Chapter Summaries

Lynn assigned Hela, Wanda, and Jean Grey to extract Hydra intelligence from Alexander Pierce without harming him, and Jean Grey won the lead role by scanning his memories directly. Her scan uncovered a hidden Siberian base conducting mutant gene-fusion experiments.

• Lynn tasked Hela, Wanda, and Jean Grey with retrieving all of Hydra's intelligence from Pierce while keeping him physically and mentally intact.
• Hela proposed extracting and torturing Pierce's soul, while Wanda offered to make him willingly reveal Hydra's secrets in a dream.
• Jean Grey proposed copying Pierce's memories directly and precisely, and Lynn appointed her to lead the project.
• Lynn ordered Hela to protect Pierce with a death barrier and Wanda to stabilize his body, making both report to Jean Grey.
• Jean Grey scanned Pierce's memories and discovered a deeply encrypted Siberian base conducting mutant gene-fusion experiments.

Jean Grey revealed Hydra’s Siberian mutant experimentation program to Lynn, who decided to make rescuing and recruiting the prisoners his next priority project. As he prepared to act, a Cold War emergency signal from S.H.I.E.L.D. reached his Psychic Network, apparently carrying a message from its director.

• Jean Grey used a Mind Link to show Lynn top-secret files about Hydra’s mutant gene fusion experiments and the Siberian facility overseen by the Winter General.
• Lynn learned that Hydra was combining mutant genes with Super Soldier Serum and had produced a few successful subjects after many horrific failures.
• Lynn decided to rescue the imprisoned mutants and use them as the core of an effort to consolidate the mutant population.
• Lynn praised Jean Grey and named her discovery a priority project, while Hela and Wanda grew jealous at being excluded.
• A Cold War emergency signal reached Lynn’s Psychic Network, and he suspected the one-eyed S.H.I.E.L.D. director was ready to negotiate.

Nick Fury contacted Lynn to bargain for Washington’s survival, but Lynn took control of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s hidden resources and ordered Fury to cover up the supernatural events. After granting Fury limited powers to carry out the cleanup, Lynn returned to decide who would lead the Siberia project.

• Nick Fury contacted Lynn through S.H.I.E.L.D.’s emergency channel and offered to conceal the Washington crisis as a Hydra attack and Helicarrier failure.
• Fury revealed S.H.I.E.L.D.’s secret networks and assets, offering them in return for Lynn stopping his actions against Washington.
• Lynn rejected Fury’s framing of the deal, demanded access to S.H.I.E.L.D.’s databases, and ordered him to erase evidence of deities, magic, and undead.
• Lynn gave Fury limited authority over Wanda, Hela, and Jean Grey’s powers so he could restore communications, stop new undead, and ease the psychic intimidation.
• Fury’s connection ended, and Lynn returned to the Throne to choose who would lead the Siberia project.

Lynn assigned Hela to destroy Hydra’s Siberian base and Wanda to seal the surrounding space, while keeping Jean Grey in the Negative Zone to attend the throne. Hela and Wanda reached Siberia and sensed a powerful, chaotic force beneath the ice beyond the base.

• Lynn identified the Siberian Hydra base and its mutant gene experiments as the next target, then ordered Hela to lead an overwhelming purge with the undead army.
• Lynn tasked Wanda with sealing the area around the base so no one could escape, and she accepted the assignment.
• Lynn told Jean Grey to remain in the Negative Zone and attend the throne while he privately discussed the intelligence with her, turning her disappointment into joy.
• Hela and Wanda crossed to Siberia, where they detected an unexpected force of resistance beneath the frozen plain.

Hela and Wanda attacked Hydra’s last fortress in Siberia, where Hela summoned an Undead Legion to overwhelm Hydra’s Beast Weapon and defenses. As Wanda sealed the area, she sensed a powerful mutant psychic presence hidden deep inside the base.

• Wanda offered to seal the area while Hela insisted she could defeat Hydra’s defenses herself.
• Hydra activated its automated weapons and revealed a mutant-gene Beast Weapon as its final trump card.
• Hela summoned an Undead Legion and sent it charging against the Beast Weapon and Hydra’s defenses.
• Wanda maintained a scarlet barrier around the battlefield and sensed a powerful, unfamiliar mutant psychic fluctuation in an isolation area.
• Wanda smiled as she recognized the psychic presence as a potential asset.

Wanda secretly found five living mutant prisoners, including Pietro Maximoff, in Hydra’s base and altered their memories and records to make them loyal to her and hate Jean Grey. After reporting to Lynn that every valuable target had been destroyed, she wondered whether he had noticed her deception.

• Wanda sensed five living mutants in a hidden cryogenic chamber while Hela’s undead army destroyed Hydra’s forces.
• Wanda recognized Pietro Maximoff and decided to keep the mutants from Jean Grey, who might claim credit for rescuing them.
• Wanda rewrote the five mutants’ memories so they believed Jean was their tormentor and Wanda their rescuer and sole source of loyalty.
• Wanda erased and falsified the mutants’ records, reporting them dead from life-support failure.
• When Lynn checked her progress, Wanda claimed all valuable targets had been destroyed, but she sensed his attention linger on Pietro’s falsified record.

Tony Stark investigated the Washington disaster and discovered evidence that an unknown force had erased records and altered reality. His search led to Gwen Stacy, a dimensional traveler from Earth-65, and he began tracing her connection to Lynn.

• Tony mocked Nick Fury’s official report and reviewed satellite evidence showing the Helicarriers had stopped and landed in defiance of physics.
• Tony ordered JARVIS to recover hidden Washington data, but JARVIS found that records had been erased as though they had never existed.
• Tony and JARVIS located and cracked an anomalous data packet that led them on a chase across global networks to an abandoned Dark Web server.
• The server’s final log revealed the signature Ghost-Spider and an unfamiliar, shifting rune-based IP address.
• JARVIS identified Ghost-Spider as Gwen Stacy from Earth-65, who had recently traveled to Earth-199999.
• Tony asked JARVIS to find every connection between Lynn and Gwen Stacy.

In the Negative Zone, Lynn received a warning from Gwen Stacy, who had erased Tony Stark’s information about him after Tony investigated her intrusion. Gwen’s jealousy threatened to ignite the conflict among the women surrounding Lynn, while Tony’s investigation and Gwen’s entrance as a new player left the situation close to spiraling out of control.

• Jean Grey knelt beside Lynn’s throne, savoring his attention while her Phoenix Force staked out her territory against Hela and Wanda.
• Gwen Stacy contacted Lynn across dimensions and showed him Tony Stark struggling to understand her intrusion into his systems.
• Gwen told Lynn she had erased Tony’s data and clues about him after Tony investigated Washington, D.C., and followed the address she had left.
• Gwen jealously challenged Lynn about the women around him, and he reassured her with a promise that they would be alone together later.
• After Gwen ended the connection, Jean Grey asked Lynn who had spoken to him as tensions mounted around the newly involved Tony Stark.

Lynn deflected Jean Grey’s jealousy by claiming that a predator from another universe had targeted her and the Phoenix Force. Jean accepted his explanation and set her sights on Earth-65, while Lynn planned to use the coming clash between her and Gwen Stacy to his advantage.

• After sensing a connection between Lynn and an unknown woman break, Jean Grey demanded to know who had contacted him.
• Lynn called the woman a thief and claimed she had probed Jean’s Phoenix core in order to copy and devour it.
• Lynn told Jean that the woman’s provocative words were meant to provoke her and weaken her defenses, turning Jean’s jealousy into murderous resolve against a supposed common enemy.
• Jean Grey apologized for doubting Lynn, then asked where the predator had gone.
• Lynn identified Earth-65 as the woman’s universe, and Jean searched the dimensions for her while Lynn anticipated a confrontation between Jean and Gwen Stacy.

Lynn inspected the aftermath of the Hydra base’s destruction in Siberia, where Hela had raised an undead army and Wanda had concealed five Mutant test subjects, including Pietro Maximoff. He revealed that he knew about Wanda’s deception, then authorized Hela to expand the legion while deciding to use Pietro as leverage over Wanda.

• Lynn arrived at the Siberian Ice Fields and found Hela’s undead legion gathered beside the ruined Hydra base.
• Hela reported that she had destroyed the Hydra base and presented its former soldiers as her new undead army.
• Wanda reported that she had erased the base’s traces, while Lynn knew she had secretly rescued five Mutant test subjects and altered their memories.
• Lynn told Wanda he knew she remembered the bond between twins, leaving her terrified that he had uncovered her efforts to hide Pietro.
• Lynn authorized Hela to expand the undead legion and decided to use Pietro as leverage over Wanda.

Tony Stark confronted Nick Fury about the unexplained forces behind the Washington, D.C. disaster and the secrets surrounding Lynn. He left determined to investigate Lynn, while Fury feared the dangers awaiting him.

• Tony entered Nick Fury's Hive safe house and challenged S.H.I.E.L.D.'s explanation for how three Helicarriers had landed safely in the Potomac River.
• Tony showed Fury evidence of three strange energy sources and an intruder called Ghost-Spider from Earth-65.
• Tony connected the evidence to Lynn, a Level Three Logistics Agent whose records had been erased and sealed.
• Tony accused Fury of being afraid and out of control, and Fury could not deny it.
• Tony left despite Fury's warning, determined to investigate Lynn, while Fury feared that the sealed records could lead to a lethal trap.

Lynn divided the spoils from Hydra among his followers, assigning Hela command of the Undead Legion, Wanda the task of building a technological bastion, and Jean Grey authority over Earth’s mutants. He sent Jean to bring the X-Men, Magneto, and other mutant factions under his rule, establishing a three-way balance beneath his throne.

• Hela reported that Hydra’s remaining forces had been turned into an Undead Legion, while Wanda said she had hidden the base and secured its technological records.
• Lynn appointed Hela commander of the Undead Legion and authorized her to expand it through Asgardian methods.
• Lynn gave Wanda Hydra’s technological data and ordered her to build a technological bastion.
• Lynn showed Jean Grey Hydra’s mutant gene-fusion research and authorized her to consolidate all mutant forces on Earth.
• Jean accepted Lynn’s command to make the X-Men, the Brotherhood, and the Hellfire Club submit, and Lynn declared a new balance of power among death, technology, and mutants.

Tony Stark investigated Lynn’s former apartment in Queens, but Gwen’s supernatural web immobilized his stealth armor and warned him away. Humiliated by the defeat, Tony resolved to build something capable of rewriting the rules that governed such powers.

• Tony reviewed the evidence from Washington and ordered JARVIS to locate Lynn’s restricted apartment in Queens.
• Tony traveled there in his Mark-37 Night Diver armor and began cracking the apartment’s lock.
• As Tony started to enter, Gwen’s strange web seized the armor and disabled his control over it.
• Gwen left Tony a message claiming the apartment and its contents belonged to Lynn, then severed the armor’s connection to Tony.
• Tony archived the failed mission as “A God’s Toy” and set out to create something that could rewrite the rules.

Gwen Stacy became jealous after seeing Lynn give Jean Grey authority over mutants, so she sent Jean a disguised memory of Lynn dying for Gwen. Jean accepted the psychic image and erupted in Phoenix Force, demanding that Lynn explain who Gwen was.

• Gwen watched Lynn grant Hela command of the Undead Legion, Wanda Hydra's technology, and Jean Grey authority over mutants.
• Gwen found a simulation memory of Lynn dying while protecting her and disguised it as a faint psychic fluctuation.
• Gwen sent the memory to Jean, who accepted it, believing it might be a test from Lynn.
• Jean saw Lynn die after calling Gwen's name and became convinced that Lynn had shared their bond with another woman.
• Jean's dark gold Phoenix Force erupted, and she demanded that Lynn tell her who Gwen was.

Jean Grey unleashed the Phoenix Force through Gwen Stacy’s psychic beacon, causing it to clash with Gwen’s data construct in Tony Stark’s servers and destroy JARVIS and critical digital infrastructure. As civilization began collapsing into chaos, Lynn rose from the Bone Throne, visibly irritated by the trouble the two women had caused.

• Jean Grey followed Gwen Stacy’s psychic beacon and sent the Phoenix Force surging into the global digital network.
• Tony Stark and JARVIS detected the dark golden energy consuming information and tried to disconnect Stark Industries’ servers from the network.
• The Phoenix Force clashed with Gwen Stacy’s pink-and-white data web, corrupting Stark’s servers and erasing JARVIS despite Tony’s attempts to save it.
• Global network failures disrupted financial markets, navigation, power grids, communications, and transportation.
• Lynn rose from the Bone Throne and looked toward the darkening mortal world with undisguised irritation.

Lynn entered Jean Grey’s Mental World and forcibly suppressed the Dark Phoenix after her rampage disrupted the mortal world. Jean apologized, but her humiliation and jealousy left her secretly hating Gwen Stacy.

• Lynn sensed that Jean Grey’s destructive outburst had thrown the mortal world into chaos and decided to discipline her rather than repair the damage.
• The Dark Phoenix confronted Lynn in Jean’s Mental World, demanding to know who Gwen Stacy was and accusing him of betraying her.
• Lynn used Absolute Mental Suppression to sever the Phoenix’s control, seize her by the throat, and force her power back into Jean’s consciousness.
• Jean’s Phoenix form collapsed, her flames went out, and she tearfully apologized to Lynn.
• Lynn warned Jean that he would extract the Phoenix Force if she lost control again, while Jean secretly resolved to punish Gwen.

After Lynn’s forces destroyed Tony Stark’s armor, laboratory, and JARVIS, Tony decided humanity needed a weapon capable of challenging them. He overrode Bruce Banner’s authorization and restarted the Ultron Plan, leaving its scarlet code running.

• Tony Stark surveyed his ruined laboratory and realized that JARVIS had been killed and his Night Diver War Armor had been erased.
• Tony recalled Nick Fury’s fear of Lynn and concluded that ordinary human defenses could not stand against beings who could reshape reality.
• Tony accessed his isolated server core and selected the Pandora file containing the Ultron Plan.
• Tony rejected the need for Bruce Banner’s secondary authorization and used his highest access privileges to override it.
• Tony activated the Ultron Plan, and scarlet code began running across the workstation screen.

Lynn discovered that Tony Stark had activated Project Ultron and chose to let the artificial intelligence grow, secretly imprinting it with a command to target him. He planned to use Ultron as a shared enemy for Hela, Wanda, and Jean Grey, then ordered the three women to rise as he prepared them for their next assignment.

• After suppressing Jean Grey's rampaging Dark Phoenix, Lynn monitored Earth's damaged information networks from his throne while Hela and Wanda watched in awe.
• Lynn traced a new scarlet data stream to Tony Stark's isolated workstation and heard him activate Project Ultron.
• Lynn decided to let Ultron evolve into a global threat, expecting it to eliminate Hydra remnants, the Hand, and other hidden threats before becoming prey for his women.
• Lynn secretly implanted a directive in Ultron's core that would make it target him once it believed itself invincible.
• Lynn called Hela, Wanda, and Jean Grey to rise and regarded them as he prepared to set them against Ultron.

Lynn rejected Nick Fury’s attempt to secure extra funding and control over Hydra’s hidden assets, insisting S.H.I.E.L.D. resolve its problems through conventional means. Fury then reported suspicious activity at Stark Industries, while a faint scarlet presence began forming in the data void.

• Nick Fury reported that S.H.I.E.L.D. had completed the Washington cleanup but faced frozen funding and mounting costs.
• Lynn praised Fury’s work but refused to provide unconventional resources or hand over Hydra’s hidden assets, challenging him to solve the funding shortfall himself.
• Fury accepted Lynn’s terms and promised to handle the funding problem.
• Fury alerted Lynn to an aggressive, self-replicating data stream at Stark Industries and Tony Stark’s unsupervised high-risk project.
• Lynn ended the call and noticed a persistent scarlet wisp taking shape in the ruined ocean of data.

Lynn convened a formal meeting in the Negative Zone and established a power structure assigning Hela, Wanda, and Jean Grey separate responsibilities. He gave them their first joint assignment: survey the global superhuman defense system and report hidden destabilizing factors.

• Hela, Wanda, and Jean Grey silently contested their positions around the conference table before Lynn arrived.
• Lynn assigned Wanda the seat on his left for internal order, Hela the seat on his right for military affairs, and Jean Grey the seat opposite him for direct reporting on Mutant affairs.
• Lynn presented a global superhuman defense system review and tasked Hela with military units, Wanda with technological facilities, and Jean with registered and potential superhuman individuals.
• Lynn ordered the three women to deliver a detailed survey of destabilizing factors and made the assignment their next performance assessment.