Chapter Summaries

Emma Frost and Azazel stole Compound V from Vought and brought it back to Shaw aboard the nuclear submarine. Warned that the injection could unleash his stored nuclear energy, Shaw teleported to a remote ice field to inject it alone.

• Solomon freed Emma Frost from the mental realm, warned her that Compound V could make Shaw's powers spiral out of control, and offered her a way out if Shaw fell.
• Emma Frost used the researcher's body to pass Compound V to Azazel, then erased the researcher's memories of the theft.
• Azazel teleported Emma Frost and the doses back to the nuclear submarine, where they found Shaw in the reactor compartment.
• Shaw examined the Compound V and prepared to inject it, but Emma Frost warned him about the dangers of the gene fusion process.
• Shaw had Azazel teleport him to an uninhabited ice field a hundred kilometers away and told him to return in two hours.

Shaw injected Compound V in a hidden ice cave and endured a violent surge of nuclear energy before emerging stronger. He demanded another vial for himself, leaving Azazel, Emma Frost, and Riptide to confront the likelihood that Shaw would claim the remaining supply and the resentment it caused.

• Shaw carved a concealed cave into solid ice and injected an entire syringe of Compound V, unleashing nuclear energy that melted the surrounding ice.
• After two hours, Azazel teleported to the ice field and found Shaw standing on a block of ice amid a vast expanse of meltwater.
• Shaw told Azazel to return to the Nuclear Submarine and bring him another vial of Compound V, and Azazel reluctantly agreed.
• Back in the submarine, Emma Frost explained to Azazel and Riptide that Shaw would keep taking Compound V to strengthen himself for his plans.
• Azazel took a vial and syringe back to Shaw, while Emma Frost and Riptide remained in the compartment with their hopes and frustrations unspoken.

After Compound V greatly amplified Shaw’s powers, a psychic blast struck the nuclear submarine and left Azazel helpless while Shaw protected himself. Far away, a catastrophic storm formed around a mysterious figure floating untouched at its center.

• Shaw discovered that his first dose of Compound V had dramatically increased his strength, speed, energy absorption, and blast power, though a second dose had no effect.
• Shaw gave the remaining doses to Emma Frost, Riptide, and Janus, and sent Azazel to take them somewhere safe before injecting himself.
• After returning to the submarine, Azazel and Shaw were hit by a powerful psychic blast; Shaw stopped absorbing nuclear energy and put on a telepathy-blocking helmet.
• Shaw ordered Azazel to leave, but the psychic attack left him unable to teleport, so Shaw sat down and drank wine rather than help him.
• A storm hundreds of meters tall formed on an ice field, grew into a kilometer-wide column, and drew seawater into the sky around a figure floating untouched at its center.

Janus mastered his new wind powers, compressing and controlling tornadoes before flying back to the Nuclear Submarine. Azazel and the White Queen found him there, and Janus demonstrated how he had returned.

• Janus compressed a massive tornado into his palm, created and merged two more, then collapsed the resulting storm.
• Janus formed a cyclone beneath his feet and flew away at increasing speed.
• Azazel arrived at the devastated sea, found Janus gone, and teleported to retrieve the White Queen.
• The White Queen used her enhanced Telepathy to locate Janus in the submarine, and Azazel teleported them there.
• Azazel found Janus calmly drinking wine, and Janus showed them the miniature cyclone he had used to fly back.

After seeing Janus and the White Queen's enhanced abilities, Azazel injected Compound V and endured an hour of uncontrolled teleportation before gaining greatly increased strength, durability, and senses. He came to in an unfamiliar conference room and froze when he saw a figure standing by the window.

• Shaw asked the White Queen and Janus about their improvements, and they described their enhanced powers and physical abilities.
• Azazel teleported to a distant ice field and injected his dose of Compound V.
• Azazel lost control of his spatial powers, teleporting chaotically through places from his memories and briefly reappearing in the submarine.
• After more than an hour, Azazel's teleportation stopped, and he discovered his body and senses had been greatly enhanced.
• Azazel examined the unfamiliar conference room and saw a figure standing with their back to him at the window.

Solomon encountered Azazel after Azazel’s uncontrolled teleportation brought him to Vought's Boss’s location, and revealed that he could use Sulfur Teleportation. Azazel came to believe Solomon knew the Neyaphem patriarch and asked about the fate of his people, but Solomon left him waiting for an answer.

• Azazel tried to teleport away, but Solomon’s Mind Control held him immobile, and Solomon received a notification that he had defeated Azazel.
• Solomon asked whether Azazel was one of the Neyaphem, and Azazel explained that he was the last survivor of the persecuted ancient race.
• Solomon used Sulfur Teleportation, shocking Azazel, then claimed the Neyaphem patriarch had taught him the ability and bound him to the Brimstone Dimension.
• Azazel doubted Solomon’s story at first, but Solomon’s explanation convinced him that the patriarch must have granted him access to the dimension.
• Azazel eagerly asked where the patriarch and other Neyaphem were, and Solomon said he had not seen the patriarch in a long time and did not know their whereabouts before beginning, “However...”

After Solomon reminded Azazel of an old promise to protect the Nephilim, Azazel returned to Shaw’s submarine and concealed what had happened. Shaw celebrated the team’s enhanced powers and threatened Vought’s Boss, while the White Queen feared his arrogance would bring them all to ruin.

• Solomon promised to care for Azazel on behalf of an old acquaintance, and Azazel left after offering him an awkward salute.
• Azazel returned to his isolated cavern, grieved over his family’s death, then buried his pain and teleported back to the Nuclear Submarine.
• Shaw asked how Compound V had changed Azazel, and Azazel reported his enhanced abilities while keeping Solomon and their encounter secret.
• Shaw declared that his transformed team could defeat Vought and threatened to make Vought’s Boss die an ugly death.
• Azazel silently withdrew from Shaw, while the White Queen realized Vought’s Boss had allowed them to take Compound V and feared Shaw’s overconfidence would doom the group.

Solomon confronted Logan in a Nevada bar and easily overwhelmed him in a fight. As Logan struggled to recover, Sabretooth burst in and claimed Logan as his prey.

• Solomon approached Logan at the bar, and Logan told him to leave.
• Solomon slammed Logan's head through the counter and told him to speak properly.
• Logan healed, extended his bone claws, and attacked Solomon, who broke his arm and blasted him into a wall.
• Sabretooth burst through the bar door and declared that Logan was his prey.

Solomon defeated Wolverine Logan and Sabretooth Victor in a devastating fight, then offered them a chance to join Vought. After explaining the corporation’s promises of protection, identities, fame, and wealth, he used Mind Suppression to subdue them both.

• Victor attacked Solomon to protect Logan, but Solomon broke his arm and knocked him aside.
• Logan and Victor launched a coordinated pincer attack, but Solomon dodged them and slammed Victor into the floor.
• Solomon battered both brothers until they were exhausted and left the bar in ruins.
• Solomon moved a barstool with an unseen force, sat down, and asked the brothers whether they had heard of Vought.
• Solomon described Vought’s offer of protection, legal identities, publicity, and wealth, then formally invited Logan and Victor to join.
• Solomon used Mind Suppression to defeat both brothers.

Solomon acquired upgraded healing, bone-spike, and claw abilities from Wolverine and Sabretooth, then left after Wolverine refused to join Vought. He traveled to find the young Pietro Maximoff, whose X-gene was close to awakening, and considered bringing him to Vought to develop his speed.

• Solomon gained super-speed regeneration, stronger bone spikes, and improved claws after defeating Wolverine and Sabretooth.
• Wolverine restrained Sabretooth and declined Solomon’s offer to join Vought until they learned more about the organization.
• Solomon departed without forcing them and wondered whether he could copy the properties of Wolverine’s future adamantium skeleton.
• Solomon traveled to a quiet American town and observed six-year-old Pietro Maximoff running around an oak tree.
• Solomon sensed Pietro’s nearly awakened X-gene and considered raising him at Vought with Compound V and training.

Solomon confronted Magda about Pietro’s mutant abilities and used Erik’s photograph to persuade her to hear him out. When she demanded proof, Solomon used psychic power to place Pietro in a terrifying illusion that ended with his mother being struck by a truck.

• Solomon stopped Magda from shutting the door and showed her a photograph of Erik, then told her Erik was at Vought International.
• Solomon warned Magda that Pietro’s X-Gene was close to awakening and offered to take the family to Vought for safety and training.
• Magda refused to believe Solomon and demanded proof that Pietro was a mutant.
• Solomon invaded Pietro’s mind and created an illusion in which a truck killed Magda as she saved him.
• Pietro cried out in grief, and the illusion began rewinding time and space.

Solomon forced Pietro to relive his mother’s death until the boy’s X-Gene awakened and gave him super speed. Pietro saved Magda in the illusion, then nearly injured her when he awakened in reality, leaving Solomon to stop him and put him to sleep.

• Pietro watched his mother die in Solomon’s illusion forty-nine times as he struggled to reach her.
• On the fiftieth repetition, Pietro awakened his super speed, rescued his mother, and escaped the truck in the slowed-down world.
• Pietro woke in the courtyard with his super speed fully awakened and rushed toward Magda.
• Solomon intercepted Pietro safely and warned him that uncontrolled speed could kill Magda.
• Magda accepted that Pietro was a Mutant, and Solomon calmed the boy with psychic power until he fell asleep.

Solomon defeated Pietro during the boy’s first power awakening and persuaded Magda to return to Vought for her children’s safety and training. Magda agreed on the condition that Solomon keep Pietro’s parentage secret from both Pietro and Erik.

• Solomon defeated Pietro and upgraded his Super Speed ability to level 6.
• Solomon explained that Pietro had reached ten times the speed of sound and warned Magda that the boy could seriously harm himself or others without training.
• Magda admitted she feared Erik would reject her and the children, and Solomon argued that Erik would value his Mutant child.
• Solomon warned that the military could seize Magda and Pietro for research after Pietro’s powers became known.
• Magda agreed to return to Vought if Solomon kept Erik’s paternity secret from her and Pietro.

Solomon persuaded Magda to let Vought activate Wanda’s dormant X-Gene, warning that it might awaken dangerously without warning. After bringing Wanda and Magda to Vought Tower, he began the procedure, and Wanda reacted violently as Compound V entered her body.

• Solomon discovered Wanda hiding in the Maximoff home and recognized that her X-Gene was dormant.
• Solomon told Magda that Wanda’s dormant X-Gene could awaken unpredictably and offered to activate it safely at Vought.
• Magda agreed to let Solomon protect Wanda and manage her power alongside Pietro.
• Two hours later, Solomon took Wanda and Magda to the Vought Tower laboratory and ordered a comprehensive examination.
• Researchers injected Wanda with Compound V, and she screamed and struggled against the restraints.

Solomon took Wanda to the Gobi Desert as Compound V awakened her X-Gene, giving her Telepathy and Telekinesis. After returning her safely to Magda, he observed Darwin's adaptive evolution during tests and considered how stronger base attributes could make the ability far more powerful.

• Wanda's awakening unleashed a psychic pulse that knocked out nearly everyone in Vought Tower, so Solomon teleported her and her bed to the Gobi Desert.
• Wanda's uncontrolled Telekinesis lifted rocks and trees, and Solomon suppressed the power until her energy subsided.
• Solomon put Wanda to sleep and gained Mind Control and Telekinesis upgrades from the system.
• Solomon returned Wanda to the laboratory, reassured Magda that she was safe, and left her with the medical team.
• Solomon watched Darwin withstand Wanda's psychic pulse through adaptive evolution and concluded that increasing Darwin's base attributes would strengthen his ability.

Solomon discovered that Darwin’s Adaptive Evolution rapidly improved his physical abilities under extreme stress and tested the power by making him lift increasingly heavy weights. The chapter ended as Darwin strained to raise a one-ton alloy block and his body evolved again.

• Solomon copied Darwin’s Adaptive Evolution and deduced that Darwin’s spirit attribute had increased after surviving Wanda’s psychic storm.
• Solomon subjected Darwin to sustained psychic pressure and observed Darwin’s spirit attribute rise from level 1 to level 1.1.
• Solomon ordered a weightlifting test, and Darwin’s muscles and bones adapted as he lifted 50 kilograms and then 100 kilograms.
• Darwin evolved further under a 500-kilogram iron block, growing taller and stronger before pushing it upward.
• Solomon ordered Darwin to lift one metric ton, and Darwin’s body began another genetic leap as he strained beneath the alloy block.

Solomon pushed Darwin through extreme speed training, forcing his adaptive evolution to develop his eyesight, reflexes, legs, and lungs while his regeneration repeatedly healed catastrophic injuries. Darwin survived being thrown at Mach 1 and was still rebuilding his shattered body when the chapter ended.

• Solomon saw that lifting the one-ton alloy block had raised Darwin’s strength and regeneration attributes to level 1.
• Solomon brought in A-Train, who carried Darwin around a track at Mach 1 and forced his eyes and brain to adapt to the speed.
• A-Train repeatedly dropped Darwin onto the track, breaking his legs as they healed and evolved to withstand high-speed running.
• Darwin eventually matched A-Train’s pace, but A-Train released him and sent him tumbling into a wall.
• Darwin lay in a pool of blood as his broken bones and torn muscles began rapidly repairing themselves.

Solomon pushed Darwin through brutal training until his adaptive evolution became permanent and freely usable. Meanwhile, Charles and Moira learned that Shaw’s plan to provoke nuclear war had reached its final stage with Russian missile sites in Cuba.

• Solomon had A-Train subject Darwin to hours of lethal training, driving his stats to level 3 and teaching his body to suppress pain.
• When Darwin reached a growth bottleneck, he permanently evolved teleportation and a sound-nullifying field, revealing that his X-Gene could now preserve and activate new abilities at will.
• Darwin remained excited and devoted to Solomon after the ordeal, while Solomon concluded that Darwin needed to raise his other stats and then his energy level.
• At a secret CIA base, Charles and Moira received photographs showing Russian missile sites being deployed in Cuba.
• Charles realized that Shaw was pushing America toward attacking the Russian fleet, which could trigger nuclear war and fulfill Shaw’s plan.

Charles persuaded Moira to seek Vought’s help against Shaw’s plan to start a nuclear war, proposing a live broadcast of the battle in Cuban waters. After Charles explained the crisis to Alex, Alex asked to join Vought instead.

• Moira reported Shaw’s threat to Charles and asked him to stop Shaw before he could launch nuclear weapons.
• Charles proposed working with Vought and using the CIA’s resources to broadcast the coming battle worldwide.
• Moira agreed to negotiate with the CIA and military for on-site broadcasting rights while Charles handled Vought.
• Alex questioned why he had been freed from prison and asked Charles to explain the crisis.
• After hearing about Shaw’s plan, Alex asked whether he could join Vought.

Alex Summers agreed to join Vought while promising to fight Sebastian Shaw in Cuba, and Raven prepared to report to Solomon after reflecting on her growing powers. At Solomon’s apartment, Raven tried to seduce him by changing her appearance, and the chapter ended after they spent several hours together.

• Alex Summers accepted Vought’s offer and agreed to help stop Shaw in Cuba, repaying Charles for getting him out of his cell.
• Raven considered how her copied powers and Erik’s strength could help defeat Shaw but decided not to act against Vought’s plans.
• Raven went to Solomon’s apartment, found his Marilyn Monroe poster, and transformed into Monroe to attract him.
• Solomon used his psychic power to show Raven beauty templates, and she changed into a series of different forms for him.
• After several hours together, Raven lay exhausted in Solomon’s arms and remarked that she had thought he would not be tempted by women.