Chapter Summaries

The Punisher escaped the burning factory with the badly injured Daredevil, only to be surrounded by Madame Gao and the Hand. As the Hand moved to kill them, a spinning shield arrived from the rain and was caught by its owner.

• The Punisher rescued Daredevil from the collapsing factory and fled while the burning Luke Cage pursued them.
• The Punisher emerged into a courtyard surrounded by Hand fighters, where Madame Gao explained that Bane had been offered to settle the Hand’s weapons debt.
• The Hand restrained Luke Cage with rune-marked chains and prepared to attack the Punisher and Daredevil.
• The Punisher drew the single bullet he had saved for desperate straits and held the gun to Daredevil’s jaw as Madame Gao ordered the Hand to kill him.
• A spinning shield shattered several katanas and a lamppost before its owner caught it in the firelight.

Captain America joined Frank and the injured Daredevil in a battle against The Hand, facing a serum-enhanced Luke Cage while Dum Dum Dugan arrived with a military truck. Steve stayed behind to hold off the attackers as Madame Gao warned that he could not save everyone.

• Captain America rescued Frank from The Hand’s assault, and the two fought together while Steve explained he had tracked stolen Stark Industries weapons to the factory.
• Madame Gao ordered her fighters to capture Captain America alive, while Luke Cage attacked him with overwhelming strength.
• Steve recognized the suffering beneath Luke’s rage and threw his shield to save Frank and the unconscious Daredevil from the surrounding ninjas.
• Dum Dum Dugan drove into the yard and urged everyone to escape in his truck.
• Frank loaded Daredevil into the truck, but Steve stayed behind to hold off Luke and The Hand as Madame Gao approached.

Captain America held off Luke Cage and the Hand so Dum Dum Dugan could escape with Daredevil, then fled when the others were safe. Dugan and Punisher were ambushed on the way to a clinic, and the Hand took the dying Daredevil after their truck was wrecked.

• Captain America ordered Dum Dum Dugan to escape with Daredevil while he stayed behind to fight Luke Cage and the Hand.
• Madame Gao told Captain America that the Hand wanted Daredevil, and Luke Cage broke several of his ribs during their fight.
• Captain America used Luke Cage's punch to roll away and run, then checked his locator and saw that Dugan's truck was two kilometers away.
• Dugan drove toward Hannibal Lecter's clinic while Punisher treated Daredevil, but Hand ninjas pursued and attacked their truck.
• A pickup truck rammed Dugan's truck and flipped it, leaving Dugan and Punisher badly injured as two red-clad ninjas carried off Daredevil.

Steve Rogers assembled a team of dangerous operatives to strike at Shocker’s operations in South America, while Frank Castle reported that Hell’s Kitchen had descended into chaos. The chapter ended with Frank naming Bane as the fourth force battling for control of the district.

• News reports described Tony Stark’s Iron Man armor and Vought International’s growing roster of superheroes.
• Steve Rogers and Dum Dum Dugan reviewed files on ruthless operatives and planned to attack Shocker’s underground Wolf’s Lairs in South America.
• Frank Castle arrived and told Steve he had found no trace of Daredevil or the Hand.
• Frank reported that the Fifteenth Precinct had been massacred and that officials blamed the deaths on a chemical plant gas leak.
• Frank explained that Joker’s masked thugs, the Hand, and Kingpin’s regrouped gangs were fighting over Hell’s Kitchen, then revealed Bane was a fourth contender.

Steve and the Howling Commandos realized they needed at least twenty million dollars to mount a rescue mission for Bucky, so they decided to seek help from Vought’s Lynn Morris despite Steve’s fear of becoming beholden to the corporation. They planned to visit Vought International the next morning, with Steve intending to tell Morris the truth and offer whatever he could in return.

• Frank explained that a South American operation would cost at least twenty million dollars, leaving Steve without enough money to act against Shocker.
• Dum Dum and Frank suggested asking Lynn Morris for funding, and Steve worried that accepting Vought’s help would compromise the Howling Commandos’ independence.
• Steve agreed that Morris was their only realistic source of money and weapons, especially because Shocker was accelerating the modification of Unit Two.
• Frank decided to join Steve, saying he could not investigate The Hand alone and wanted to help after Daredevil had saved his life.
• Steve, Dum Dum, and Frank agreed to visit Vought International headquarters the next morning, while Frank mentioned Vought’s new hero, Heavy Artillery.
• Steve resolved to tell Morris that he needed money, weapons, and help, but the chapter ended before he named what he would offer in return.

Steve Rogers, Dum Dum Dugan, and Frank Castle went to Vought International to request funding, weapons, and intelligence for an operation against Shocker. Lynn Morris agreed to provide everything in exchange for Clock Tower intelligence support, while revealing that Bucky Barnes was alive but running out of time.

• Steve Rogers, Dum Dum Dugan, and Frank Castle entered Vought International headquarters and followed Tifa to Lynn Morris's office.
• Steve asked Lynn for twenty million dollars, special-operations weapons and equipment, and intelligence on Shocker's South American bases.
• Lynn showed the men intelligence on Shocker, Elektra, and Bucky Barnes, then offered the requested resources in exchange for Clock Tower real-time intelligence support during the operation.
• Steve accepted Lynn's terms and received an agreement and Shocker's underground blueprints from Chloe O'Brien.
• Lynn warned Steve that Bucky was alive but could not wait much longer, and Frank left the office suspecting he might eventually use his revolver on someone in the building.

Madame Gao and the Hand tortured Daredevil for seven days, then sealed his broken body inside a black coffin infused with dragon bone to prepare him as the vessel for the Beast. The coffin began to crack as Daredevil transformed, and Madame Gao gave him three days before Black Sky would emerge.

• Madame Gao and a white-haired monk subjected Daredevil to seven days of sensory torture with needles and copper conductors, breaking down his senses and resolve.
• Madame Gao persuaded Daredevil that his efforts to protect Hell's Kitchen had brought him only suffering and ordered the deathsworn to prepare the black coffin.
• The deathsworn placed Daredevil in the coffin's black sludge, while the monk and deathsworn completed a blood sacrifice to summon the Beast.
• Madame Gao dismissed concerns that Lynn Morris would discover the Hand's plan, saying Joker's chaos and Bane's role as a distraction would protect Black Sky's emergence.
• The coffin began to crack under the pounding from within, and Madame Gao ordered the Hand to wait three days for Daredevil to absorb the dragon bone.

Homelander fought a rampaging green monster in Brooklyn while cameras broadcast the battle across the city, and Lynn Morris forced him to protect Vought’s image instead of unleashing his rage. As the monster lifted an oil tanker, Tony Stark arrived in powered armor and claimed the fight for Stark Industries.

• The green monster wrecked military vehicles and a helicopter, prompting Motoko Kusanagi to redirect surveillance and Lynn Morris to order Homelander to behave for the cameras.
• Homelander rescued children from an overturned school bus, then confronted the monster as it charged through Brooklyn.
• The monster battered Homelander and resisted his Heat Vision, grew larger, and smashed him through the doors of Chase Bank.
• Homelander restrained his desire to kill the monster because drones and millions of viewers were watching, while the monster lifted an oil tanker over its head.
• Tony Stark struck the tanker with a missile, flew through the resulting flames in his powered armor, and told Homelander to stand back.

Iron Man, Homelander, and the military joined the fight against Hulk, but their attacks only escalated the destruction. As the battlefield descended into chaos, Abomination appeared on camera.

• Iron Man arrived and mocked Homelander before firing missiles at Hulk, which only made Hulk stronger.
• Homelander attacked Hulk, who grabbed him by the cape and repeatedly slammed him into the ground.
• Iron Man blasted Hulk into a building, but Homelander recovered and tried to choke him before Hulk forced his hands apart and threw him through a wall.
• General Ross ordered the military to use sonic weapons, which hurt Hulk, Homelander, and Iron Man but failed to stop Hulk from smashing the vehicles.
• Hulk destroyed military vehicles and resisted a barrage of weapons as the fight spread through the block.
• Abomination appeared at the scene, and Ross recognized him on the live broadcast.

Vi arrived in New York and joined the fight against Abomination, while Tony distracted Hulk. The chapter ended with Hulk escaping into the East River as Vi and Homelander attacked Abomination together.

• Ross recognized Abomination as Blonsky and ordered his remaining troops to retreat.
• Abomination struck Iron Man into a department store, then fought Hulk and grabbed Homelander.
• Vi dropped from a Vought transport and knocked Abomination through walls with a charged punch.
• Vi challenged Homelander and began attacking Abomination while Tony drew Hulk's attention with repulsor fire.
• Vi struck Abomination's knee, ribs, and jaw as Homelander held him down for her charged finishing blow.
• Hulk leaped into the East River to escape Tony, while Vi's gauntlets blazed with energy.

Vi knocked Abomination unconscious, and Vought seized him while Homelander and Tony clashed with General Ross in front of the press. The military’s secret experiment records were leaked worldwide, leaving Tony to wonder how much of the outcome Vought had planned.

• Tony lost the green giant’s trail in the East River and returned to the battlefield.
• Vi knocked Abomination unconscious, and Homelander posed for cameras while arguing with her over who deserved credit.
• General Ross’s troops confronted Vi, Homelander, and Tony, but reporters swarmed Ross with questions about the military’s experiments.
• Vought’s mechs arrived, loaded Abomination into a cargo container, and Vi crushed Ross’s pistol before his soldiers could intervene.
• JARVIS reported that an anonymous source had leaked records of underground super-soldier experiments and Ross’s signed approval to hundreds of news organizations.
• Tony watched Vought’s reputation rise and wondered about the full scope of its plan.

Lynn Morris sent Ada Wong and Nina Williams to seize General Ross’s gamma research and samples while Vought exploited the scandal to pressure him. Nina secured the data, Ada became bait for S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra, and Ross contacted Mr. Blue as his last resort.

• Lynn Morris gave Ada Wong and Nina Williams chips containing their targets and ordered Ada to pressure General Ross while Nina handled anyone who resisted.
• General Ross ordered Major Green to destroy Lab Three and erase the Project Zero records before Ada Wong confronted him with evidence of his embezzlement and offered him a deal.
• Nina Williams defeated the guards, disarmed Major Green, took his access card, killed him, and recovered the hard drive containing Hulk and Abomination blood data.
• Ada Wong told General Ross that Vought would collect his resignation the next morning, then left near Capitol Hill as S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra agents followed her.
• General Ross called Mr. Blue after Vought seized the research data and left him facing ruin.

Ada Wong and Nina uncovered S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Shadow Audit Project and learned that Thaddeus Ross had sent Blonsky’s remaining mutation serum to Samuel Sterns at Culver University. Lynn ordered them to retrieve Stern and the serum, but the sample caused a soldier to mutate as footsteps approached the laboratory.

• Ada Wong and Nina ambushed the S.H.I.E.L.D. team in Washington, captured Cole, and learned that Fury had approved the Shadow Audit Project to obtain Vought’s experimental data.
• Cole revealed that Thaddeus Ross had sent the last of Blonsky’s mutation serum to Samuel Sterns at Culver University, and Ada sent the recording and laboratory coordinates to Lynn.
• Lynn ordered Ada and Nina to bring Stern, the sample, and all related equipment back to New York.
• At Culver University, Stern examined the serum and added it to a prepared culture dish, which shattered and splashed onto a soldier’s neck.
• The soldier rapidly began transforming as Stern heard high heels approaching in the hallway.

Ada Wong and Nina Williams captured Stern, killed a mutated soldier, and seized General Ross’s gamma research for Vought. They then uncovered Madame Gao’s power buildup beneath Hell’s Kitchen, and the Clock Tower countdown reached zero.

• Nina Williams and Ada Wong defeated the mutated soldier, while Stern surrendered with a sealed metal box.
• Nina recovered thirty-six tubes of Bruce Banner No. 0 derivative blood, and Ada told General Ross that Vought had taken his samples.
• Vought’s cleanup team evacuated Stern and the research materials, then prepared the laboratory for destruction.
• Ada told Nina that S.H.I.E.L.D. had detected a powerful life signature beneath Hell’s Kitchen and identified Madame Gao as its source.
• Motoko Kusanagi fed the monitoring data into Vought’s main computer, and the countdown marking seventy-two hours since Madame Gao’s coffin was sealed reached zero.

Lynn Morris dismantled Nick Fury’s covert network and secured Vought’s control over U.S. superhuman defense, while Matthew Murdock emerged healed from a black stone coffin. The chapter left Matthew alive and transformed, with his next move unknown.

• Dr. Horton and Sinclair examined gamma-mutated blood while Lynn ordered Samuel Sterns to help create monsters for Vought’s supervillain production line.
• Lynn ordered Nina Williams to eliminate seven liaison stations, while Ada Wong reported that Ross was hospitalized and Congress had been persuaded to support Vought.
• Nina killed two double agents in a Washington archive, and Gin wiped out four S.H.I.E.L.D. agents in a Queens safe house.
• Fury learned that Congress had stripped the military and S.H.I.E.L.D. of superhuman authority and transferred it to Vought, then received a video implicating Cole as a Shocker infiltrator.
• Ada Wong signed a thirty-billion-dollar, three-year superhuman defense contract with Senator Thomson.
• Matthew Murdock emerged from a shattered stone coffin with his injuries healed and his blind eyes blood red.

Madame Gao sent a transformed Matthew Murdock, now called Black Sky, to kill the Joker and anyone threatening the Hand’s territory. Daredevil attacked a group of Joker-masked thugs in Hell’s Kitchen, killed them, and turned toward a building where people were still hiding.

• Madame Gao ordered Daredevil to attack the Joker and drive all intruders from the Hand’s territory.
• Daredevil’s black suit formed around him as he left the Hand’s lair with two short sticks.
• A group of Joker-masked thugs prepared to burn a building where Watchdogs were hiding.
• Daredevil dropped onto the thugs’ police car and killed their leader, One-Eye, with a strike through the throat.
• Daredevil killed the remaining attackers in seconds, then heard people breathing inside the redbrick building.

Daredevil slaughtered the Joker Gang and Kingpin’s men, alarming Frank Castle, who recognized him and tried to stop him. Joker watched the killings and celebrated Daredevil as his masterpiece, ordering the gang to prepare a welcome across Hell’s Kitchen.

• Daredevil smashed into a gang hideout and killed its gunmen, leaving more than thirty bodies in the street.
• Frank Castle recognized Daredevil through his sniper scope and hesitated to shoot, while Steve and Dum Dum Dugan urged him to wait for help.
• Daredevil deflected Frank’s armor-piercing shot with his billy club and rushed toward the clock tower.
• Joker watched the slaughter from Kingpin’s abandoned chemical plant and declared that the Hand had completed Daredevil’s transformation.
• Joker ordered the remaining Joker Gang thugs to release laughing-gas balloons and light bonfires to welcome Daredevil.

Lynn let Daredevil and Joker’s forces fight in Hell’s Kitchen so they would expose Kingpin’s remnants and The Hand’s hidden resources before Vought intervened. Meanwhile, Vought secured nationwide authority over superhuman crime and began taking control of military facilities and subjects.

• Motoko reported that Daredevil’s strength and abilities had increased beyond conventional Super Soldier Serum limits, while Tifa and Ada discussed how The Hand had unleashed his violence.
• Nina offered to capture Daredevil, but Lynn ordered Vought to wait while he and Joker’s gang drew out Kingpin’s forces and The Hand’s hidden operatives.
• Lynn told Nina to let the fighting expose The Hand’s elders and resources before Vought wiped out the underground factions, and praised Nina’s work.
• Daredevil fought Captain America and Punisher as Dugan drove their retreat; Joker’s water-spraying trucks then charged Daredevil, and Lynn ordered Motoko to warn and evacuate the heroes to South America.
• Ada told Lynn that Vought had gained nationwide authority over superhuman crime and high-risk subjects, while Blonsky was confined and Samuel Sterns had surrendered his gamma cell division formula.