Chapter Summaries

Edgar arranged for Compound V to be secretly distributed in poor neighborhoods so he could capture footage of the resulting violence, while Benjamin earned spending money by cleaning the estate’s gutters. Benjamin then left for the city with his wages.

• Edgar told Madelyn to have people secretly distribute the new formula in Queens or Brooklyn as supposedly leaked Compound V, without leaving a trail to Vought International.
• Edgar gave Duke a camera and ordered him to film the chaos in Brooklyn while remaining invisible and not intervening.
• Benjamin asked Lynn for spending money, and Lynn told him he would have to work for it.
• Benjamin cleaned the estate’s gutters and earned forty dollars from Lynn.
• Benjamin showered, dressed warmly, and left the estate on a bus bound for the city.

Benjamin repaid Big Rat and the Little Green Turtles with fresh pizzas, then Madelyn’s plan to test a neurotoxin-laced Vought drug began unfolding in Queens. Eddie injected the drug and transformed into a powerful scaled creature as the Viper Gang approached.

• Benjamin brought three hot pizzas to Big Rat and the Little Green Turtles, saying he no longer owed them a favor.
• Madelyn learned the drug had been distributed to desperate people and explained that its timed neurotoxin would kill them after a few hours.
• Eddie, beaten by the Viper Gang and desperate to protect his daughter, injected a stolen vial of the drug.
• Eddie’s body transformed, healing his ribs and growing scales and a venomous horn.
• Eddie headed toward the alley entrance, eager to confront the Viper Gang and reclaim his future.

Eddie gained monstrous powers, went on a robbery spree, and encountered Soldier Boy while celebrating his newfound strength. Benjamin killed Eddie to protect his secret, but Duke secretly recorded the fight and captured Benjamin’s face.

• Eddie slaughtered the Viper Gang thugs who planned to abduct his daughter, then took their cash and decided to rob a jewelry store.
• Other test subjects injected with Compound V mixed with toxins rampaged across Queens, while Benjamin climbed out of a manhole into an alley.
• Eddie recognized Benjamin as Soldier Boy and asked if he was on a secret mission, prompting Benjamin to attack him to keep his sewer exit secret.
• Eddie’s scales withstood Benjamin’s first punch, but Benjamin threw him headfirst into the concrete and broke his neck.
• Duke secretly filmed the alley fight from an abandoned building as Benjamin left, unaware that his face had been recorded.

Old Qiao resisted stealing from a jewelry store after taking the New Compound and returned home hopeful that his new strength could support his family. Madelyn learned that a mutated robber had killed her husband, while Old Qiao suddenly died from a catastrophic reaction after reuniting with his wife and daughter.

• Old Qiao found the New Compound beside corpses, injected it, and gained immense strength and mutated hands.
• Old Qiao chose not to rob a jewelry store, bought a strawberry cake for his daughter, and headed home intending to find honest work at the docks.
• Madelyn learned that a one-horned mutant had robbed her villa and snapped her husband David's neck.
• Old Qiao reunited with his wife and daughter, promised a better future, and gave his daughter the cake.
• Old Qiao suddenly bled from his nose, eyes, and ears, collapsed, and died as his family watched.

Edgar planned to use Soldier Boy’s place at Lynn’s estate to fracture the household by revealing that Black Noir had killed Liberty, the woman Soldier Boy loved. A courier delivered the recording to Benjamin, who watched it and was left frozen in shock.

• Edgar reviewed footage of Soldier Boy fighting Eddie and ordered the footage edited to showcase the mutant’s destruction and endurance for the Pentagon.
• Edgar recognized Soldier Boy working at Lynn’s estate and saw his presence as a way to gain the household’s trust before sowing discord.
• Edgar retrieved Stormfront’s file and a secret recording of Black Noir killing her, planning to use it against Soldier Boy.
• Benjamin received a video player from a passing man while returning from town with hardware parts.
• Benjamin watched Black Noir stab Liberty in the heart and stood motionless against the alley wall.

After learning that Black Noir had killed Liberty, Benjamin released his rage in an explosion that destroyed an abandoned industrial site. He decided he could not return to Long Island Estate and went back to the sewers, where Big Rat and the four mutant turtles found him.

• Benjamin realized Vought had deliberately given him evidence of Liberty’s death to provoke him, but he could not contain his grief and anger.
• Benjamin ran to an abandoned factory district and unleashed an energy blast that razed nearby buildings without injuring anyone.
• Benjamin looked toward Long Island Estate and decided he could neither live there as if nothing had happened nor confront Black Noir in front of Lynn and the children.
• Benjamin left the damaged hardware behind and returned to his hidden sewer refuge in Queens.
• Big Rat and the four mutant turtles approached Benjamin, who sat against the wall and buried his face in his hands.

After John found the remains of Benjamin’s explosion, he and Lynn concluded that Vought had provoked him by showing him a recording tied to Stormfront’s death. Benjamin had fled rather than seek revenge, leaving Lynn to consider how deeply the old soldier had been hurt.

• John heard an explosion, flew to the abandoned factory, and found a crater, lingering radiation, and lawn mower parts, but no sign of Benjamin.
• John returned to the estate and told Lynn that Benjamin had caused the explosion and had not come back.
• Lynn explained that Vought was using destructive mutants to pursue Pentagon influence, then considered whether the company had approached Benjamin.
• Lynn suspected Edgar had used a recording of Black Noir killing Stormfront to strike at Benjamin’s feelings for her.
• Lynn realized Benjamin had chosen to vent his fury alone and leave instead of seeking revenge.

Stan Edgar secured a thirty-billion-dollar military contract by promising the Pentagon fifty thousand doses of Vought International’s supposedly safe compound. After Madelyn brought him the contracts, Edgar consoled her over David’s death and she accepted it as a sacrifice for the company’s vision.

• The old general challenged Stan Edgar over test subjects who died after their brains melted, and Edgar claimed the deaths were caused by an additive absent from the pure compound.
• The old general approved a thirty-billion-dollar first-phase contract and ordered fifty thousand doses of the pure version before the following month.
• Edgar signed the military contracts and dismissed the civilians killed during the Queens and Brooklyn tests as insignificant.
• Madelyn delivered the follow-up contracts, and Edgar offered condolences for David’s death and promised to double her year-end dividend.
• Madelyn left the office with reddened eyes, and Edgar watched over the city from his window.

Edgar tried to negotiate with Joseph, a senior United States Department of Magical Security official, to have Vought International buy fantastic beasts, but Joseph refused. After the meeting, Edgar told Madelyn to contact one of Vought’s small newspapers.

• Edgar offered Joseph money and other assistance in exchange for a long-term supply of fantastic beasts for Vought’s research.
• Joseph refused, and his aide drew a wand at Edgar, prompting Marge and the invisible Duke to prepare to attack.
• Edgar ordered Marge to stand down and let Joseph leave, warning that killing him would bring Aurors down on Vought.
• Edgar told Marge that Joseph would eventually need Vought’s help, then left the club with her and Duke.
• Madelyn asked how the talks went, and Edgar told her to contact one of Vought’s small newspapers.

Edgar used a newspaper article exposing Joseph’s daughter and granddaughter’s home and routines to threaten the senior magical official. After seeing the story, Joseph reached for the telephone to contact the ordinary world.

• Edgar told Madelyn to publish a seemingly heartwarming profile that revealed Joseph’s daughter and granddaughter’s personal details and daily schedule.
• Madelyn understood that the article would threaten Joseph without making an overt threat.
• Joseph received the newspaper and recognized his daughter and granddaughter in its photograph.
• Joseph read the article’s disclosures about their home, his granddaughter’s school bus stop, and her routine, while the young wizard explained that the widely distributed papers could not be recalled.
• Joseph realized Edgar had exposed his family to show that he could reach his loved ones, then picked up a telephone to contact the ordinary world.

Edgar forced Joseph to compromise by threatening his granddaughter, while Benjamin found unexpected comfort in the rapidly growing turtles beneath Queens. Benjamin ended the chapter surrounded by the turtles as they chatted about finding food.

• Edgar accepted Joseph’s offer to share creature locations and secretly divert dangerous beasts, then threatened Joseph’s granddaughter to ensure his compliance.
• Michelangelo spoke to Benjamin in the Queens sewers and asked whether he had brought pizza.
• Benjamin was astonished by how quickly Michelangelo and Leonardo had grown and learned to speak.
• Michelangelo’s manner reminded Benjamin of Buddy, easing some of his anger and grief over Stormfront’s death.
• Benjamin gently shoved Michelangelo, joked that he was like Buddy, and watched the four turtles gather around him.

Lynn decided to find Benjamin before Stan Edgar could manipulate the troubled old soldier into attacking the Long Island Estate. John and Buddy joined Lynn, who left the children at home as Buddy began tracking Benjamin outside.

• Lynn concluded that Benjamin was emotionally vulnerable and resolved to explain the truth to him before Edgar could reach him.
• Lynn decided that Edgar had become an active threat and mentally sentenced him to death, but chose to find Benjamin first.
• John insisted on accompanying Lynn and lifted the sleeping Buddy, who protested until Lynn promised him double portions of grilled chops.
• Reggie and Tommy offered to help, but Lynn told them to stay with Annie and warned them not to leave the villa.
• Lynn, John, and Buddy went outside, and Buddy began sniffing the paving tiles for Benjamin's trail.

Lynn, John, and Buddy tracked Benjamin to a sewer hideout in Queens, where they found him living among four Mutant Turtles and a Big Rat. Benjamin angrily confronted Lynn, accusing him of coming to mock him and blaming him for a woman’s death.

• Lynn had Buddy follow Benjamin’s scent through Queens to a manhole in a grimy alley.
• John removed the heavy manhole cover, then carried Lynn and Buddy down into the sewers.
• Lynn and John found Benjamin sharing old pizza with four Mutant Turtles, while a Big Rat stood nearby.
• John mocked Benjamin’s hideout and his squabble over the pizza, provoking Benjamin to throw the food away.
• Benjamin demanded to know why Lynn had come and accused him of laughing at him or watching him grieve for the woman who died at Lynn’s hands.

Lynn told Benjamin the truth about Stormfront’s plans and Edgar’s deception, then persuaded him to leave the sewer and reconnect with the others. Before Lynn’s group left, Splinter asked him to find weapons and a human fighting instructor for the four turtles.

• Lynn explained that Stormfront had planned to kill the children at the Manor, claim John, and brainwash Benjamin’s son, and that Edgar had used a shapeshifter to make John believe Lynn was dead.
• Lynn told Benjamin that Edgar had created monsters with a New Compound and was searching for him because his ability could counter them.
• Buddy urged Benjamin to return with them, and Benjamin gave Michelangelo his half-slice of pizza before promising the turtles more pizza next time.
• Lynn led Benjamin, John, Buddy, and the turtles away from the sewer, but Splinter stopped him and asked him to provide the turtles with suitable weapons and a teacher of human fighting techniques.

Lynn arranged for Black Noir to train the four Mutant Turtles in weapons and close-quarters combat, then brought Benjamin back to the Manor. The chapter ended with Black Noir accepting the unusual assignment as dinner began.

• Lynn offered to provide the Mutant Turtles with weapons and chose Black Noir to teach them martial arts.
• Lynn, John, Buddy, and Benjamin drove back to the Manor, where Benjamin hesitated before following them inside.
• Lynn welcomed Benjamin into the warm house, where Annie showed him her drawing of Buddy.
• Lynn told Black Noir to teach the four turtles how to use swords and nunchucks and demonstrate close-quarters combat.
• Black Noir drew a turtle and Ninja Swords to show Lynn he accepted the job.

Joseph dismantled the protections around the Magical Forest, allowing Vought International’s forces to enter and slaughter its fantastic beasts. As the soldiers loaded the dead creatures, Joseph remained at the forest’s edge with his young aide.

• Joseph used the Elder Wand to break the Magical Forest’s protective barriers despite his aide urging him to stop.
• Vought International’s trucks arrived, and Sparks and Sonic Wave joined a force of horned Supe Soldiers sent to capture the beasts.
• A giant beetle-like beast charged Sparks, but the soldiers subdued it with teamwork, venom, and an alloy net.
• The soldiers killed the magical creatures they could not safely restrain and left the ground soaked with blood.
• Sonic Wave hid behind a truck, while Joseph watched from a distance and his aide wept.

A pleased general approved Vought International’s first thousand enhanced soldiers and promised more military funding. Edgar responded by expanding the hunt for magical creatures, leaving the story with Vought’s squads raiding habitats and processing captured creatures beneath Vought Tower.

• The old general watched a thousand horned soldiers smash through reinforced concrete walls and praised Vought’s first batch.
• The general told the Vought representative to tell Edgar he was satisfied, and promised tens of billions in initial funding for expanded production.
• Edgar ordered Vought to capture magical creatures carrying unusual energy wherever they could be found.
• Vought’s hunting squads raided magical habitats around New York, and four mutant soldiers paralyzed two young wizards guarding Mooncalves.
• Workers beneath Vought Tower sorted captured creatures’ horns, hides, blood, and other materials while cleaners washed the blood into New York’s sewers.

Joseph resolved to expose Vought International’s underground operations after realizing his compromises had put his family and others at risk. He sent his daughter’s family toward the United Kingdom, while Edgar learned of the plan and began preparing to replace Joseph without disrupting Vought’s operations.

• Joseph returned home, embraced his granddaughter, and decided he could no longer ignore Vought International’s abuses.
• Joseph gave his daughter tickets and money for a ship to London and told her to leave the United States with her family.
• Joseph planned to give evidence against Vought to news outlets and obstruct the company’s wastewater channel with his remaining Aurors.
• A Vought watcher reported Joseph’s departure plans to Edgar, who allowed the family to proceed through dock clearance.
• Edgar instructed his aide to locate Joseph’s trusted associates and took an agreement with Madelyn to arrange a replacement.

Edgar pressured Joseph’s confidant to kill Joseph in exchange for taking over his position and receiving a share of the Fantastic Beasts business. The confidant left the alley carrying the coffee and Edgar’s offer, apparently weighing his choice as he headed back to the office.

• Joseph’s confidant entered the alley with two coffees and encountered Edgar, while the invisible Duke kept him from reaching for his wand.
• Edgar told the confidant that Joseph planned to send his family away and expose the department’s secrets to destroy him.
• Edgar urged the confidant to kill Joseph using the Ministry’s methods, offering him Joseph’s position and a share of the military’s Fantastic Beasts profits.
• Edgar left an executive letter of intent with the confidant and departed with Duke.
• The confidant wiped away his sweat, put the letter in his pocket, and carried the coffees toward the office building’s back door.

Pist chose to betray Joseph and help Edgar, despite Joseph’s attempt to send him safely to Chicago. After Joseph drank the drugged coffee and died, Pist destroyed the transfer order and arranged to deliver Joseph’s evidence to Vought International.

• Joseph prepared sealed bags containing maps and documents about Vought International’s New York underground facility.
• Joseph gave Pist a transfer order to Chicago and his accumulated pension, urging him to leave the dangerous conflict behind.
• Pist refused the offer, and Joseph drank the coffee Pist had laced with a sleeping draught, then died at his desk.
• Pist tore up the Chicago transfer order and called Edgar to promise delivery of Joseph’s maps and lists before dawn.
• Pist wiped spilled coffee from the desk, switched off the lamp, and locked the office behind him.