Recaps

Captain America and Hawkeye uncovered signs that S.H.I.E.L.D. had been compromised, but Brock Rumlow and Sitwell captured them and covered up the ship's witnesses. Nick Fury discovered that someone had used his own authorization to seal the satellite launch files, leaving him certain that S.H.I.E.L.D. faced a serious internal threat.

• Captain America questioned Sitwell about the terrorists and then greeted Hawkeye and Brock Rumlow when the strike team arrived.
• Brock Rumlow found Captain America's Stark Industries listening device and realized the Captain had overheard Sitwell's conversation.
• Hawkeye copied data from the ship's server while Captain America began to tell him he had heard something about Hydra.
• Brock Rumlow paralyzed Hawkeye and Captain America, injected the Captain with a drug, and helped Sitwell kill two technicians and blame their deaths on the terrorists.
• Brock Rumlow destroyed the helicopter over the sea while Nick Fury received Hawkeye's data from the ship.
• Nick Fury tried to access the Lemurian Star files, but the computer rejected his authorization and revealed that Nicholas J. Fury had ordered them sealed.

Sam Wilson witnessed Captain America and Hawkeye being taken into the Smithsonian Museum and decided the situation was serious. Meanwhile, Qin Xiao unlocked the Level 3 Shop, absorbed the Tesseract’s outer casing for points, and spent his savings on upgrades.

• Sam Wilson saw SUVs carrying a shield like Captain America's and followed them to the Smithsonian Museum.
• Sam Wilson spotted men carrying Captain America and Hawkeye into the museum, photographed them, and left without alerting the police.
• Nick Fury told Coulson to find Qin Xiao and help locate Hawkeye and Captain America, then went to the World Security Council.
• Qin Xiao reviewed the Level 3 Shop and learned that earlier shop items could now be used by others.
• Qin Xiao absorbed the Tesseract's outer casing for 2,700 points, bringing his total to 7,500.
• Qin Xiao spent 7,500 points on an intermediate divine body and Advanced Fighting Skills.

Qin Xiao upgraded his bracelet with the Space Stone, gained a powerful shield and enhanced flame control, and learned to fly. As Coulson sought his help finding Captain and Hawkeye, Sam Wilson arrived at Stark Tower, and Qin Xiao brought him through a portal before demanding to know why he had come.

• Qin Xiao placed the Space Stone in his bracelet, expanding its storage and unlocking an energy shield.
• Qin Xiao used his enhanced flames to fly out of the base, where Coulson told him Captain and Hawkeye were missing.
• Qin Xiao suspected that Hydra had infiltrated much of S.H.I.E.L.D. and asked Coulson where Brock Rumlow was.
• JARVIS told Qin Xiao that Sam Wilson was waiting at Stark Tower, and Qin Xiao opened a portal to bring him to the base.
• Sam Wilson marveled at Qin Xiao's portal and the sky base, and Qin Xiao warned him to explain his business or be sent to the moon.

Qin Xiao, Coulson, and Falcon rescued Captain America and Hawkeye from a Hydra base beneath a museum. Back at the base, Captain America decided to confront Hydra, and Qin Xiao agreed to gather the others before they planned their next move.

• Falcon told Coulson and Qin Xiao that Captain America and Hawkeye were imprisoned in a hidden room and offered to help rescue them.
• Qin Xiao opened a portal to the museum, where he killed Hydra employees who tried to stop them and forced open a concealed door to the underground base.
• Qin Xiao found Captain America and Hawkeye in separate cells and cut through the bars to free them.
• Captain America said he had found evidence of Hydra, and Qin Xiao teased him for leaving a girl alone on the ship.
• Qin Xiao took everyone back to the base, where Captain America said he would deal with Hydra and Qin Xiao offered to gather the others before they made a plan.

After Nick Fury was rescued, he revealed that Project Insight could use Helicarriers to kill people identified as threats, and the group decided to stop Hydra and dismantle S.H.I.E.L.D. Alexander Pierce moved to launch the project anyway and ordered an attack on the Sky Base to buy time.

• Coulson told the group that Nick Fury had been attacked, and Qin Xiao opened a portal to bring him from his Washington safe house.
• Nick Fury gave the group the Lemurian Star files and explained that Project Insight would target people worldwide with three Helicarriers.
• Qin Xiao warned that the project could be abused, and Captain decided Hydra had to be eliminated and S.H.I.E.L.D. had no reason to exist.
• Natasha, Hawkeye, and Coulson sided with Captain, while Nick Fury accepted that he no longer controlled the decision.
• Alexander Pierce learned that Nick Fury had escaped and ordered the council summoned to authorize Project Insight, while Brock Rumlow was told to send Barnes and teams to attack the Sky Base.

After Agent Sitwell revealed Hydra’s extensive infiltration of S.H.I.E.L.D. and government, Alexander Pierce learned the Avengers had uncovered the plot and ordered Project Insight launched while declaring them enemies. Pierce and Brock Rumlow prepared to hold off the Avengers until the Helicarriers could take control, leaving Hydra’s fate to a desperate gamble.

• Agent Sitwell confessed the origin of the Zola Algorithm and named many Hydra operatives, including Alexander Pierce and Brock Rumlow.
• Qin Xiao took the group to Hydra’s old base, where Dr. Zola described how he had built Hydra inside S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Alexander Pierce learned that the Avengers had activated Dr. Zola’s server and ordered them wanted worldwide.
• Pierce told Brock Rumlow that Project Insight had to launch so Hydra could use the Helicarriers to hold the world hostage.
• Rumlow hoped Pierce’s plan would work, while Pierce reflected that the future might belong to superhumans.

Qin Xiao destroyed the missiles aimed at the Sky Base, while Hydra launched a fighter-jet assault and sent the Winter Soldier and his squad inside. Thor and Captain America defeated the intruders, and the Winter Soldier’s unmasked face revealed Bucky.

• Qin Xiao sent the seven missiles through a portal, destroying them over an uninhabited Atlantic island.
• More than a hundred fighter jets approached the Sky Base as Tony activated its Wakandan energy shield.
• The Winter Soldier and his squad dropped onto the base before the shield closed, and Captain America split the team to meet the threats.
• Thor and Captain America incapacitated the Winter Soldier’s squad in the corridor.
• Thor struck the Winter Soldier with lightning, and Captain America recognized him as Bucky when his mask fell off.

As Project Insight began, Qin Xiao used the Avengers' Sky Base and Thor to stop the three Helicarriers from ascending. The team confronted Alexander Pierce at S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters, where Nick Fury revealed that he could still provide the second iris scan needed to release the classified information.

• Alexander Pierce watched the Helicarriers take off as Nick Fury and the others discussed how to stop Project Insight.
• Qin Xiao opened a portal above the Helicarriers, positioning the Avengers' Sky Base to block their ascent.
• Qin Xiao sent Thor through a portal to destroy the middle Helicarrier's thrusters, sending it plunging downward.
• Nick Fury announced that Alexander Pierce was Hydra and called on everyone in the building to stay calm, while Qin Xiao threatened to lock troublemakers in a room with Hulk.
• Natasha tried to release the confidential files, but Alexander Pierce said the process required iris scans from two people with level-A clearance.
• Nick Fury removed his eyepatch and revealed his scarred left eye and cloudy gray eyeball.

Qin Xiao stopped Alexander Pierce from defending Project Insight, while Natasha exposed S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra’s files to the public. After the Avengers received widespread praise, Qin Xiao’s joke about a basketball star led to a viral challenge that Tony mocked him about.

• Qin Xiao slapped Pierce aside, condemned his schemes, and ordered him to submit to an iris scan and await trial.
• Pierce scanned his eye and lifted S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra’s confidentiality protocols while Natasha copied some files and released the rest online.
• News outlets condemned Project Insight, and the public praised the Avengers, especially Natasha, for exposing the files.
• Qin Xiao told a gossip reporter he would trick the basketball star who wanted Natasha’s foot-washing water into drinking his own.
• Dutelan posted a viral challenge to face Qin Xiao on a basketball court, and Tony teased Qin Xiao about the post.

Qin Xiao retaliated against Dutelan’s insults with a humiliating prank during a college basketball appearance. Dutelan finished his showy dunk to cheers, unaware that the crowd had filmed him with his shorts gone.

• Qin Xiao calmed down after the Avengers joked with him about Dutelan, then posted a toilet photo mocking him on the Avengers’ social media account.
• Dutelan answered the online ridicule by challenging Qin Xiao to play basketball, and later grew boastful as Qin Xiao remained silent.
• Dutelan took an endorsement deal and publicly insulted Qin Xiao, ignoring friends who warned him to stop provoking an Avenger.
• At a college friendly game, Dutelan attempted a 360-degree, double between-the-legs dunk.
• A tiny portal opened between Dutelan’s legs, and two fingers pulled down his shorts as he jumped.
• Dutelan completed the dunk and celebrated the crowd’s cheers, unaware that the students were filming him exposed.

Qin Xiao tormented Dutelan with increasingly humiliating pranks until the basketball star broke down and apologized publicly. At the Sky Base, Qin Xiao joked with Tony, then warned him to pay attention to his relationship with Pepper as Tony continued obsessively building armor.

• Qin Xiao burned Dutelan's shorts and shirt after making them fall off during a dunk, and videos of the incident spread online.
• Qin Xiao continued harassing Dutelan with wormholes, filth, bugs, ice water, a terrifying python, and burning medicated oil.
• Dutelan broke down after visiting a psychologist and an andrologist, then posted a tearful social-media apology for provoking Qin Xiao.
• Tony asked Qin Xiao what he had done to Dutelan, and Qin Xiao claimed the pranks had only affected Dutelan mentally.
• Qin Xiao urged Tony to make time for Pepper and noted that Tony had been building armor obsessively since the battle in Wakanda and the Chitauri invasion.
• Tony said Pepper would be less busy after Stark Industries completed its transition and that they would have plenty of time together.

Qin Xiao learned that the Winter Soldier, Bucky Barnes, had killed Tony’s parents while under Hydra’s control, leaving Natasha unsure how to tell Tony and Captain America. He promised to handle the revelation, while Tony remained unconscious after Qin Xiao knocked him out for going days without sleep.

• Qin Xiao knocked Tony unconscious after learning he had gone more than three days without sleeping, and Natasha agreed to arrange a psychiatrist.
• Natasha told Qin Xiao that France had canceled his arrest warrant and governments were now afraid to confront him after his actions against Durant and Dutelan.
• Natasha gave Qin Xiao a Hydra file revealing that Bucky had killed Tony’s parents in a staged car accident on December 26, 1991, and stolen five doses of Super Soldier Serum.
• Natasha explained that Bucky had been mind-controlled, feared hurting others again, and had voluntarily asked to be locked away after regaining control.
• Natasha worried the file would tear the team apart, and Qin Xiao promised to handle the situation.

At the museum, Captain America told Qin Xiao that Bucky had confirmed he killed Tony’s parents, and Qin helped the captain plan how to protect Bucky while delaying the truth from Tony. Tony’s worsening mental health remained a serious concern, and after Natasha took Pepper Potts out to ease her stress, something went wrong.

• A night guard found Captain Rogers and Qin Xiao talking in Captain America’s exhibit, took a photo with them, and left them alone.
• Captain America told Qin Xiao that Bucky remembered killing Howard and his wife, though he had not known who they were at the time.
• Qin Xiao urged the captain to give Tony time before telling him and suggested finding Bucky a quiet place to recover in Wakanda or Asgard.
• Qin Xiao arranged for Natasha to ask Pepper Potts to spend time with Tony, whose fear and sleeplessness had become severe.
• After Tony nearly hit Pepper with a laser cannon during a nightmare, Natasha took Pepper shopping and to a movie, but something went wrong.

A mysterious attacker abducted Pepper Potts and Natasha Romanoff after an explosion at the China Grand Theatre. Qin Xiao and the Avengers rushed to the scene, but Tony could not find the abductors, so Captain America called Hawkeye for backup.

• The lava-bodied man recovered his human form, took a phone, and identified Pepper Potts and Natasha Romanoff among the injured.
• The man dragged Pepper and Natasha away while Happy, gravely wounded, called Qin Xiao and passed out after warning him they had been taken.
• JARVIS played Happy’s recording, and Qin Xiao opened a wormhole that brought Tony, Thor, and Captain America to the theatre.
• Tony scanned the surrounding streets and vehicles but failed to locate Pepper and Natasha, while Qin Xiao sent injured victims to the hospital.
• Captain America said they needed backup and called Hawkeye.

The vice president learned that the Mandarin had abducted Pepper Potts and Natasha Romanoff, while the Avengers investigated the bombing and searched for them. After Happy awoke, Qin Xiao publicly challenged the terrorists and brought the Sky Base to Los Angeles to draw them out.

• The vice president took a secret call from the Mandarin, who revealed that he had captured Pepper Potts and Natasha Romanoff and wanted help covering his tracks.
• Agent Hill reported that surveillance footage near the China Grand Theatre had been erased and asked for intelligence support from the Widows.
• Agent Hill showed the Avengers a video in which the Mandarin claimed responsibility for the bombing and threatened Qin Xiao and Tony Stark.
• Happy awoke in the hospital, and Tony Stark took Qin Xiao there to visit him.
• Qin Xiao threatened the reporters who surrounded him, vowed to rescue the hostages, and challenged the terrorists to attack the Avengers’ base.
• Qin Xiao opened a wormhole and moved the Sky Base to Los Angeles, where it hovered in plain sight.

Maya Hansen came to Tony Stark and Qin Xiao with information about Killian, the Extremis Virus, and Pepper Potts’s kidnapping. She warned them that Killian was building an army of heat-producing, regenerating soldiers as they prepared to find a safe place and decide what to do next.

• Killian lost his temper after seeing Qin Xiao and Tony challenge him, but refused Erik Savin’s offer to attack them because he needed to pursue the plan to capture the Iron Patriot.
• Happy wrote Killian’s name for Qin Xiao, who gave it to Agent Hill to investigate while Tony stayed inside his armor, worried about Natasha and Pepper.
• Maya Hansen arrived at Stark Industries claiming to have news about Pepper, and Tony recognized her and asked about Killian.
• Maya explained that Killian had turned their Extremis research into weapons after Tony’s formula helped start the project, and that he wanted Tony to solve the virus’s instability.
• Maya said she had come to oppose Killian’s plan and warned that successful Extremis subjects could regenerate lost limbs, ignore injuries, and produce heat of three thousand degrees.

Maya Hansen warned Tony Stark and Qin Xiao that two Extremis soldiers had arrived to take them, but Qin Xiao easily overpowered them. The surviving soldier attacked with her superheated body, and the chapter ended with Qin Xiao burning the male soldier to ash with a breath of flame.

• Maya Hansen spotted two Extremis soldiers entering Stark Industries and urged Tony Stark and Qin Xiao to escape.
• The female soldier attacked Tony, but Qin Xiao appeared in front of her and broke her spine with a knee strike.
• The female soldier healed her injuries with the Extremis Virus and attacked Qin Xiao again, heating her arm until it became lava-like.
• Qin Xiao grabbed the female soldier's wrist without being burned and revealed that he could breathe concentrated flame.
• Qin Xiao's flame reduced the male soldier to ash while the female soldier stared in shock.

Qin Xiao and Tony questioned Maya Hansen about Killian’s operation, then returned to the base and used Rhodey’s military credentials to uncover footage of Extremis experiments. The footage revealed how Extremis restored missing limbs and how failed subjects exploded, but Natasha and Pepper’s location remained unknown.

• The female Extremis soldier detonated herself while attacking Qin Xiao, who opened a portal and dropped her into an icy wasteland before returning to Maya Hansen.
• Maya told Qin Xiao that Killian kept changing their meeting places and did not trust her, while Tony urged them to return to the base.
• Agent Hill identified Killian’s companies, including AIM, but Tony called Rhodey for access to the military network instead of waiting for her to hack it.
• Rhodey gave Tony his password, “War Machine Is Super Badass,” and Hill used his account to find footage of human experiments.
• Qin Xiao and Tony watched footage showing Extremis subjects regenerate missing limbs while failed experiments exploded.

After Killian threatened to inject Natasha and Pepper Potts with a more dangerous stage of the Extremis Virus, Tony rushed to work with Maya Hansen while Qin Xiao helped Hill prepare to trace the Mandarin’s next television broadcast. Killian then ordered the women injected immediately, unconcerned whether they survived.

• Tony watched footage showing Natasha and Pepper Potts bound and glowing with the Extremis Virus as Killian gave him three days to stop the next injection.
• Tony left to find Maya Hansen, while the Captain told Qin Xiao to remain and help locate the captors.
• Hill explained that tracing a hijacked television broadcast could reveal its origin, and Qin Xiao ordered JARVIS to give her access and Dr. Banner to help Tony.
• Qin Xiao told Hill to watch television, confident the Mandarin would appear again soon.
• Killian revealed his plan to seize power by killing the president and exploiting the Extremis Virus, then ordered Erik Savin to inject Natasha and Pepper Potts with the second-stage virus immediately.

Qin Xiao, Tony, and Thor captured the Mandarin, who turned out to be an actor hired by Killian. They learned that the president, Natasha, and Pepper Potts were aboard the Norco, and prepared to rescue them despite the many Extremis Soldiers guarding the ship.

• Qin Xiao, Tony, and Thor broke into the Miami estate and found the Mandarin asleep with two models.
• Thor shocked the Mandarin awake, and Tony threatened him until he confessed that he was only an actor.
• Rhodey arrived, mistakenly tackled the Mandarin, and learned from the others what had happened.
• Qin Xiao, Tony, Thor, and Rhodey discovered that Killian had kidnapped the president, Natasha, and Pepper Potts and planned to execute the president aboard the Norco.
• Tony pointed out that Qin Xiao and Thor could fight the Extremis Soldiers, then told JARVIS to prepare the House Party.

Killian taunted Natasha and Pepper while preparing them for their final Extremis transformation, but they condemned his cowardice and reminded him of his dependence on Tony. As Tony, Qin Xiao, and Thor attacked Killian’s ship, Rhodey joined the fight and Tony’s armor suits arrived, leaving Tony and Qin Xiao to head in and rescue the women.

• Killian injected Natasha and Pepper with a stabilizer and declared that they would soon undergo their final transformation.
• Natasha and Pepper criticized Killian for capturing them instead of facing Qin Xiao and for relying on Tony, prompting Killian to rage and vow to defeat Tony.
• Rhodey fired at the searchlights roasting the suspended president, then asked Tony and Qin Xiao for help reaching him and recovering his armor.
• Tony, Qin Xiao, and Thor attacked the ship as Rhodey spotted Tony’s arriving fleet of at least twenty armor suits.
• Tony ordered JARVIS to identify the Extremis Soldiers and protect Natasha and Pepper, while directing Thor to support the assault with lightning and taking Qin Xiao to rescue the women.

Qin Xiao and Tony rescued Natasha and Pepper Potts from Killian’s makeshift laboratory, while Qin Xiao defeated Erik Savin and forced Killian to the floor. After Killian escaped through the melting floor, Qin Xiao reunited the group on shore and arranged for the president to return under Avengers escort.

• Tony directed the Iron Man Armors to fight the Extremis Soldiers while he and Qin Xiao searched the cruise ship for the hostages.
• Qin Xiao and Tony found Natasha and Pepper Potts with Killian and Erik Savin in a converted container laboratory.
• Qin Xiao killed Erik Savin with cyan-blue flames, forced Killian to kneel, and then watched him fall through the softened floor.
• Qin Xiao opened a wormhole and brought the rescued hostages and Tony to shore, where Rhodey had rescued the president.
• Qin Xiao sent Natasha and the others to escort the president toward the White House and warned Rhodey to stay quiet about what had happened to him.

Tony faced Killian in a one-on-one fight aboard the cruise ship after Qin Xiao let him take responsibility for ending the conflict. Killian attacked Tony but failed to melt his vibranium armor, and Tony cut off both of Killian’s arms with hidden blades.

• Rhodey shoved the president through the wormhole, while Natasha and Pepper discussed the effects of their Extremis transformations with Qin Xiao and Tony.
• Qin Xiao closed the wormhole, and the group flew to the cruise ship, where Thor had defeated the remaining enemies and JARVIS detected Killian below deck.
• Qin Xiao taunted Killian and stepped aside so Tony could offer him a chance to surrender and have the virus removed.
• Killian rejected Tony’s offer, charged him, and seized the reactor on Tony’s chest, expecting his heat to melt the armor.
• Tony revealed that his armor was made of vibranium and used hidden blades to slice through both of Killian’s arms.

Tony, Pepper Potts, and Natasha defeated Killian and celebrated by destroying Tony’s suits in a fireworks display. After Qin Xiao earned points for eliminating the Extremis Soldiers, Tony saved the virus for research and injected himself with a dose of the first-stage Extremis Virus.

• Tony severed Killian’s arms and warned him to surrender, but Killian regenerated and lunged at Pepper Potts.
• Natasha intercepted Killian, and Pepper Potts punched through his chest before kicking him toward Tony.
• Tony had JARVIS launch Killian into the sky with an armor suit, then ordered the surrounding suits to self-destruct as fireworks.
• Tony told Qin Xiao that talking with the Captain had eased his anxiety and that he only needed the armor he was wearing.
• Qin Xiao gained 1,000 points for defeating Killian and the Extremis Soldiers, bringing his total to 2,500.
• Tony saved doses of the Extremis Virus for research and injected himself with a first-stage dose.

Tony injected himself with the Extremis Virus to study an antidote, survived the transformation, and decided to repair his body as he had repaired his armor. Qin Xiao then met the young Peter Parker, whose scientific talent impressed Tony and revealed that Spider-Man had entered their story.

• Tony injected himself with the Extremis Virus despite Qin Xiao and Pepper warning him about the risks.
• Tony's body healed, closing the hole in his chest and expelling the shrapnel, and he explained that he wanted to repair himself as well as his armor.
• Tony developed an antidote and told Qin Xiao that stabilizing the virus would risk changing a person's body and personality, while most people could not survive enhancements based on Qin Xiao's genes.
• Qin Xiao asked whether Tony had fathered the boy beside him, and Tony introduced him as Peter Parker.
• Tony explained that eleven-year-old Peter had impressed Stark Industries by improving an engine, and Qin Xiao recognized him as Spider-Man.