Chapter Summaries

Luca returned home and proposed moving Stark Industries to New York to protect Gwen Stacy from Hydra through a partnership with George Stacy. After Tony agreed, JARVIS briefed them on New York’s power landscape and local vigilantes, before the brothers returned to Tony’s stalled search for a new element to treat his palladium poisoning.

• Luca came home after spending the night with Gwen Stacy and found Tony exhausted from working in the laboratory.
• Luca proposed moving Stark Industries’ headquarters to New York and explained that Hydra had threatened Gwen Stacy.
• Tony agreed that the move could put George Stacy and the new Stark Tower under the company’s protection while avoiding direct war with Hydra.
• JARVIS showed the brothers a map of New York’s power groups and reported that Gwen Stacy had fought crime in Hell’s Kitchen and Peter Parker had recently begun fighting robbers in Queens.
• Luca asked about their research into their father’s notes, and Tony said they had a theory for the new element but no sample or reference to guide its synthesis.

Luca and Tony used Howard Stark’s future-city model to uncover the atomic structure of the New Element that could save Tony from palladium poisoning. They prepared to synthesize it in the lab.

• Tony refused Luca’s Enhanced Super Soldier Serum and asked him to help find the New Element within a week.
• Luca and Tony realized Howard’s Stark Expo city model might contain clues about its energy system, and Luca flew to Flushing to retrieve it.
• Luca returned to Malibu with the model in less than an hour, and Tony used JARVIS to create a holographic scan.
• Tony and Luca stripped away the model’s city features and identified its remaining structure as the atomic diagram of the New Element.
• Tony recognized Howard’s model as his father’s legacy, then ordered JARVIS to prepare the lab so the brothers could make the element.

Tony completed the New Element reactor and recovered from his illness, then Luca injected him with the Enhanced Super Soldier Serum. After discovering his new strength, Tony agreed to go to the company and cause trouble for Hydra and S.H.I.E.L.D.

• Tony activated the New Element and installed it in his chest, restoring his health.
• Luca injected Tony with the Enhanced Super Soldier Serum despite Tony's protests.
• The serum transformed Tony, healed the hole in his chest, and forced the reactor out of his body.
• Tony tested his new strength and learned from JARVIS that he could lift about sixty-five tons.
• Tony boasted about his enhanced body and agreed with Luca to visit the company and challenge Hydra and S.H.I.E.L.D.

Luca and Tony announced that Stark Industries would move its headquarters to New York and publicly placed George Stacy under the company’s protection. Watching the press conference, Gwen felt safe and realized her feelings for Luca had deepened.

• Luca and Tony arrived at Stark Industries, where Pepper was stunned by Tony’s newly enhanced physique and vitality.
• Jessica sensed Tony’s superhuman strength and suspected Stark Industries had developed a genetic enhancement serum; Luca let her witness Tony’s power so she would report it to Hydra.
• Luca ordered an emergency press conference, and he and Tony announced that Stark Industries would relocate its headquarters to New York next month.
• Luca praised George Stacy and declared that Stark Industries would make him a central partner, warning that anyone who threatened George or his family would face the company.
• Gwen watched the broadcast from her university, was moved by Luca’s public protection of her father, and recognized her growing love for him.

A month after Luca and Tony Stark became celebrity superheroes, the brothers prepared to travel to Monaco while S.H.I.E.L.D. awakened Captain America, Steve Rogers, hoping he could help rein them in. Steve woke up as a foul-mouthed, abrasive man who rejected S.H.I.E.L.D.'s plans, leaving Nick Fury to question whether he had made a disastrous mistake.

• WHIH reported that Luca, Tony, and Ghost-Spider had made Los Angeles the safest city in the United States, while Stark Industries' stock soared and the brothers announced trips to Monaco and the Stark Expo.
• Luca and Tony argued about their upcoming Monaco trip, and Tony said he would test his portable armor there.
• Fury and Coulson prepared a 1940s-style hospital room for Steve Rogers, whom S.H.I.E.L.D. had recovered from Arctic ice.
• Steve woke, recognized the setup as a Hydra trick, smashed the radio, and insulted the nurse and Fury.
• Steve learned he had been frozen for seventy years, demanded food, and mocked Coulson's explanation of modern technology.

Fury tried to recruit Steve Rogers to lead the Avengers by portraying Luca and Tony Stark as dangerous criminals, but Steve saw through his story and agreed to investigate them himself. The next day in Monaco, Luca teased Tony after winning their bet, leaving Tony to prepare for a humiliating pole dance at the opening ceremony.

• Fury presented Steve with evidence against Luca and Tony and urged him to lead a new Avengers team.
• Steve condemned Fury for using monstrous agents and accused him of lying, but agreed to meet the Stark brothers and judge them himself.
• Fury told Coulson that Steve's hostility and decision to approach the Starks would help provoke a fight between them.
• At a Monaco yacht party, Luca lounged among models while Tony drank juice nearby.
• Luca reminded Tony that he had lost their bet and would have to wear a skintight outfit and pole dance at the opening ceremony.

At a Monaco charity reception, Luca publicly humiliates Justin Hammer and notices that Hammer’s assistant Vincent is an alien life-form named Aruru. Hammer leaves after promising to beat the Stark brothers at the next day’s race, while Luca and Tony head for the dance floor.

• Pepper reminds Tony and Luca to attend the charity reception, and Luca makes Jessica massage his shoulders while she resents her undercover assignment.
• Luca and Tony arrive at the reception, where Justin Hammer boasts that Hammer Industries will surpass Stark Industries.
• Luca senses twisted black energy around Vincent Carter and insults him and Hammer in front of the guests.
• Aruru fears Luca has seen through his disguise and restrains himself from attacking, then urges Hammer to leave.
• Hammer challenges the Stark brothers to prove themselves at the next day’s race and departs with Vincent.
• Tony warns Luca that Vincent seems suspicious, but Luca dismisses him and takes Tony toward the dance floor as Jessica worries about what tomorrow will bring.

Jessica reported Hydra’s plans to unleash Hulk at the Monaco race and target Luca, while Justin Hammer and Ivan Vanko prepared to attack the Stark brothers. Ivan ambushed Tony on the track, but Tony emerged unharmed and defeated him with a single punch.

• Jessica told Alexander Pierce that Luca and Tony would attend the Monaco race, and Pierce ordered her to exploit the chaos after Hydra dropped Hulk into the event.
• Justin Hammer arranged for Ivan Vanko to attack Tony and agreed to deploy his secretly developed armor alongside Hulk.
• At the Monaco Grand Prix, Ivan stepped onto the track and cut Tony’s race car in half with his electric whips.
• Tony walked out of the burning wreckage unharmed and advanced on Ivan as the crowd watched in shock.
• Tony endured Ivan’s electric whips, punched him into a protective wall, and mocked him for failing to make Tony break a sweat.

Justin Hammer sent a giant armored suit to attack Tony, while Bruce Banner was dropped onto the racetrack and transformed into Hulk. Luca and Tony armored up beside a bearded Steve Rogers, and the three prepared to fight Hulk, the armored suit, and Ivan Vanko.

• Justin Hammer ordered his armored suit and Ivan Vanko to kill Tony, and the giant suit landed on the racetrack.
• Bruce Banner fell from an unmarked helicopter, and Steve Rogers leaped down to shield Tony from the impact.
• Banner transformed into Hulk, and Luca took his armor case from Happy and suited up beside Tony.
• Luca gave Tony the silver suitcase, and Tony donned his Mark V armor.
• Steve traded insults with Luca and Tony before the three faced Hulk, Hammer's armored suit, and Ivan Vanko.

Luca fought Hulk at the Monaco racetrack, absorbing the force of Hulk’s blows and growing stronger until he carried Hulk into the stratosphere and battered him during a fall. Hulk crashed outside the track in a massive explosion, leaving his condition unclear.

• Luca assigned Hulk to himself, Steve targeted Justin Hammer’s giant armor, and Tony faced Ivan Vanko.
• Tony endured Ivan’s electric whip, pulled him into the air, and knocked him unconscious with an uppercut.
• Steve dodged the giant armor’s weapons, tore open its cockpit, and destroyed its control module, leaving Justin Hammer frightened.
• Hulk struck Luca into a crater, but Luca stood up after absorbing the blow’s kinetic energy and provoked Hulk into another attack.
• Luca and Hulk fought across the racetrack as Luca absorbed more energy, while Tony and Steve were knocked away when they tried to join in.
• Luca took Hulk into the stratosphere, then attacked him as they fell and drove him into the ground outside the racetrack, causing a huge explosion.

Luca defeated Hulk by disrupting the energy inside him, leaving Bruce Banner unconscious, then arrived at a hotel in Monaco with his companions. When Luca reached his room, he overheard Pietro and his sister plotting revenge for their parents’ deaths and realized Hydra had sent them to kill him.

• Luca absorbed Hulk’s attacks and struck him with a blue-energy punch that returned him to Bruce Banner’s human form.
• Justin Hammer and Vincent slipped away from the racetrack while Jessica feared Luca would uncover her Hydra identity.
• Tony booked luxury suites at the Monte Carlo Grand Hotel and arranged for the group to meet for dinner to discuss Banner.
• Luca reflected on how much his strength had increased after absorbing Hulk’s energy.
• Luca overheard Pietro and his sister discussing revenge for their parents’ deaths and recognized them as Hydra assassins before entering the dark room.

Pietro and Wanda attacked Luca, and Wanda’s Chaos Magic sent him into a vision where his loved ones died and he destroyed their attackers. Luca then found himself at the scene of his parents’ 1991 car crash, saved them from the Winter Soldier, and faced their confusion as he tearfully reunited with them.

• Pietro charged Luca with a dagger, but Luca tripped him, and Wanda used Chaos Magic on Luca.
• Luca saw Tony, Pepper, Happy, and Gwen dead among ruins, then unleashed a devastating blast at the people he believed had killed them.
• Luca awoke on the road where Howard and Maria had been attacked on December 16, 1991, and realized he could stop their assassination.
• Luca severed the masked attacker’s legs with his eye beams and rescued Howard and Maria from their crashed car.
• Luca tearfully held Howard’s hand, and Howard asked whether they had met before.

Luca reunited with Howard and Maria in the illusion after saving them from an assassination, then learned the killer was Bucky Barnes and was urged to return to his own world. Back in the hotel room, Wanda awoke from the illusion with her hatred of Luca wavering as he began to stir.

• Luca called Howard his father, and Maria recognized him as her son before Howard embraced him and praised him.
• Luca told his parents that they had been assassinated in 1991 and revealed that the masked killer was Bucky Barnes.
• Howard explained that Bucky had been brainwashed and warned Luca not to kill this world's Bucky, urging him to return to his own world.
• Howard and Maria said goodbye to Luca and asked him to send Tony their love and tell him they were proud of both sons.
• In the hotel room, Wanda woke as Luca's energy field vanished, and Pietro helped her while she reflected on Luca's grief and devotion to his family.
• Luca slowly opened his eyes as Wanda's hatred of him began to waver.

Luca woke from Wanda's magical illusion, dismissed her apology, and learned that her powers were real when she rapidly grew a cactus. He claimed Wanda and Pietro owed him a billion dollars and forced them to stay with him, then took them to dinner with Tony and the others.

• Luca woke in the hotel room and teased Wanda, while she mistook his dismissive attitude for a mask hiding his grief.
• Luca examined Wanda's hand and questioned how she had created the illusion, but she told him it was magic.
• Wanda used red energy to grow a small plant into a flowering cactus, convincing Luca that her power defied science.
• Luca declared that Wanda and Pietro owed him a billion dollars and said they would work for him until the debt was paid.
• Wanda agreed to stay, Pietro was too frightened to flee, and Luca took them to dinner with Tony and the others.

Luca and Tony learned how Steve and Banner had been brought to Monaco, then invited them to join the Justice League. Banner accepted, and Steve agreed to keep an eye on the Stark brothers and pursue his grudge against Fury as they prepared to return to New York.

• Luca arrived at the hotel restaurant with Wanda and Pietro, and he and Tony traded insults before the group began eating.
• Steve told Luca and Tony that Fury had dug him out of the ice, tried to brainwash him into joining the Avengers, and branded the Stark brothers terrorists.
• Banner explained that mercenaries had captured him with nerve gas and dropped him from a helicopter onto the racetrack; Tony suspected Hydra had arranged it.
• Luca asked Steve about a close comrade or old flame, but Steve denied having a male lover, and Luca kept the information from his vision about Bucky to himself.
• Luca invited Steve and Banner to join the Justice League, and Banner accepted while Steve agreed to join so he could watch the Stark brothers and settle things with Fury.
• Luca announced that they would return to New York the next morning.

Wanda chose to stay with Luca, believing he could help uncover who destroyed her family, while Pietro agreed to stay with her. After returning to Malibu, Luca told Tony that Bucky Barnes had killed their parents, and the brothers began planning a secret search for him and the organization behind him.

• Pietro urged Wanda to flee, but Wanda refused and persuaded him to stay while they used Luca’s resources to investigate their family’s destruction.
• On Tony’s private plane, Pietro tried to steal silver forks, Luca stopped him, and Wanda offered Luca wine while interpreting his insults toward Tony as hidden affection.
• Pepper left with Jessica, and Luca brought Tony, Steve, Banner, Wanda, and Pietro to his Malibu villa before summoning Tony to the secured lab.
• Luca told Tony that Wanda’s illusion had shown him Bucky Barnes causing their parents’ 1991 car crash, and Tony flew into a rage.
• Luca restrained Tony and argued that they should conceal what they knew while secretly tracking Bucky and the organization behind him.
• Tony calmed down and agreed with Luca to continue their public activities while secretly searching for Bucky and preparing their revenge.

Nick Fury learned that Steve Rogers and Bruce Banner had joined the Stark brothers, leaving S.H.I.E.L.D. outmatched by the Justice League. Back in Malibu, Luca called Gwen Stacy and said he would visit New York soon to deliver Stark Industries’ security contract.

• Coulson reported that Steve Rogers and Bruce Banner had flown to Malibu with the Stark brothers after cooperating with them in Monaco.
• Fury realized that the Justice League had gathered Luca, Tony, Captain America, Hulk, and two Spider-Men, and ordered Coulson to monitor the Malibu villa.
• Luca called Gwen Stacy, flirted with her, and said he would bring Stark Industries’ security contract to her father in New York.
• Tony criticized Luca for flirting instead of focusing on their revenge plans, and Luca said he was balancing work and leisure.

Wong arrived through a magical portal to recruit Luca and Tony to learn magic, but the Stark household mistook him for a scammer and reacted with suspicion. The chapter ended with Tony threatening to have JARVIS attack Wong if he did not leave.

• Steve struggled with the television and remote until Luca shut the TV off and began discussing the group's next move.
• Luca sensed danger and warned everyone as a golden, circular portal opened in the living room.
• Wong stepped through the portal and recognized the powerful people gathered around him, including Luca, Tony, Captain America, Hulk, and Wanda.
• Steve insulted the portal and Wong, while Luca questioned whether Wong was another street performer.
• Wong said the Ancient One had sent him to teach Luca and Tony magic, but Luca asked whether the training came with free shipping.
• Tony dismissed Wong as a possible door-to-door scammer and threatened to have JARVIS attack him if he did not leave.

Wong demonstrated the mystic arts to Tony, Steve, Wanda, and Luca, using magic to overpower Steve and reshape the living room. Luca became fascinated by magic and agreed to hear Wong out, allowing him to stay at the Stark home.

• Wong summoned a magic shield that stopped Steve's punch, bound him with a golden whip, and dropped him through portals.
• Wong warped the living room into a shifting geometric maze, shocking Tony, Wanda, and Luca.
• Luca sensed the unfamiliar magical energy and became interested in absorbing it to grow stronger.
• Luca invited Wong to stay with room and board and agreed to listen about magic.
• Wong welcomed the chance to begin his mission, while Luca and Tony shared a knowing smile.

Wong explained how Kamar-Taj mages borrowed energy from other dimensions, then recognized Wanda’s power as Chaos Magic and identified her as the Scarlet Witch. Luca and Tony immediately planned to study and exploit her abilities, while Luca appointed Wong the Justice League’s magical adviser.

• Wong demonstrated magic and explained that Kamar-Taj mages drew energy from other dimensions, prompting Tony and Luca to compare them to hackers borrowing power.
• Wanda released her red energy, and Wong recognized it as Chaos Magic and called her the Scarlet Witch, a wielder of reality-altering power.
• Wanda and Pietro reacted with shock as Wong explained that Wanda was an independent source of energy who did not need spells or borrowed power.
• Tony ordered JARVIS to model Chaos Magic for the Arc Reactor, while Luca told Wanda to provide blood samples so he could test whether he could absorb her power.
• Luca appointed Wong the Justice League’s chief magical adviser and ordered him to teach them everything he knew about magic.