Su Ming decapitated him with Godslayer.
• Su Ming ordered Strangle to consume Vulcan’s head and planned to destroy his soul, body, and the surrounding evidence.

Su Ming suspected that someone had manipulated Vulcan and helped the team end the battle, then returned to Lilandra’s palace ship. Emma recruited Kitty with a car, confirmed that Charles had been brainwashed, and hinted that she expected Su Ming to protect Mutants from the evolving Sentinels.

• Su Ming noticed gaps and abrupt changes in Vulcan’s memories and suspected an unknown person had controlled him to target Su Ming.
• Su Ming and Gladiator destroyed the star, and the group returned to Lilandra’s palace ship.
• Emma offered Kitty a car and a place at her school; Kitty accepted the car but chose to remain with her friends for now.
• Emma told Su Ming that Featherfall’s brainwashing was complete and that Charles had passed out, while Jean went to retrieve Scott.
• Su Ming sent Gladiator and the others to secure the military authority and Deathbird, leaving him to speak privately with Emma.
• Emma said she had won temporary protection from the military and suggested Su Ming would help Mutants if the Sentinels became a greater threat.

Su Ming returned to Earth with Daisy, Peter, and Thor after helping end the Shi'ar civil war, while Daisy asked about her role in the fighting and the hidden manipulator. Their planned vacation on Su Ming’s island was interrupted when Volstagg arrived by Bifrost, apparently bringing an answer.

• Daisy asked whether Su Ming had known her identity and worried that she had enjoyed killing, and he reassured her that the hammer had done the killing and that she had helped humanity.
• Caroline flew up to inspect the arriving spaceship, recognized Su Ming, and left after he waved her away.
• Su Ming landed on his island and explained to Daisy that the military groups persecuting Mutants were separate from the S.W.O.R.D. project.
• Su Ming told Daisy and Peter to relax while he compiled intelligence, and Daisy and Peter eagerly discussed going fishing and swimming.
• Volstagg arrived by Bifrost, stumbled into the sand, and Su Ming identified him as a Warrior of Asgard who had come with an answer.

Volstagg arrived on Earth to ask Su Ming for help after the All-Father disappeared, and Su Ming deduced that danger might be brewing inside Asgard. Before preparing to leave, Su Ming gave Star-Lord a spaceship and sent him off to begin his own career.

• Volstagg greeted Su Ming and told him that Asgard needed his help and that Thor had to come too.
• Volstagg revealed that the All-Father had disappeared and that Hera had sent him to ask for Su Ming’s help.
• Su Ming reasoned that Hera feared interception or leaks and ordered Volstagg to return and protect her while he prepared to follow.
• Su Ming told Star-Lord that he had graduated and gave him the spaceship and headphones as a parting gift.
• Star-Lord named the ship the Milano and set off toward it, planning to make his own way in space.

Su Ming took Daisy to Helheim to question Hela and Tyr about Odin’s disappearance. Hela said she did not know what had happened in Asgard, while Tyr insisted he was still waiting to save Odin’s life.

• Daisy watched Peter leave in the Inhuman spacecraft and asked Su Ming whether he should return it, but Su Ming said Peter would face pursuers as training.
• Su Ming and Daisy drank genetically modified pineapple juice before traveling to Helheim to investigate Odin’s unusual disappearance.
• Su Ming led Daisy through Helheim’s empty city and into Hela’s castle, where they met Hela and Tyr.
• Tyr denied knowing what was happening in Asgard and said he was still waiting to save Odin’s life.
• Hela questioned Su Ming’s motives and demanded to know why he had come to Helheim.

Su Ming questioned Hela about Odin’s disappearance and learned that she knew nothing about what had happened in Asgard. He left for Vanaheim to investigate and told Hela to prepare her army, while the possibility that Odin was genuinely missing remained open.

• Su Ming asked Hela whether she knew why Odin had gone missing, and she suspected it was one of Odin’s usual traps.
• Hela identified herself as Odin’s daughter and Asgard’s rightful inheritor, and Su Ming said he supported her claim to the throne without destroying Yggdrasil.
• Hela told Daisy that Fenrir was fated to kill Odin, and Daisy recognized Hela as the black-robed figure from Sakaar.
• Hela said the events in Asgard had nothing to do with the dead, then confirmed that her undead army was ready.
• Su Ming said Odin might truly be missing and left for Vanaheim to investigate, telling Hela to prepare her army.

Deathstroke and Daisy traveled from Helheim to Vanaheim to investigate Odin’s disappearance, while Deathstroke explained the threat Yggdrasil’s cycle posed to Gin. They reached a hidden command center beneath a Wilson’s Fast Food branch, where Deathstroke’s agents greeted him.

• Deathstroke explained that Gin’s divine ancestry meant she would die when Ragnarök brought Yggdrasil’s cycle to its end, and that he intended to break the cycle.
• Deathstroke told Daisy that Hela genuinely did not know what had happened in Asgard, but warned that the Black Hand might be manipulating their assumptions about a royal power struggle.
• Deathstroke and Daisy discussed Odin’s many possible children as they traveled through a secret passage from Helheim to Vanaheim.
• Daisy admired Vanaheim’s seaside city while Deathstroke led her into a Wilson’s Fast Food branch and opened a hidden door in its storeroom.
• Deathstroke brought Daisy into an underground command center, where his agents gathered around him as he handed out snacks and chatted with them.

Deathstroke learned from the Warriors Three’s recording that Odin had vanished from his bedchamber along with Gungnir, and he began investigating with Daisy. The group decided to question Heimdall and inspect the scene in Asgard, while Daisy eagerly recorded her detective lessons.

• Rat Spider told Deathstroke that the Warriors Three had discussed Odin’s disappearance while dining at Spider Web, then gave him their recording.
• Deathstroke and Daisy listened as Volstagg described how guards found Odin’s bedchamber empty, with Gungnir and Odin missing and no sign of a struggle.
• Daisy proposed that Hera might be a suspect because she and Odin lived separately, and Deathstroke praised her deduction while explaining their history.
• Rat Spider pointed out that Heimdall should have witnessed Odin’s disappearance, and Deathstroke agreed that they needed to question him and inspect the scene.
• Daisy wrote down Deathstroke’s lessons about superheroes, aliens, and solving cases in her notebook.