Chapter Summaries

JARVIS's tests revealed that Luca had superhuman strength, speed, flight potential, and energy projection, while his body continued absorbing energy and growing stronger. Tony told Pepper that he and Luca had modified themselves, and the chapter ended with JARVIS explaining that sunlight could further strengthen Luca.

• JARVIS reported that Luca's weight and muscle density exceeded the instruments' measuring limits, while his strength and running speed surpassed human standards.
• Tony and Luca traded jokes and insults about Luca's abilities, and Tony resolved to build armor capable of protecting his family.
• Pepper demanded an explanation for Luca's impossible test results, and Tony told her that he and Luca had modified themselves rather than being altered by the terrorists.
• JARVIS reported that Luca could project energy from his eyes, palms, or other parts of his body at temperatures exceeding 5,000 degrees Celsius.
• JARVIS revealed that Luca's body absorbed outside energy and continued evolving, including through exposure to sunlight.

Tony and Luca argued over biological evolution and technology as Pepper learned about their kidnapping and Tony’s injuries. Tony revealed the Mark II armor and declared that the age of Stark had arrived.

• JARVIS warned that Luca could suffer an energy overload and explode, and explained that an energy field protected him from friction and impacts.
• Luca urged Tony to study his serum and evolve, while Tony vowed to build an Anti-Luca Armor and secretly resolved to investigate the serum to protect Luca.
• Pepper demanded to know what had happened in Afghanistan, and Luca explained that Obadiah had paid terrorists to kill them and that he had made a serum that transformed him.
• Tony showed Pepper the Arc Reactor embedded in his chest and explained that it kept shrapnel from reaching his heart, then reassured her that Yinsen had treated him.
• Tony revealed the Mark II armor to Pepper and Luca and declared that the age of Stark had arrived.

Pepper learned that Tony and Luca planned to become superheroes and use their public image to help revive Stark Industries. The chapter ended with Tony explaining that his Arc Reactor could power a clean-energy business.

• Pepper realized Stark Industries could adapt the armor technology for civilian robots and welcomed the idea as a way to revive the company's stock.
• Luca mocked Tony's silver armor, and JARVIS backed Luca's preference for black, prompting Tony to threaten to reduce JARVIS's computing power.
• Tony told Pepper that he and Luca planned to become superheroes, calling himself Iron Man, while Luca rejected Tony's suggested nicknames.
• Luca explained that their superhero identities were part of a business strategy alongside plans to focus Stark Industries on clean energy and intelligent robots.
• Tony told Pepper that his Arc Reactor used cold fusion and could be developed into a clean-energy source powerful enough to supply Los Angeles for a year.

Pepper learned that Tony and Luca planned to use superhero fame to promote Stark Industries, then left them to their work. Luca unveiled his sleek black armor, and he and Tony agreed to compete that night by seeing whose superhero identity won more fans in downtown Los Angeles.

• Tony and Luca explained to Pepper that they planned to use public attention as superheroes to boost Stark Industries and avoid taking on genuinely dangerous work.
• Pepper laughed at their scheme, teased them about their lack of heroic ideals, and left the lab to return to work.
• Luca opened the second hatch and revealed his black, cape-wearing armor, impressing Tony despite Tony’s attempts to criticize its design.
• Tony challenged Luca to a contest during their first public appearance in Los Angeles, with the winner decided by whose name and influence attracted more fans.
• Luca accepted the challenge, and Tony began preparing paint for his armor as the brothers argued over what made a superhero appealing.

Luca and Tony used the tracking system in the assassin John’s micro-bomb to locate the underground base where he had gone, then decided to detonate it while he reported to Hydra’s leaders. The chapter ended with Tony starting a five-minute countdown, hoping the blast would make Hydra blame S.H.I.E.L.D.

• Luca asked Tony whether John had followed their orders to provoke conflict between S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra.
• Tony had JARVIS track John’s micro-bomb, and JARVIS found its last signal near an abandoned mine outside Los Angeles.
• Luca and Tony concluded that John had reached an underground base and recorded the coordinates for a future visit.
• Luca proposed detonating John’s bomb while he reported to Hydra, so Hydra would suspect S.H.I.E.L.D. and retaliate.
• Tony set the bomb’s five-minute countdown.

John returned to a Hydra base and falsely blamed S.H.I.E.L.D. for the failed assassination of the Stark brothers, but a bomb planted by the Starks killed him. The Hydra leader mistook the explosion for a S.H.I.E.L.D. attack and ordered retaliation against Nick Fury while planning to use Director Pierce to cut S.H.I.E.L.D.'s funding.

• John told the Hydra leader that S.H.I.E.L.D. had ambushed his team and killed Jack and Mark during the mission against the Stark brothers.
• The Hydra leader believed John's story, praised him for bringing back intelligence, and promised him medical treatment and an important position.
• As John prepared to leave, the bomb inside him detonated, killing him and blasting the Hydra leader with blood and debris.
• The leader blamed S.H.I.E.L.D. for the explosion and ordered a subordinate to investigate the attack on a supply transfer station and find Nick Fury so he could be killed.
• The leader decided to report the incident to Pierce and ask him to use the World Security Council to block S.H.I.E.L.D.'s operational funding.

Luca and Tony failed to recreate the fusion that had made Luca superhuman, concluding his mutation could not be replicated with current science. Tony rejected taking either serum, but Luca argued that Tony and Pepper needed protection beyond armor.

• Tony questioned whether Luca had accurately remembered the formulas behind his transformation.
• Luca and JARVIS ran repeated simulations to fuse the serums, but each attempt failed.
• Luca concluded that his original transformation had been an unrepeatable miracle, and Tony accepted that the serum could not be recreated.
• Tony refused to take either serum, insisting that his technology and intelligence were enough.
• Luca warned Tony that armor could fail and argued that Pepper needed enhancement to survive the dangers ahead.

Tony agreed to consider making an enhancement serum after Luca argued that it could help protect their family. The brothers admired their new armors, and Luca proposed staging a disaster with their giant villain suit so they could defeat it publicly and become celebrated heroes.

• Luca reminded Tony that Pepper and Happy could be endangered if they became superheroes, and Tony reluctantly agreed to revisit making an enhancement serum after their other work was done.
• Tony showed off his red-and-gold armor and bragged about its security systems, while Luca defended his own abilities and mocked Tony's reliance on technology.
• Tony admired the massive black-and-gray villain armor Luca had built, then teased him about its size and poor maneuverability.
• Luca explained that JARVIS could remotely send the armor to Los Angeles to terrorize citizens so he and Tony could appear as heroes and defeat it.
• Tony was stunned by Luca's shameless plan and wondered whether they could really manufacture a disaster to create their superhero personas.

Tony and Luca activated their suits and began a race into the night sky, but Tony took off early and crashed through the villa ceiling. Luca tracked Tony with his super senses and launched after him at supersonic speed.

• Tony admitted defeat in his argument with Luca, then announced that he was ready to debut Iron Man.
• JARVIS fitted Tony with his armor while mechanical arms equipped Luca with his black suit and cape.
• Tony activated his armor and declared, "I am Iron Man," as Luca enveloped himself in a force field.
• Tony launched before finishing the countdown, smashed through the villa ceiling, and damaged Luca's blue sports car with falling debris.
• Tony flew ahead and bragged to JARVIS that Luca could not catch him, while Luca located him with his hearing and vision.
• Luca blasted into the sky with a sonic boom and pursued Tony.

Tony tested his new armor in the night sky, but Luca effortlessly outpaced him and challenged him to race toward the eighty-five-thousand-foot altitude record. The two began climbing together, with Luca surrounded by his newly discovered Emperor Force Field.

• Tony flew his Mark Armor over Malibu Beach and received JARVIS's warning about a fast-moving energy mass approaching from behind.
• Luca streaked past Tony, and Tony ordered JARVIS to push the armor beyond its capacity in an attempt to catch him.
• Tony failed to close the distance, and JARVIS confirmed that Luca's flight came from an energy field within his body, not hidden boosters.
• Luca waited for Tony, teased him about the armor's speed, and challenged him to see whether it could reach the SR-71's eighty-five-thousand-foot altitude record.
• Luca surrounded himself with his Emperor Force Field, and he and Tony launched upward in parallel streaks of light.

Luca climbed to the edge of space, absorbing energy as Tony’s iced-over armor lost power and sent him into a deadly fall. Luca rescued Tony by stopping his descent and clearing the ice, leaving the brothers hovering safely over downtown Los Angeles.

• Luca flew higher than any human record and absorbed sunlight at nearly ten times his usual speed.
• Tony’s armor iced over at roughly fifty thousand feet, shutting down JARVIS and sending him into free fall.
• Luca caught up with Tony and mocked him, but Tony refused to ask for help.
• Luca used his force field to stop Tony’s fall and lasers to melt the ice from his armor.
• JARVIS rebooted the armor, and Tony stabilized above downtown Los Angeles, shaken by how close he had come to dying.

After Tony’s test-flight armor nearly failed in the cold, Luca warned him about relying too much on technology, and the brothers reconciled through laughter. They then prepared to unleash their villain-themed armor over Los Angeles, which Tony renamed Lucifer.

• Tony ordered JARVIS to record the armor’s cold-weather flaw and add anti-icing measures.
• Luca reminded Tony that the test flight could have killed him, and Tony silently accepted that Luca had saved his life.
• Luca joked about his sexual exploits, and Tony answered with his own boast, leaving the brothers laughing together.
• Luca told Tony to send out the Demon Armor over downtown Los Angeles to give the citizens an exciting show.
• Tony criticized the armor’s name and suggested Lucifer, and Luca agreed to use it as the target’s name.

Luca overheard Nick Fury and Coulson observing the Stark brothers, then discovered Hydra was preparing to assassinate Fury. He redirected Lucifer toward the ambush, planning to let the conflict unfold and turn it into a more dramatic chance to play hero.

• Tony ordered JARVIS to send Lucifer downtown to cause destruction, but Luca overheard Coulson and Nick Fury discussing their surveillance of the Stark brothers.
• Luca spotted Fury and Coulson in a parked SUV and recognized Fury as the S.H.I.E.L.D. director.
• Luca overheard Hydra operatives preparing an ambush against Fury in retaliation for the explosion at their base.
• Luca told Tony to change Lucifer's flight path and wait above the street where Fury's convoy was headed.
• Tony agreed, and he and Luca flew toward the ambush as Lucifer's coordinates were updated.

At Britney Spears’s concert in Los Angeles, Peter Parker witnessed the Demon Armor attack the city and debated whether to use his powers to help. The armor continued wrecking selected buildings as news outlets worldwide broadcast the destruction, leaving the city in panic.

• Peter Parker attended Britney Spears’s concert as a Daily Bugle photographer and considered using his spider abilities after a reporter joked about a villain appearing.
• The Demon Armor crashed into Los Angeles City Hall and blasted the building with lasers, frightening the concert crowd and sending people fleeing.
• Peter hesitated to reveal his identity, then photographed the attacker alongside the other reporters.
• Controlled remotely by JARVIS, the Demon Armor destroyed buildings belonging to businesses accused of exploiting people or selling counterfeit drugs while moving toward Luca’s designated street.
• Reporters at the concert broadcast the destruction worldwide, and CNN and BBC anchors delivered breaking coverage as Los Angeles police lost control of the situation.

The Demon Armor shrugged off the military’s attacks, destroyed two helicopters, and continued its rampage in Los Angeles. After seeing the emergency broadcast, Gwen Stacy transformed into Ghost-Spider and headed for the city center to confront it.

• National Guard helicopters fired machine guns and Hellfire missiles at the Demon Armor, but it dodged the missiles and remained unharmed.
• The Demon Armor cut through two helicopters with lasers, leaving the military unable to stop its attack.
• Gwen Stacy watched the live broadcast while leaving her university in Los Angeles and decided to help.
• Gwen Stacy sent her classmate Maggie away, changed into her Ghost-Spider suit, and swung toward downtown.
• Ghost-Spider landed atop an advertising screen, promised to protect Los Angeles, and leaped toward the city center.

Nick Fury and Coulson were trapped under attack in Los Angeles as the Demon Armor approached their location, prompting Fury to summon the secret Howling Commandos. Meanwhile, Luca and Tony watched the armor’s rampage, and Tony boasted about his creation while Luca warned that the military could destroy it in the desert.

• Nick Fury and Coulson took cover behind their bullet-riddled SUV as a trained group of attackers and a sniper pinned them down.
• Coulson learned that the Demon Armor was approaching their neighborhood and speculated that Hydra had sent it to kill Fury.
• After learning the Defenders were unavailable, Coulson told Fury that the Howling Commandos were nearby, and Fury ordered them to rescue them and destroy the approaching monster.
• JARVIS directed the Demon Armor through Los Angeles as it smashed roadblocks, vehicles, and other obstacles while civilians fled.
• Luca and Tony watched from above, and Luca challenged Tony’s claim that the armor was invincible against military firepower.

Luca discovered that Hydra assassins were attacking S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury and Coulson, then persuaded Tony that S.H.I.E.L.D. deserved punishment for failing to protect them. As the Demon Armor arrived over the street, Luca ordered JARVIS to fire on everyone below.

• Luca spotted Nick Fury and Coulson pinned behind a bullet-riddled Chevrolet and told Tony to have JARVIS locate the firefight.
• Luca explained that Hydra had sent killers to assassinate Nick Fury and Coulson in retaliation for John blowing up a Hydra base.
• Luca argued that S.H.I.E.L.D. had failed to protect him and Tony, so attacking its agents was justified; Tony accepted his reasoning.
• JARVIS reported that the Demon Armor had arrived and locked onto armed Hydra and S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel.
• Luca ordered JARVIS to open fire and blow everyone sky-high.

Hydra's assassination squad and Nick Fury and Coulson took cover as the Demon Armor rampaged through the street. The Demon Armor then aimed its weapons at both groups, forcing Nick Fury to order Coulson into the car.

• James's squad blamed S.H.I.E.L.D. for the Demon Armor and prepared to shoot Nick Fury if an opportunity arose.
• Nick Fury and Coulson spotted reporters, soldiers, and civilians gathering near their position.
• Coulson noticed the Demon Armor raising its arm and deploying missiles aimed at the street.
• Nick Fury shouted for Coulson to get into the car as the weapons targeted them and Hydra's squad.

JARVIS staged a destructive attack as the Demon Armor to draw worldwide attention and set up Luca and Tony as heroes. After surviving the explosions, Nick Fury and Coulson were mistaken for terrorists by a racist military officer, who ordered their arrest.

• JARVIS attacked the street with the Demon Armor's weapons, then landed and roared while planning to let Luca and Tony defeat him in a dramatic fight.
• Nick Fury and Coulson escaped their overturned, damaged Chevrolet with only minor injuries after the blast destroyed the Hydra assassins.
• The Los Angeles military opened fire on the Demon Armor, and a middle-aged officer approached Nick Fury and Coulson.
• Nick Fury identified himself and Coulson as FBI agents and ordered the officer to focus fire on the monster and help them retreat.
• The officer dismissed their claims, aimed his gun at Nick Fury, and ordered soldiers to arrest both men as terrorists.

Luca and Tony arrived as the Demon Armor attacked Los Angeles, fought it back, and were celebrated as heroes. Luca then praised the officer and soldiers as the real heroes, moving viewers around the world.

• The Demon Armor stomped the ground, sending soldiers and an officer flying as reporters broadcast the chaos.
• Luca and Tony descended from the sky and blasted the Demon Armor into an abandoned building, burying it beneath the rubble.
• Luca and Tony introduced themselves as the Stark brothers and reassured the crowd that Los Angeles was safe.
• A reporter identified the two men, and citizens, soldiers, and reporters rushed to celebrate them.
• Luca thanked the officer and praised him and the soldiers for protecting the citizens, and viewers worldwide were moved by his words.