Chapter Summaries

Qin Xiao seized the bearded terrorist as a hostage, then shot Dr. Banner to bring out Hulk after receiving a mission to earn Hulk’s trust. Hulk erupted in a rampage, crushing the bearded man and attacking the terrorists while Qin Xiao watched from a distance.

• Qin Xiao disarmed the bearded man and held him hostage as the system assigned him a mission to gain Hulk’s trust in exchange for a Hulk Mutation Serum.
• Qin Xiao changed his plan, told Dr. Banner he could help him evade the military, and demanded that Hulk come out.
• Qin Xiao shot Dr. Banner in the chest, shoved the bearded man toward him, and ran as the terrorists raised their guns.
• Hulk transformed, smashed the bearded man against an off-road vehicle, and survived a barrage of bullets.
• Hulk kicked one terrorist away and swung the off-road vehicle into the crowd, leaving the remaining terrorists screaming and fleeing.

Qin Xiao approached the rampaging Hulk and tried to convince him they could work together to fight dangerous enemies. Hulk agreed to hear him out but refused to turn into Banner, leaving Qin Xiao to keep negotiating.

• Qin Xiao left cover and tried to talk to Hulk, who attacked him before stopping when Qin Xiao said he was not an enemy.
• Qin Xiao told Hulk he wanted to be his friend and had a solution for his anger, but Hulk punched him and demanded to hear it.
• Qin Xiao brought up Abomination, and Hulk recalled defeating him and demanded that Qin Xiao find more enemies to fight.
• Qin Xiao explained that they needed information and a plane to find enemies, but Hulk said he hated planes and refused to become Banner.
• Qin Xiao tried to persuade Hulk that Banner would be useful for their search and for traveling.

After Nick Fury arranged a rescue, Qin Xiao was found alive and had befriended Bruce Banner and Hulk. Back at a hidden S.H.I.E.L.D. base beneath the Hudson River, Fury welcomed Qin Xiao as a probationary agent.

• Nick Fury secured permission for a S.H.I.E.L.D. Quinjet to enter Pakistan, and Tony Stark, Rhodey, Black Widow, and Hawkeye joined the search for Qin Xiao.
• Hawkeye piloted the Quinjet low over the desert, and the group found the wreckage left by Hulk's battle before Qin Xiao appeared alive beside the unconscious Bruce Banner.
• Qin Xiao told Black Widow that he had befriended Bruce Banner, while Tony Stark and Rhodey returned separately and the others took Banner and Qin Xiao back to the United States.
• Qin Xiao followed Black Widow and Hawkeye through hidden routes to Nick Fury's secret base beneath the Hudson River.
• Nick Fury presented Qin Xiao with his S.H.I.E.L.D. assignment as a probationary agent, and Black Widow explained that her evaluation had recommended observing him.

After arranging Dr. Banner’s isolation and research with Nick Fury, Qin Xiao took the Hulk Serum in a New York hotel and endured a painful transformation. Once he learned to control his new strength, he flew to Los Angeles to deal with Obadiah and speak with Tony.

• Qin Xiao questioned Nick Fury’s dramatic pose, then Fury arranged credentials for Qin Xiao and settled Dr. Banner in a remote Canadian laboratory guarded by S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel.
• Qin Xiao checked into a New York hotel and drank the Hulk Super-Soldier Serum.
• Qin Xiao endured severe pain, convulsions, and itching as his body expelled blood and bone marrow and rebuilt itself.
• Qin Xiao discovered that the serum had greatly increased his strength, durability, and resistance to extreme temperatures, but he repeatedly broke the hotel’s fixtures and belongings.
• Qin Xiao spent five days learning to control his strength, paid for the damage, and flew to Los Angeles to handle Obadiah’s case and talk with Tony.

Tony developed the Mark II armor and replaced the Arc Reactor in his chest while Qin Xiao visited him. After Tony confronted Qin Xiao about concealing his abilities, Qin Xiao hinted that he had another explanation for finding the cave in Afghanistan.

• Tony used JARVIS to assemble a preliminary Mark II armor design and ordered the materials he needed.
• Tony replaced the Arc Reactor in his chest with a new one while Pepper Potts helped him remove the old reactor.
• Qin Xiao arrived at Tony's home, teased him and Pepper about the procedure, and asked why Tony kept the reactor in his chest.
• Tony told Qin Xiao that an intelligence agent had revealed the truth about his super-soldier serum and his reason for joining the mission in Afghanistan.
• Qin Xiao asked whether the agent had explained how he found the hidden cave, and Tony invited him to continue.

Tony Stark accepted that Obadiah had betrayed him but asked S.H.I.E.L.D. to give him time to make Obadiah leave the company. After Qin Xiao spoke with Black Widow and she teased him about waiting in Los Angeles, a golden portal briefly appeared in his apartment, and an unseen hand pulled a TVA-uniformed woman back through it.

• Tony understood that Obadiah had arranged his capture to seize control of Stark Industries, but asked Qin Xiao to give him time to make Obadiah leave peacefully.
• Qin Xiao agreed to tell S.H.I.E.L.D. not to act against Obadiah unless he made another move.
• Qin Xiao called Black Widow, relayed Tony's wishes, and learned that S.H.I.E.L.D. would keep Obadiah under surveillance.
• Black Widow told Qin Xiao her mission was safe, teased him about waiting for her in Los Angeles, and privately wondered if she was falling in love with him.
• A golden portal appeared behind Qin Xiao, and an unseen hand pulled a woman in a TVA combat uniform back through it before the portal vanished.
• Qin Xiao turned around, saw nobody, and wondered if he had imagined the portal.

C18 was ordered by the Time Variance Authority to leave Qin Xiao alone, while Qin Xiao asked Tony to help automate a Los Angeles apartment. A report of a Ten Rings massacre in Yinsen’s hometown revealed that Yinsen and his family had been killed, leaving Tony staring at the terrorists responsible.

• C18 protested the order to stop her from arresting Qin Xiao, but the blonde woman said the Time-Keepers had decided he must not be arrested.
• Qin Xiao visited Tony and asked him to set up an AI system for an apartment he planned to buy and renovate.
• Tony agreed to provide a private server and intelligent program, and the two joked about Qin Xiao’s finances and furniture.
• A news report showed the Ten Rings massacring the town of Gulmira, and Qin Xiao and Tony recognized the bald leader as a man they thought had died.
• Tony realized Gulmira was Yinsen’s hometown and asked JARVIS to contact Rhodey while Qin Xiao called Black Widow for information.
• Qin Xiao told Tony that Yinsen and his family had been captured and burned alive in their house.

Qin Xiao watched Tony Stark complete and test his Iron Man armor, experiencing the flight and crash firsthand. After Tony finished a red-and-gold suit and prepared to confront the terrorists in Gulmira, Qin Xiao’s strength convinced him not to go alone.

• Qin Xiao watched Tony Stark’s armor assemble, then saw Tony fly out of the garage and crash through the ceiling onto a sports car.
• Tony ordered Dum-E to spray the fallen armor with fire-extinguishing foam after the crash.
• Tony completed a red-and-gold armor suit in three days and asked Qin Xiao how it looked.
• Tony decided to attack the terrorists in Gulmira before confronting Obadiah, but abandoned his plan to go alone after Qin Xiao crushed leftover armor materials with his bare hands.
• Qin Xiao claimed that he was simply that powerful when Tony questioned his super-soldier strength.

Qin Xiao and Tony stole a Quinjet from S.H.I.E.L.D. and flew toward the Middle East to fight the Ten Rings. During the flight, Tony resolved to use his armor to fight terrorists and pursue peace on his own terms, and Qin Xiao connected that goal to the Avengers Initiative.

• Qin Xiao and Tony broke into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Los Angeles branch after Qin Xiao's trainee ID failed, and JARVIS hacked the building's security system.
• Tony and Qin Xiao took the branch's Quinjet, flew to Malibu to change into their armor, and then headed across the Pacific toward the Middle East.
• Tony told Qin Xiao that the Stark missile in Afghanistan had made him understand the despair caused by his weapons.
• Tony said he would use his armor to fight terrorists and create peace without serving nations or politics.
• Qin Xiao explained that Nick Fury had recruited him for the Avengers Initiative, and Tony agreed that he would help people without becoming anyone else's weapon.

Qin Xiao and Tony visited Yinsen’s grave before heading to Ukoda, where Ten Rings terrorists were massacring civilians. They charged into town to stop the slaughter, and Qin Xiao killed a terrorist who was looting jewelry.

• A young survivor led Qin Xiao and Tony to Yinsen’s grave and told them why he had stayed in Gulmira.
• Tony left a cheeseburger on Yinsen’s grave and promised the innocent survivors would be safe.
• Qin Xiao and Tony flew to Ukoda after the survivor told them it had been attacked by the Ten Rings.
• Qin Xiao closed the eyes of a little girl who had died from her wounds on the road to Ukoda.
• Tony destroyed a terrorist about to shoot a fleeing father, while Qin Xiao killed another terrorist who had been looting jewelry.

Qin Xiao slaughtered the terrorists in Ukoda with overwhelming brutality while Tony cleared the town center. After the two set out to find a nearby base, surviving terrorists attacked them with a tank, and Qin Xiao tore off its turret and began smashing the tank with its barrel.

• Qin Xiao killed terrorists across Ukoda, rescuing the bar owner's wife from an attacker as she fired back at the men who had killed her husband.
• Qin Xiao finished clearing the town and approached Tony, bloodied and covered in dust and scraps of flesh, then urged him to search for the terrorists' nearby base.
• Tony led the way out of town, but a surviving terrorist crew fired a tank shell that knocked him from the air.
• Qin Xiao leaped onto the tank, tore off its turret, and swung the turret and barrel into the tank's hull as Tony watched in shock.

Qin Xiao and Tony Stark destroyed another Ten Rings base, while a video of their fight reached Nick Fury and exposed Tony’s armored identity. Nick Fury ordered Qin Xiao to Washington, but Qin Xiao dodged the call and left Fury furious.

• Qin Xiao transformed his clothes and teased Tony after demolishing a tank, then he and Tony wiped out another Ten Rings base.
• The bald Ten Rings leader blamed Obadiah for his losses and sent him footage of Tony’s armor along with a demand for more weapons.
• Nick Fury saw the video while S.H.I.E.L.D. was surveilling Obadiah and recognized Tony’s Arc Reactor and Qin Xiao.
• Nick Fury called Qin Xiao and demanded a report on the Middle East and Tony’s armor, but Qin Xiao denied knowing anything and mocked his trainee-agent status.
• Tony reminded Qin Xiao that their plane was stolen, and Qin Xiao made up a story about being kissed before pretending the signal had failed.
• Nick Fury ordered Qin Xiao to come to Washington immediately, then smashed his phone when Qin Xiao hung up.

Coulson confronted Tony Stark and Qin Xiao with footage of their actions in the Middle East, then warned Tony to settle his company’s affairs within a week. The next morning, Tony met Obadiah at the company and challenged him about the video of Tony’s capture.

• Coulson showed Tony Stark and Qin Xiao footage from the Middle East, but both dismissed it and refused to admit who they were.
• Coulson told Tony that the video had been sent to Obadiah and gave him one week before S.H.I.E.L.D. acted.
• When Coulson asked about a missing Quinjet, Qin Xiao performed a fake divination and said it was near a beach, then asked for a bonus if it was found.
• Tony and Qin Xiao agreed to slowly establish an independent organization with official backing, while Tony focused on dealing with Obadiah.
• Tony went to his company the next morning and waited for Obadiah, who pressed him to develop the Arc Reactor as a new product.
• Tony told Obadiah he had seen the video of himself being held captive and said they needed to talk.

Tony Stark confronted Obadiah Stane over his betrayal and gave him five days to surrender his company authority, while Obadiah secretly built armor and plotted to take Tony’s power source. When Obadiah visited Tony to say goodbye, he used an ultrasonic emitter to paralyze him and revealed his ambition to become one of the most powerful men in the world.

• Tony Stark showed Obadiah Stane the video exposing his actions and demanded that he give up his board seat and management authority within five days.
• Obadiah pretended to cooperate with the company handover while secretly continuing work on a suit of armor in Area 16.
• Tony arranged for Pepper Potts to attend the board meeting where Obadiah was expected to resign and sign over his shares.
• Obadiah visited Tony at his mansion, claiming he wanted to apologize and say goodbye before moving to an island.
• Obadiah used an ultrasonic emitter to paralyze Tony, then declared that he was about to become one of the most powerful men in the world.

Obadiah stole Tony’s Arc Reactor and attacked Pepper with the Iron Monger, but Tony recovered using the first-generation reactor and rushed to save her. Tony and Obadiah’s battle spilled into the street, where Tony stopped Iron Monger from crushing a driver with a car.

• Obadiah used a magnetic extractor to remove Tony’s Arc Reactor, revealed his Iron Monger armor, and threatened Pepper.
• Tony struggled to reach the replacement reactor until his metal-armed robot knocked it off the workbench, allowing him to restore it to his chest.
• Tony warned Pepper to leave Stark Industries and flew there after she answered, but Obadiah emerged in Iron Monger and confronted her.
• Tony struck Iron Monger before Obadiah could shoot Pepper, and the two armored figures crashed through a wall and into a busy street.
• Obadiah lifted a station wagon as a weapon, but Tony blasted Iron Monger and caught the falling car with the Mark 2.

Tony fought Obadiah’s Iron Monger, using the armor’s icing problem to bring it down before Obadiah attacked him again on the Stark Industries rooftop. Just as Obadiah was about to finish Tony, Qin Xiao arrived and caught his punch.

• Obadiah hurled a motorcycle at Tony and battered the Mark 2 before both men flew into the sky.
• Tony drew Iron Monger to high altitude, where its reactor froze and Obadiah fell as the suit lost power.
• Tony made a rough landing on the Stark Industries rooftop, but Iron Monger recovered and attacked him again.
• Tony ran out of power and failed to damage Iron Monger enough to stop Obadiah from preparing a finishing blow.
• Qin Xiao appeared and caught Iron Monger’s punch, then joked with Tony about helping furnish his new house.

Qin Xiao defeated Obadiah by cutting apart the Iron Monger armor, then killed him despite Tony’s hesitation. After removing Tony’s armor, they decided to destroy the Iron Monger and the giant Arc Reactor prototype before anyone else discovered them.

• Obadiah attacked Qin Xiao with Iron Monger, but Qin Xiao dodged and severed the armor’s right arm with his Tang saber.
• Obadiah tried to escape by flying away, but Qin Xiao cut off Iron Monger’s legs and left arm, bringing the armor down as a limbless stump.
• Tony called out to Qin Xiao, who reminded him of the graves beside Yinsen before stabbing Obadiah through the armor.
• Qin Xiao and Tony removed Tony’s armor, then agreed to destroy Iron Monger and the giant Arc Reactor prototype.
• Tony suggested finding Pepper so they could watch the destruction together.

After Tony destroyed Iron Monger, the Mark 2, and a Stark Industries building in an extravagant explosion, Qin Xiao weighed the cost and considered whether to return to his own world. The next morning, Coulson woke him to help S.H.I.E.L.D. manage the fallout.

• Tony blew up Iron Monger's armor, Obadiah's corpse, the Mark 2, and a Stark Industries building, while Qin Xiao mourned the wasted money.
• Qin Xiao received 1,000 points for completing the Iron Monger elimination mission, bringing his total to 4,000.
• The system told Qin Xiao that he could return to his own world, but he felt increasingly attached to the Marvel world and considered how he might use his strength and Tony's AI to build security back home.
• Qin Xiao called Coulson to have S.H.I.E.L.D. contain the public fallout from the explosion and the street fight.
• Coulson called Qin Xiao at dawn to help at the scene, and Qin Xiao complained about the early hour before getting out of bed.

Tony Stark attended a press conference to present a cover story for the Iron Man incident, but a reporter exposed Qin Xiao's role in the rooftop battle. Tony abandoned the prepared statement and publicly declared that he was Iron Man.

• Coulson gave Tony Stark the official account and alibi, while Pepper Potts thanked him for helping manage the press.
• Tony teased Qin Xiao and sent him outside to deal with reporters, while Coulson explained that Nick Fury had pressured Qin Xiao to cooperate.
• Rhodey introduced Tony, who began reading the prepared statement before a female reporter challenged his cover story.
• Tony pointed to Qin Xiao and claimed he had been the armored bodyguard, drawing the reporters' attention to him.
• The female reporter showed night-vision footage of Qin Xiao cutting Iron Monger's legs with a Tang saber, undermining Tony's explanation.
• Tony corrected the reporter about the Tang saber, dropped the script, and declared, "I am Iron Man!"

After the press spread rumors that Tony Stark and Qin Xiao were a couple, Qin Xiao complained while Tony worked and Coulson arranged a meeting with Nick Fury. Tony invited Qin Xiao to a rooftop party, where he offered a sports car to any woman who could charm him.

• Newspapers and television shows portrayed Tony Stark and Qin Xiao as romantically involved, and Qin Xiao angrily demanded to sue the media.
• Tony focused on Stark Industries and ignored Qin Xiao's complaints, while Coulson reminded Qin Xiao that the video of Obadiah's death showed excessive force.
• Coulson arranged a meeting with Nick Fury for Tony and Qin Xiao two days later to discuss their abilities and the Avengers Initiative.
• Tony invited Qin Xiao to a rooftop party, and Qin Xiao eagerly accepted after learning his house would take another week to finish.
• At the party, Tony pushed Qin Xiao into the crowd and promised a new sports car to whichever woman could tame him.