Recaps

Baron Zemo built a Hydra Super Squad by sending soldiers through the Nine Heavens and capturing powered heroes and villains for experiments, while Wanda and Pietro trained toward the Third Heaven. After reaching the Second Heaven himself, Zemo focused on its powers as Steve tracked the Super Squad to a heavily guarded Hydra base.

• Baron Zemo ordered Hydra members to repeat the First Heaven trials and repeatedly failed to defeat the Dragon Guard in the Heaven Ascension Battlefield.
• Baron Zemo began capturing superheroes and supervillains to extract their King Fruits, then sent soldiers into the Second Heaven to gain powers from the Ten Domains.
• Baron Zemo formed the powered soldiers into the Super Squad and directed Wanda and Pietro to pursue the Third Heaven.
• Baron Zemo entered the Second Heaven and shifted his attention to its powers while the Super Squad continued its captures.
• Steve followed the Super Squad to Baron Zemo's fortified mountain castle and observed that its Hydra soldiers had all gained First Heaven powers.

Nick Fury coordinated the response to Hydra’s super soldiers while Natasha and Barton failed to meet General Ross about the giants. After questioning the president about a staged assassination attempt, Coulson traced the likely order behind it to Stryker.

• Steve warned Nick Fury that the location he was watching was packed with super soldiers, and Nick told him to wait for backup.
• Nick Fury considered using Captain Marvel’s pager, then summoned Bruce to his office.
• Natasha and Barton went to General Ross’s base, waited without being received, and left to investigate the giants elsewhere.
• General Ross learned they had left and dismissed S.H.I.E.L.D.’s interest while continuing to observe the giants.
• Coulson questioned the president and learned that a teleporting blue-skinned mutant named Guevara had attempted to assassinate him.
• Coulson concluded the attack had been staged and, after considering possible factions, suspected Stryker had ordered it.

Nick Fury warned Coulson that Stryker’s persecution of Mutants could provoke Li Ge’s fanatical believers, while Arale’s Church of Divine Revelation learned that Stryker might be behind the president’s assassination attempt. Arale called for Stryker to be purified by fire, leaving the church poised to act.

• Nick Fury showed Coulson a report that Arale and the Church of Divine Revelation had burned a family that persecuted Mutants, and warned that Stryker could provoke Li Ge’s believers.
• Coulson agreed to arrest Stryker, and Nick Fury said he would explain the matter to the president.
• Arale led the Church of Divine Revelation in prayer at its enormous temple dedicated to Li Ge.
• After the prayers, an intelligence believer told Arale that the president suspected a Mutant controlled by Colonel Stryker had attempted the assassination.
• Arale declared that fire was the only way to cleanse Stryker’s sins, and the believer eagerly agreed.

Erik arrived at the Church of Divine Revelation and encouraged Arale to confront the government forcefully over Stryker’s role in the president’s assassination. After Charles accepted Erik’s approach, Erik continued shaping Arale into a devoted and uncompromising believer in Li Ge.

• Erik visited Arale and reminded her that he had taught her to respond forcefully to those who attacked Mutants and Li Ge.
• The chapter revealed that Erik had encouraged Arale to burn a family that persecuted Mutants, turning her gentler manner into a ruthless one.
• Raven delivered intelligence about the president’s assassination to Charles and Erik, and Charles used Telepathy to identify Stryker as the mastermind.
• Erik rejected Charles’s plan for the X-Men to deal with Stryker secretly and proposed that the Church of Divine Revelation expose the government publicly.
• Erik persuaded Charles that Mutants no longer needed to act cautiously under Li Ge’s protection, and Charles agreed to focus on building Krakoa.
• At the church, Erik told Arale about government persecution and quietly strengthened her devotion to Li Ge while urging her to handle the Stryker incident forcefully.

Kingpin seized a remote city in Mexico with his Transcendent crew and explained to Bullseye that he intended to build a new empire there. He left the captured armed forces alive, planning to make them the soldiers and civilians of his empire.

• Erik strengthened Arale's faith and explained how she could purify Stryker as preparations began in the sacred hall.
• Kingpin's group captured the armed forces of a remote Mexican city, using coordinated Transcendent powers to defeat them with few casualties.
• Bullseye complained that Kingpin had ordered the last resisting soldier captured rather than killed.
• Kingpin pointed to Li Ge's statue and told Bullseye that Transcendent power had changed the world and left no place for him in New York.
• Kingpin declared that he would build a new empire in the captured city and use its people as his soldiers and civilians.

Kingpin explained how he planned to use five-element energy and a staged Mutant attack to bring the city’s armed men under his control. After revealing that he had arranged to become mayor, he sent Bullseye to erase the men’s memories and frame Mutants for an assassination attempt.

• Kingpin showed Bullseye five-colored energy that could remain inside a person and kill them on command, explaining its power to suppress and seal.
• Kingpin described a fabricated story in which captured Mutants controlled the armed men and attacked him, then revealed his appointment letter and how he had forced the previous mayor out.
• Bullseye realized Kingpin had staged the armed conflict to capture the city’s armed men and use his position, force, and five-element threats to secure their submission.
• Kingpin gave Bullseye a memory-blurring liquid made from Purple Man and a voice changer, instructing him to make the armed men remember trying to assassinate the new mayor under Mutant control.
• Bullseye put on a gas mask, released the purple smoke among the bound men, and ordered them to reshape their memories as Kingpin drove toward the mayor’s office.

Mephisto visited the Divine Revelation Temple and proposed cooperating with Li Ge, but the Ancient One warned him against targeting the Nine Heavens. After failing to find Li Ge, Mephisto revealed his plan to corrupt the Nine Heavens through a contract and prepared to bargain for a desperate man’s soul.

• Mephisto asked the Ancient One about approaching Li Ge to cooperate and placing his power in the Nine Heavens; she warned him not to scheme against it.
• The Ancient One told Mephisto that Li Ge was traveling the universe and opened the Mirror Dimension so he could leave.
• Mephisto returned to a New York alley and admitted to himself that he planned to use a contract to corrupt the Nine Heavens and claim it.
• A debt collector’s target ran into the alley, and Mephisto offered the desperate man a contract in exchange for his soul.

After learning that Kingpin had become a mayor, the Avengers agreed to support Steve at Baron Zemo's castle, but Natasha reminded them that Wanda and Pietro saw Tony as their enemy. In their glass cells, Wanda told Pietro she had dreamed that Tony would explain what happened and that they would forgive him.

• Tony angrily described Kingpin's rise to mayor, and Nick Fury admitted S.H.I.E.L.D. had lost track of him amid the rise of Transcendent powers.
• Nick Fury briefed the group on Baron Zemo's castle, its super soldiers, and Steve's request for support, and Tony agreed to go.
• Natasha reminded Tony that Wanda and Pietro blamed him, prompting him to promise he would explain the truth and seek their forgiveness.
• Wanda told Pietro that her dream-divining ability showed Tony trying to explain that his uncle was responsible, and that the siblings forgave him.
• Pietro doubted the dream, while Wanda trusted that it might come true.

Eternity, Death, and Galactus discussed Li Ge’s growing influence across four universes and the danger it posed. They agreed to wait for Li Ge to break through to the Universal Level before deciding what to do.

• Death and Galactus grew impatient as Eternity remained silent during their gathering.
• Eternity displayed five locations bearing traces of Li Ge’s power across four universes.
• Eternity said Li Ge had separated the timelines of four universes and asked Death to warn him against influencing other universes.
• Death teased Eternity for being unable to find Li Ge, and Eternity explained that Li Ge had become one with the Nine Heavens and the Samsara Realm, beyond space and time.
• Galactus said Li Ge should be nearing a breakthrough to the Universal Level and suggested they wait before discussing the matter further.

Death and Galactus learned that Li Ge was breaking through to universal level, and Eternity asked Galactus to warn him against disrupting the multiverse when he returned. Meanwhile, Grant oversaw the growth of a planned city in the Second Heaven, where people from four universes built their own homes and faction bases.

• Eternity told Galactus to warn Li Ge about the multiverse when his breakthrough ended, then disappeared with the other cosmic images.
• Death became interested in the Spirit Realm and left to explore it while she waited for Li Ge.
• On the Central Continent in the Second Heaven, Avengers Tower, two Xavier's schools, and an Avengers base took shape beneath the Heaven Ascension Battlefield.
• Li Ge assigned Grant to plan a city and allowed him to seek help from groups across four universes.
• Grant marked building areas while residents gathered supplies from chests and built their own structures, gaining control over the buildings they made.

Baron Zemo oversaw the construction of a Hydra castle in the Central Continent while reflecting on how he earned entry to Second Heaven and acquired control over fire. After discovering that fire best suited him and surviving the Fire Domain’s summit pool, he planned to train deeper in the domain and become the Flame Monarch.

• Baron Zemo ordered Hydra soldiers to finish his castle and replace parts of it with gold, stone, and lanterns.
• Baron Zemo endured First Heaven’s exhaustion trial, earned a King Fruit, and trained until he could last ten minutes against the Dragon Guard in the Heaven Ascension Battlefield.
• Baron Zemo entered Second Heaven, failed to qualify for the Tenth Domain’s power, and tested the other domains to find one suited to him.
• Baron Zemo discovered that the fire element suited him and immersed himself in a summit fire pool, transforming his body and gaining control over powerful flames.
• Baron Zemo resolved to continue his trials deeper in the Fire Domain and become the Flame Monarch.

Baron Zemo set out to attempt his second Fire Domain trial while Steve and the Avengers attacked Zemo’s castle. Amid the assault, Pietro used his mist-form ability to free Wanda, and the Avengers broke through the castle defenses as its guards tried to alert Zemo.

• Baron Zemo left his castle alone and used fire-enhanced leaps to race toward the Fire Domain.
• Steve warned Tony and the others that super soldiers and activated defenses guarded the castle, and they decided to attack.
• Wanda sensed someone had arrived, and Pietro revealed his mist ability before transforming Wanda into scarlet mist and escaping with her.
• Tony’s Golden Body Armor smashed the castle’s turrets with a giant club, allowing Steve and the others to charge inside.
• Castle guards called for super soldiers to enter the Second Heaven and warn Baron Zemo.

The Avengers swept through Hydra's castle while Pietro and Wanda watched from hiding, debating whether to confront Tony. Pietro transformed into his silvery-white smoke form and charged Tony, then grew into a towering smoke giant as the others held back.

• Natasha, Steve, Tony, Bruce, Hulk, Coulson, and Barton fought through Hydra's castle and quickly defeated its soldiers.
• Pietro and Wanda watched the battle and discussed whether to attack Tony, with Wanda urging Pietro to wait until he was alone.
• Pietro named himself White Ghost and escaped Wanda's grasp by turning into silvery-white smoke.
• Tony revealed he had overheard the siblings' conversation and stopped the Avengers from attacking Pietro.
• Pietro lunged at Tony and expanded into a smoke figure more than fifty meters tall.

Baron Zemo endured the Fire Domain’s scorching mountain trial while super soldiers searched for him after the Avengers attacked. In the real world, Tony trapped Pietro in liquid metal and an energy barrier, just as Wanda arrived pleading for him.

• A super soldier reported the Avengers’ attack, and the super soldiers stopped work on the castle to search the Fire Domain for Baron Zemo.
• Baron Zemo climbed the hundred-meter trial mountain, enduring the heat as the elemental energy gradually strengthened his fire tolerance.
• Tony fought Pietro in the castle grounds, maneuvering the Golden Body Armor while secretly setting up an energy barrier around him.
• Tony turned the metal rod into liquid metal, trapped Pietro inside the barrier, and compressed his giant form back to normal size.
• Wanda arrived and begged Tony not to hurt Pietro.

Tony apologized to Wanda and Pietro for the destruction of their home and explained that Obie had secretly sold weapons to Sokovia. After Wanda’s prophecy convinced the twins that Tony was not their true enemy, Tony considered what to do with them and decided they should stay with Li Ge.

• Tony released Pietro from the liquid-metal sphere and introduced himself to Wanda and Pietro.
• Wanda and Pietro confronted Tony over the destruction of their home, and Tony apologized while denying that he had sold weapons to Sokovia.
• Tony blamed Obie for secretly selling weapons, prompting Pietro to realize Wanda’s prophecy had come true.
• Pietro asked Wanda whether they should wait for Baron Zemo or leave, while Wanda struggled to process that Tony was not their enemy.
• Steve and the others suggested ways to help the twins, and Tony decided to leave Wanda and Pietro with Li Ge.

Baron Zemo reached the Fire Pool and absorbed its power, greatly strengthening his body and fire abilities. Meanwhile, the Avengers followed Wanda and Pietro to the captives, and the siblings agreed to meet Li Ge so they could follow him.

• Baron Zemo endured the fiery mountain climb and plunged into the Fire Pool, where its elements tempered his body and merged with his own power.
• Baron Zemo emerged healed and able to fire pillars of flame several meters away, then heard a super soldier calling for him and hurried down the mountain, fearing something had gone wrong.
• Tony offered Wanda and Pietro compensation and suggested they follow Li Ge, and the siblings agreed after learning he ruled the Nine Heavens and the Samsara Realm.
• The Avengers followed Wanda and Pietro through the battered castle toward the place where the superheroes and supervillains were being held.

Arale and Erik rallied the Divine Revelation Temple’s believers to pursue the people who framed the Immortal’s followers and confront the government. Nick Fury arrived and tried to persuade Arale to let Stryker face the law, leaving the believers’ planned action unresolved.

• Thousands of believers gathered at the Divine Revelation Temple while reporters and police watched from outside.
• Erik accused the true culprit of controlling the Immortal’s people and called on the believers to defy government obstruction.
• Arale urged the believers to follow her and claim justice in the Immortal’s name.
• Nick Fury entered the temple, and Erik identified him to Arale as the director of S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Nick Fury asked Arale to let Stryker face legal judgment and warned against a violent conflict between the temple and the government.

Erik and Arale rallied Immortal’s believers to demand Stryker’s death, but Nick Fury persuaded them to avoid confronting the government by promising to deliver Stryker into their hands. Arale told the believers that Li Ge had issued an oracle ordering them to stand down, and Fury agreed to handle Stryker personally.

• Erik condemned Stryker and stirred the believers into demanding that he be killed.
• Arale declared that the believers would purify Stryker, making their anger a challenge for Nick Fury to answer.
• Nick Fury offered to persuade the president and military to hand Stryker over, warning Erik and Arale against acting in Li Ge’s name without permission.
• Erik and Arale agreed that Fury would personally deliver Stryker to them and decided to claim that Li Ge had sent them an oracle.
• Arale announced the fabricated oracle to the believers, who accepted it and were content to have joined the public show of support.

In Sokovia, the Avengers waited in Baron Zemo’s castle after rescuing the captives, while Tony tried to make amends to Wanda and Pietro. In the Second Heaven, Baron Zemo learned that the Avengers had attacked his forces and, fearing defeat, refused to return to the real world.

• The Avengers discovered the ritual diagram in Baron Zemo’s castle and waited for him after transferring the rescued superheroes and super soldiers to a S.H.I.E.L.D. base.
• Tony offered Wanda and Pietro King Fruit juice, and Pietro took the bottles while Wanda politely tasted one.
• Baron Zemo heard from his super soldiers that the Avengers had attacked and slaughtered his forces in the real world.
• Baron Zemo realized his remaining soldiers were too few to face the Avengers and blamed himself for capturing test subjects.
• Baron Zemo chose to prioritize his safety rather than return to the castle, while his brainwashed soldiers waited for his orders.

Baron Zemo sent a Hydra soldier to scout the real world, then prepared to seek Grant’s help when the soldier failed to return. The Avengers captured the soldier, who died before they could question him, while Zemo crushed his watch and feared he would have to risk returning through the guarded ritual diagram.

• Baron Zemo decided to send a soldier to scout the real world and planned to seek out Grant if the soldier did not return.
• Tony and the Avengers captured the Hydra soldier in a liquid-metal net as he emerged from the ritual diagram.
• Barton noticed the soldier praying, and Tony dragged him out of the diagram before he could escape.
• Natasha, Wanda, and Pietro concluded that Baron Zemo was too cautious to return, while Steve rejected interrogating the soldier.
• Wanda spotted that the soldier was dying, and Steve found vacant eyes and black blood at his mouth.
• Baron Zemo waited fifteen minutes, crushed his watch, and feared he would need Grant’s help or gamble on the Avengers destroying the ritual diagram.

Loki watched events at the Divine Revelation Temple and in Sokovia, then used a Shadow Ninja to observe Kingpin in Mexico and decided to recruit his unwanted men. He disappeared into his shadow, heading to speak with Kingpin.

• Loki observed Bishop Arale, Erik, Nick Fury, and the Avengers through images of events at the temple and in Sokovia.
• The bar's boss recognized Loki as a powerful Second Heaven expert and warned the others not to provoke him.
• Loki watched Kingpin suppress gangs and armed groups in Mexico through a Shadow Ninja and considered turning Kingpin's disobedient underlings into Shadow Ninjas.
• Loki decided to speak with Kingpin, then let his shadow engulf him and vanished from the bar.

Logan and his companions settled into the Nine Heavens, where they established a Xavier Institute on the Central Continent and prepared to take charge of it. Their plans were interrupted when a mysterious blue-faced youth resembling Apocalypse appeared at the institute and introduced himself as Skynet.

• Logan entered the Nine Heavens through the prayer ritual, passed the First Heaven's trial, and reached the Second Heaven after fighting a Dragon Guard.
• Logan found people from the Mutants Nation and the initial world on the Central Continent and helped establish another Xavier Institute there.
• Logan, Erik, and Raven asked Professor Charles to let them move to the Central Continent and manage the institute, and he agreed.
• Erik urged Professor Charles to retire and join them, but Charles refused because the institute was his life's work.
• A blue-faced youth resembling Apocalypse entered the headmaster's office, and after Charles questioned him, he identified himself as Skynet.

At Midtown High School, Mary Jane confronted Harry, Peter, and Gwen after piecing together that they were hiding their superhero identities and their connection to Li Ge. Harry and the others finally agreed to tell her the truth, taking her away from the sports field to talk privately.

• Mary Jane recalled the clues that led her to suspect Harry, Peter, and Gwen had received powers from Li Ge and were secretly involved with the Nine Heavens and Samsara Realm.
• Mary Jane concluded that Harry, Peter, and Gwen were Blood Angel, Spider-Man, and Spider Queen after matching their disappearances to the heroes’ appearances.
• Peter evaded Mary Jane’s question, while Harry and Gwen tried to distract her with jokes and talk of the Divine Revelation Temple.
• Mary Jane accused Harry of being Blood Angel, Spider-Man, and Spider Queen, and demanded to know why they had kept their secrets from her.
• Harry, Peter, and Gwen apologized and led Mary Jane away from the field to explain everything privately.

Loki confronted Kingpin and demanded the bodies of the Transcendent beings who opposed him, intending to use them to expand his Divine Guard. Kingpin challenged Loki to prove his power and launched an attack, leaving the two poised to clash.

• Loki arrived at Kingpin's office with golden-armored Divine Guard holding Bullseye and Kingpin's other subordinates captive.
• Loki dismissed Kingpin's claim to be an emperor but said he had come to ask for help, not to uphold justice.
• Loki explained that he wanted Kingpin to give him the bodies of opposing Transcendent beings, alive or dead.
• Kingpin offered to provide a place to store the bodies, but demanded that Loki demonstrate enough power to force his cooperation.
• Kingpin hurled his desk at Loki, and a waiter-dressed Divine Guard blocked it as Kingpin gathered energy for a beam.

Loki transported Kingpin, Bullseye, and their men into his Black Shadow Kingdom, where he challenged them to fight through his divine guards to reach him. Kingpin led the group into battle as Loki watched from his throne and considered making him a shadow general.

• Kingpin blasted through the table and wall, but Loki and the divine guards vanished, leaving a rolling wine bottle behind.
• Bullseye noticed the sudden silence, and Kingpin cleared the dust to reveal the Black Shadow Kingdom and its massive formations of divine guards.
• Loki welcomed the group to his kingdom and sent over a hundred divine guards to attack them, promising to let anyone who reached his platform go.
• Kingpin ordered his men to follow him, and he and Bullseye led them through the window to fight the divine guards.
• Kingpin and Bullseye drove some guards back, while Loki watched their struggle and considered turning Kingpin into a shadow general.