Chapter Summaries

Lynn extracted intelligence about Alexander Pierce’s secret shipyard and Zola Algorithm from Crossbones, then shared it exclusively with Jean Grey through their Mind Link. He praised Jean for bringing him the information while ignoring Hela and Wanda, leaving both women desperate to regain his attention.

• Lynn accessed Crossbones’s memories and discovered three heavy Helicarriers and the Zola Algorithm hidden beneath the Triskelion.
• Lynn transmitted the intelligence to Jean Grey through the Mind Link, shutting Hela and Wanda out.
• Jean Grey relished Lynn’s attention, crawled to his throne, and vowed to seize anything he wanted.
• Lynn praised Jean for retrieving the valuable information and continued to ignore Hela’s plea for recognition.
• Wanda and Hela knelt before Lynn, hoping to regain his favor and access to the Mind Link.

Lynn gave Hela and Wanda access to Crossbones's memories, revealing Hydra's plan to use three Helicarriers and the Zola Algorithm to kill millions. He sent Hela, Wanda, and Jean Grey to destroy the Helicarriers and capture Alexander Pierce, promising the victor a private evening with him.

• Wanda and Hela begged Lynn for attention and access to his memories after he shut them out.
• Lynn warned the women against acting out again, then opened mental links and shared Crossbones's memories with them.
• Hela and Wanda learned that Hydra planned to use three Helicarriers and the Zola Algorithm to target millions, including Lynn.
• Hela, Wanda, and Jean Grey offered to attack Hydra, and Lynn encouraged them to fight rather than stopping the plan.
• Lynn ordered the three women to destroy the Helicarriers and bring Pierce to him alive, promising the victor time alone with him.

Lynn uncovered Alexander Pierce’s plan to use the Zola Algorithm and three Helicarriers to kill millions, including Lynn, and welcomed the chance to let Project Insight unfold. He gave Hela, Wanda, and Jean Grey the Helicarriers as a stage for the coming conflict.

• Lynn tore through Crossbones’s mental lock and discovered the hidden Helicarriers and Arnim Zola’s algorithm in his memories.
• Pierce revealed that the Zola Algorithm analyzed people’s pasts and predicted threats, and Lynn saw himself at the top of Hydra’s kill list.
• Hela, Wanda, and Jean Grey reacted furiously to Pierce’s threat, while Lynn dismissed the plan and severed the Mind Link.
• Lynn judged Crossbones useless after extracting his memories and reasoned that Nick Fury’s discovery would push Pierce to activate Project Insight early.
• Lynn told Hela, Wanda, and Jean Grey that he was giving them the Helicarriers, intending them to take part in the coming battle.

Lynn sent Hela, Wanda, and Jean Grey to Washington, D.C. to destroy Hydra and break Alexander Pierce, promising the one who brought him the greatest despair a night alone with him. The three departed the Negative Zone to compete for his reward.

• Hela, Wanda, and Jean Grey fought over Lynn's promise of an entire night alone with him until he stopped them with a command.
• Lynn told the three women that Hydra's helicarriers and Alexander Pierce were in Washington, D.C., and that he wanted a spectacle that would leave Pierce in despair.
• Jean Grey proposed burning Hydra agents and torturing Pierce, Hela offered to send undead against the helicarriers and mutilate Pierce, and Wanda planned to turn Hydra's weapons against its own forces.
• Lynn ordered the three women to go to Washington, D.C. and promised the one who returned with the most satisfying despair would have him that night.
• Hela, Wanda, and Jean Grey blasted out of the Negative Zone and headed for Washington, D.C.

Lynn watched from the Negative Zone as Alexander Pierce panicked over Lynn’s knowledge of Hydra’s secrets and forced Project Insight into activation. Pierce’s unfinished Helicarriers rose over Washington, while Nick Fury realized S.H.I.E.L.D. had been controlled by Hydra and faced the consequences of Pierce’s gamble.

• Lynn projected S.H.I.E.L.D.’s internal network and watched Pierce panic after discovering that Lynn knew about the Zola Algorithm and its list.
• Pierce tried to launch the three unfinished Helicarriers, but Nick Fury burst into his office and demanded answers about Project Insight.
• Pierce forced the activation sequence, and STRIKE agents entered and aimed their weapons at Fury instead of arresting Pierce.
• Fury realized Hydra had taken over S.H.I.E.L.D. as Pierce ordered the agents to seize him.
• The three Helicarriers broke through the underground dock and climbed into the sky, while Lynn ended the projection and Fury recognized the launch as a threat to S.H.I.E.L.D.’s survival.

Alexander Pierce thawed the Winter Soldiers and fortified the Triskelion as Nick Fury faced execution. The Winter Soldiers cornered Fury, but a piercing cry from the scarlet clouds interrupted the standoff.

• Lynn watched Pierce terminate the Winter Soldiers’ hibernation and order the Triskelion sealed and armed.
• Pierce ordered STRIKE agents to kill Fury and declare S.H.I.E.L.D. his to control.
• The Winter Soldier and four other thawed super soldiers burst into Pierce’s office and aimed their weapons at Fury.
• As Fury prepared to fight back, the clouds over Washington turned scarlet and a shrill bird cry rang out.

In the Negative Zone Prison, Lynn rejected Hela’s plan to destroy Hydra’s forces outright, and Wanda proposed turning Hydra’s own weapons against its agents. Lynn praised Wanda’s idea, while Jean Grey began suggesting a more direct way to make Hydra despair.

• Hela offered to destroy Hydra’s Helicarriers and kill Pierce herself, but Lynn called her approach crude and boring.
• Wanda proposed altering the Helicarriers’ fire-control systems and the Zola Algorithm so they would target Hydra agents and leaders while broadcasting their deaths.
• Lynn praised Wanda’s plan as elegant and lethal, exciting Wanda and intensifying Hela’s jealousy.
• Jean Grey acknowledged Wanda’s proposal but suggested making Hydra’s members tear one another apart with their own hands.

Jean Grey proposed using the Phoenix Force to make Hydra agents and the Winter Soldier slaughter one another while fully conscious, earning Lynn’s praise and provoking Wanda and Hela. The three women clashed over whose plan would destroy Hydra, then waited for Lynn to choose who would spend the night with him.

• Jean Grey described how she would control the Triskelion’s defenders and make them painfully kill one another while their minds remained lucid.
• Hela and Wanda reacted with disgust and jealousy as Lynn enjoyed the women’s rivalry and praised Jean Grey’s plan.
• Wanda argued that she would make Hydra’s creations betray them by rewriting their underlying logic, while Hela demanded permission to destroy the Helicarriers and Washington.
• Jean Grey dismissed Wanda and Hela’s approaches, and their three powers collided in a standoff before Lynn.
• Hela, Wanda, and Jean Grey watched Lynn, awaiting his verdict on who would receive the right to be alone with him.

Lynn rejected Hela, Wanda, and Jean Grey’s competing plans and sent all three to attack Hydra’s Washington stronghold, dividing the targets among them. They set out to hunt for his favor as Washington faced their simultaneous arrival.

• Lynn declared that Hela, Wanda, and Jean Grey were his tools and that their individual plans had flaws.
• Lynn assigned Jean Grey the Triskelion’s lower levels and twelve thousand Hydra agents as her mind hunting ground.
• Lynn assigned Wanda the three Helicarriers and their Zola Algorithm as her logic hunting ground.
• Lynn tasked Hela with destroying structures and using the other women’s casualties to create an unprecedented tide of the undead.
• Lynn made Pierce and the three Helicarriers sacrifices in a contest to see which woman could create the deepest despair and please him most.
• Jean Grey, Wanda, and Hela opened portals and descended simultaneously on Washington.

An immense supernatural force sealed Washington, D.C., crushing the Winter Soldiers and cutting the Triskelion off from the outside world. As Pierce realized the Helicarriers were trapped in an invisible cage, an unknown woman’s voice began choosing which Hydra agent to target first.

• Alexander Pierce ordered the Winter Soldiers to shoot Nick Fury, but a cosmic hum swept over Washington, D.C.
• A sky divided into dark gold, scarlet, and pitch-black descended with crushing pressure, forcing Bucky Barnes and the other Winter Soldiers to the floor.
• Nick Fury struggled under the pressure while Pierce found that the Triskelion’s communications and screens had gone dead.
• Pierce saw three Helicarriers trapped above Washington, unable to escape the barrier surrounding the city.
• Hundreds of Hydra agents in the Triskelion’s thirteenth basement level sensed an unseen gaze before a female voice asked which one she should start with.

Jean Grey’s psychic network seized control of Hydra agents throughout the Triskelion, forcing them to commit horrific acts while remaining fully conscious. As the fortress descended into slaughter, Alexander Pierce clung to the Helicarriers and the Zola Algorithm as his last chance to retaliate.

• Agent Captain Marcus woke after sensing a malicious presence, then watched dark golden psychic threads spread through the agents’ quarters.
• The psychic force took control of Marcus and hundreds of Hydra agents, trapping their minds inside smiling, unresponsive bodies.
• Controlled agents attacked and killed themselves and one another across the Triskelion, while explosions and gunfire spread through its lower sectors.
• Alexander Pierce heard the reports and screams from below, realized Hydra’s fortress was collapsing into an internal massacre, and lost hope of containing it.
• Pierce looked to the three Helicarriers and resolved to activate them with the Zola Algorithm, even if it meant destroying Washington, D.C.

Wanda used Chaos Magic to rewrite the Zola Algorithm, turning the Helicarriers’ weapons against the Triskelion and Alexander Pierce. Just as the Helicarriers prepared to fire, a cold Underworld aura descended, and an unseen speaker offered to show off different “toys.”

• Alexander Pierce ordered the Helicarriers to activate their weapons and target threats across the globe.
• Wanda spread scarlet Chaos Magic into the Helicarriers and rewrote the Zola Algorithm’s threat criteria.
• The Helicarriers aimed their guns at the Triskelion and marked Pierce as their highest-priority target.
• Pierce collapsed in terror as the Helicarriers charged their weapons.
• An unseen speaker mocked Wanda’s “toys” as a deathly aura descended.

Hela unleashed her Death Force inside the Triskelion, reviving the Hydra agents killed in Jean Grey’s psychic slaughter as undead Servants of Death. The Helicarriers’ barrage, Wanda’s Scarlet Code, Jean’s Psychic Network, and Hela’s undead tide collided, escalating the chaos throughout the fortress.

• Hela dismissed Wanda’s attack as unimpressive and swept the Night Sky Sword toward the Triskelion, sending Death Force through the fortress.
• The Death Force entered Area C and revived Marcus as an undead Servant of Death.
• The dead Hydra agents across the Triskelion rose and began attacking the living, including the terrified survivor in the dormitory.
• Pierce and Nick Fury watched the disasters overlap as Helicarrier cannons vaporized undead amid the psychic and Scarlet Code chaos.

Jean Grey, Wanda, and Hela escalated their competing attacks on the Triskelion, turning it into a battlefield where their psychic control, corrupted weapons, and undead forces clashed. Nick Fury realized Lynn viewed the destruction as entertainment, then watched the three goddesses’ powers converge on the wounded Bucky Barnes.

• Lynn watched Jean Grey, Wanda, and Hela’s separate perspectives as they ravaged the Triskelion.
• Jean Grey’s puppets, Wanda’s Helicarrier bombardments, and Hela’s undead forces repeatedly destroyed and interfered with one another.
• Jean Grey ignited Hela’s undead with Phoenix Force, while Hela corrupted Jean Grey’s living puppets and Wanda ordered an indiscriminate barrage from the Helicarriers.
• Nick Fury hid amid the ruins and concluded that Lynn was treating the assault like a spectacle with the three goddesses as competing hunting hounds.
• Bucky Barnes fell through the ceiling, badly wounded but alive, as the three goddesses’ energies converged on him.

Nick Fury realized that Hela, Wanda, and Jean Grey were competing in a cycle of destruction, with S.H.I.E.L.D. and Earth reduced to their playthings. As Bucky Barnes fell into the office and the goddesses’ powers converged on him, Alexander Pierce crawled toward his secret escape passage.

• Nick Fury watched Jean Grey, Hela, and Wanda’s powers combine to manipulate, kill, and destroy their targets, and concluded that the three goddesses were competing.
• Fury understood that Lynn had sent the goddesses to Washington, D.C. and saw himself and S.H.I.E.L.D. as insignificant pieces in their game.
• Bucky Barnes fell through the ceiling, badly wounded but alive, as psychic tendrils, Chaos Magic, and deathly energy raced toward him.
• Alexander Pierce crawled through the rubble toward the concealed emergency escape passage, while Fury doubted he could escape the gods’ playground.

Alexander Pierce tried to escape the Triskelion in a secret pod, but Wanda stopped it with her power and left him suspended near the building. As Jean Grey, Hela, and Wanda closed in, Pierce waited in terror for Lynn to decide his fate.

• Alexander Pierce abandoned his two loyal agents and activated the escape pod hidden behind his bookcase.
• Pierce launched the pod and celebrated as he believed he had escaped the destruction of the Triskelion.
• Wanda halted the pod with a wisp of scarlet energy, leaving it trapped in midair.
• Nick Fury watched Pierce’s failed escape on a surveillance screen and laughed at his humiliation.
• Jean Grey, Hela, and Wanda turned their attention to Pierce and approached while he waited for Lynn’s ruling.

From the Negative Zone, Lynn rewarded Wanda’s capture of Alexander Pierce with a faint psychic signal, provoking Hela and Jean Grey’s jealousy. They abandoned their ongoing massacres and rushed to seize Pierce, leaving him surrounded by three furious goddesses.

• Lynn watched Wanda, Hela, and Jean Grey’s attacks on Hydra and sent Wanda a psychic sign of approval for trapping Pierce’s escape pod.
• Wanda delighted in Lynn’s attention and tightened her Chaos Magic around the pod.
• Hela and Jean Grey became jealous of Wanda and demanded Lynn’s attention through their psychic connection.
• Hela released her undead legion, and Jean Grey freed her psychic puppets as both women abandoned their attacks.
• Hela and Jean Grey raced toward Pierce’s pod, where Wanda was already waiting, and Pierce realized he was trapped between all three.

Wanda, Hela, and Jean Grey fought over who would deliver the final blow to Alexander Pierce, and their clash sent three Helicarriers plunging toward Washington, D.C. As the city faced imminent destruction and the women hesitated over who should intervene, Lynn prepared to stop the disaster himself.

• Wanda tightened her chaos magic around Pierce's escape pod, prompting Hela to attack and Jean Grey to unleash the Phoenix Force.
• The three powers collided above Washington, D.C., destabilizing the Helicarriers and destroying their control systems and propulsion.
• The three Helicarriers began falling toward the city, and Nick Fury saw them descend from the ruined Triskelion.
• Wanda, Hela, and Jean Grey paused their fight but hesitated to save the Helicarriers, each unwilling to surrender Pierce to the others.
• Lynn watched the Helicarriers fall from the Negative Zone and decided to intervene personally.

Wanda, Hela, and Jean Grey’s rivalry sent three Helicarriers hurtling toward Washington, but Lynn intervened and stopped the catastrophe. He took Alexander Pierce into his own custody and left the three goddesses fearing his displeasure and wondering how to earn his forgiveness.

• Wanda, Hela, and Jean Grey fought over Pierce, and their clashing powers sent three Helicarriers plunging toward Washington.
• The three goddesses hesitated over who should stop the carriers, while Nick Fury watched the disaster approach.
• Lynn appeared, froze the Helicarriers in midair, and calmly lowered them onto the Potomac River.
• Lynn removed Wanda’s chaos magic from Pierce’s escape pod and summoned Pierce to himself.
• Lynn left without speaking to the goddesses, and Wanda called after him as they feared his judgment.

Lynn used an accountability meeting to test Wanda, Hela, and Jean Grey after their mission went wrong, then threatened to end their project. He offered them a chance to redeem themselves, leaving them to compete for it.

• Hela blamed Wanda's tampering with the system for the Helicarrier crash, and Wanda accused Hela and Jean Grey of causing the energy collision.
• Jean Grey defended her destructive actions as art and mocked Wanda and Hela, while Hela angrily blamed Jean for the final collision.
• Lynn revealed that he had arranged the meeting to test the women's reactions and judged each one's weaknesses and behavior.
• Lynn told them he would end their project because they had failed the task, prompting Wanda, Hela, and Jean Grey to plead for another chance.
• Lynn offered them an opportunity to redeem themselves and said it depended on which of them could seize it.