Chapter Summaries

Soldier Boy, Jim Hammond, and Steve Rogers helped the Allies defeat Germany, but Steve lost Bucky Barnes during the mission to capture Arnim Zola. Lynn accepted Bucky’s death as the tragedy that would complete Captain America.

• Soldier Boy smashed into a Hydra battleship in the Denmark Strait and terrorized the German navy.
• On D-Day, Soldier Boy destroyed a German bunker, Jim Hammond burned enemy aircraft, and Steve Rogers led the Howling Commandos through the fighting.
• After Germany surrendered, Steve and the Howling Commandos set out to capture Dr. Arnim Zola, while Soldier Boy dismissed the mission.
• The Howling Commandos boarded Zola’s train, where an energy-cannon blast sent Bucky Barnes falling from the car despite Steve’s attempt to save him.
• The Howling Commandos captured Zola, and Motoko Kusanagi reported Bucky’s death to Lynn, who called it the tragedy that completed Captain America.

Soldier Boy forced Dr. Zola to reveal Hydra's last fortress in the Alps, and Lynn set a plan in motion to destroy it and secure Hydra's Tesseract research. Steve defeated Red Skull aboard the Valkyrie bomber, but, unable to change its course toward New York, he sacrificed himself by crashing it into the ice-bound sea.

• Soldier Boy broke Dr. Zola's fingers until he disclosed that Hydra's final base was in the Alps.
• Lynn ordered the assault on Eagle's Nest and instructed Catwoman to recover Hydra's Tesseract research while ensuring Steve was the only one able to pursue Red Skull.
• Soldier Boy and Human Torch attacked the base as Captain America and the Howling Commandos fought inside, while Catwoman infiltrated the vault with Professor Pyg's guidance.
• Steve caught up with Red Skull on the Valkyrie bomber and struck him down, but Red Skull used the Tesseract and vanished into an unknown part of the universe.
• Steve discovered the bomber was locked on course for New York with enough bombs to destroy Manhattan, told Peggy he might miss their dance, and crashed the plane into the ice-bound sea.

After the war, Lynn orchestrated Steve Rogers’s state funeral and declined an invitation to join the newly planned S.H.I.E.L.D., offering Vought’s support instead. He then prepared a South Pacific island as a retreat for Soldier Boy and Human Torch, anticipating that peace would not last.

• Lynn learned that Catwoman had recovered Hydra’s Tesseract research, valuables, and rare metals, while Professor Pyg had escaped to Argentina with resources for New Hydra; Soldier Boy and Human Torch were placed in isolation.
• Lynn ordered Motoko Kusanagi to report to the Department of Defense and arrange a state funeral for Steve Rogers, which Vought International agreed to fund.
• Peggy Carter delivered a eulogy at the funeral, and Howard Stark and the Howling Commandos mourned Steve Rogers as the ceremony was broadcast worldwide.
• General Chester Phillips, Howard Stark, and Peggy Carter agreed to establish S.H.I.E.L.D. and invited Lynn to join, but Lynn declined and offered Vought’s weapons, equipment, and technology for sale.
• Motoko Kusanagi told Lynn that the South Pacific island purchase was complete and renovation had begun, and Lynn ordered Soldier Boy and Human Torch sent there to rest.

Lynn built Vought’s media and consumer influence after the war, using films and celebrity endorsements to shape public memory and sell products. As S.H.I.E.L.D. formed with Hydra scientists embedded inside it, Lynn ordered surveillance of Zola and expanded Vought’s peacetime campaigns.

• Motoko Kusanagi reported that S.H.I.E.L.D. had been founded by Howard Stark, Peggy Carter, and Chester Phillips, with Arnim Zola and 112 former Hydra scientists joining through Paperclip.
• Lynn told Motoko Kusanagi to have Professor Pyg contact Zola and monitor Hydra, then ordered Vought to acquire struggling Hollywood studios and a nationwide broadcasting network.
• Motoko Kusanagi acquired three film companies and the ABC Radio and Television Network for Vought, while Lynn prepared scripts about Soldier Boy, Human Torch, and Captain America.
• A Vought executive delivered Lynn’s cigarette advertisement plan to Soldier Boy on a private island, and a Times Square billboard helped raise Marlboro sales fivefold in one month.
• Motoko Kusanagi reported that Human Torch’s V-Style clothing campaign drew overnight crowds, while Lynn used Soldier Boy and Human Torch to target different consumer groups.

After Lynn’s company secured its first major commercial deal, he used the reward draw to summon Barbara Minerva as Cheetah and subdued her when she attacked him. He sent Motoko Kusanagi to prepare Barbara for life at the company, then considered whether business and cultural milestones would earn him more draws.

• Lynn received a draw after the company completed its first commercial partnership with more than $1 million in revenue.
• Lynn drew Barbara Minerva (Cheetah) and summoned her into his office.
• Cheetah attacked Lynn, but he broke her wrist, smashed her into his desk, and forced her to submit.
• Barbara returned to human form and tried to seduce Lynn, who called in Motoko Kusanagi instead.
• Motoko took Barbara to wash and change while Lynn ordered a replacement desk.
• Lynn wondered whether using superheroes to achieve business or cultural milestones would earn him further draws.

Lynn arranged for Barbara Minerva to meet Peggy Carter, who recruited her after Barbara stopped an armed robbery at the Metropolis Museum. When the Korean War began, Lynn refused General Phillips’s order to send Soldier Boy and Human Torch overseas, and Soldier Boy confronted him over the decision.

• Lynn reviewed Motoko Kusanagi’s report on Barbara Minerva and ordered a chance encounter between her and Peggy Carter.
• Barbara met Peggy at the Metropolis Museum and identified a fake statue of Bast.
• When masked robbers attacked the museum, Barbara swiftly incapacitated them without killing anyone.
• Peggy invited Barbara to discuss her curse and a possible future with S.H.I.E.L.D., and Barbara agreed.
• After the Korean War broke out, General Chester Phillips demanded that Lynn send Soldier Boy and Human Torch to the Far East, but Lynn refused and hung up.
• A week later, Soldier Boy stormed into Lynn’s office and demanded to know why Lynn had refused to send him to war.

Lynn subdued Soldier Boy and learned that Hydra’s Winter Soldier Project had entered its combat phase. After years of work, Lynn received the perfected serum, transforming his body and pushing aging away.

• Lynn stopped Soldier Boy’s attack, beat him down, and forced him to accept that he was Lynn’s weapon.
• Motoko Kusanagi told Lynn that Professor Pyg had reported Hydra’s Winter Soldier Project had entered its combat phase.
• In 1963, Lynn learned that Anton Vanko had joined Howard Stark on the Arc Reactor project and ordered copies of Vanko’s files without interfering.
• Dr. Horton presented Lynn with the perfected serum, which eliminated genetic collapse risks and reduced cellular decay nearly to zero.
• Lynn injected himself with the serum, endured the painful reconstruction of his cells, and emerged with heightened senses, strength, and vitality.

In 1970, Lynn became godfather to Howard Stark’s newborn son, Anthony, while Vought developed five Metahumans and staged a crime so its new heroes could debut. After Starlight’s televised rescue won public acclaim, Vought formally introduced her and Guardian as protectors and idols.

• Howard Stark told Lynn that his son had been born and asked him to be the child’s godfather; Lynn accepted and visited the Stark estate a week later.
• Lynn reassured Howard that Anthony would become a good man, then warned him that eternal youth was a curse when Howard asked how Lynn had stayed young.
• Dr. Horton showed Lynn five Metahumans whose memories had been erased and whose devotion to Lynn had been implanted; Lynn named them Dark Iron, Soundwave, Bloody Mary, Guardian, and Starlight.
• Lynn ordered Motoko Kusanagi to have Dark Iron, Soundwave, and Bloody Mary create trouble while Guardian and Starlight appeared at the right moment to stop it.
• Dark Iron attacked a Manhattan bank, and Starlight staged a televised rescue that ended with the crowd cheering and Vought media broadcasting her debut.
• Vought formally introduced Starlight and Guardian at a public launch event in Vought Plaza.

Lynn reflected on three achievements and the three summoned specialists he had recruited, each assigned a role in his growing organization. When Motoko Kusanagi reported that Anton Vanko had been taken by Soviet agents after arguing with Howard Stark, Lynn ordered Ada Wong’s people to follow him.

• Lynn recalled earning the [Timeline Convergence], [Brand Endorsement], and [Center of Attention] achievements and receiving three draws.
• Lynn summoned Ada Wong, secured her loyalty, and established the Intelligence and Infiltration Department for her.
• Lynn summoned Hannibal Lecter and made him head of the Strategic Operations Department, where he would plan the downfall of their enemies.
• Lynn summoned Vi and offered her a public role as a hero under his control.
• Motoko Kusanagi told Lynn that Anton Vanko had argued with Howard Stark over the Arc Reactor project before Soviet agents secretly took Vanko away.
• Lynn ordered Ada Wong’s people to follow Anton Vanko.

An internal dossier outlined Vought International's postwar mission, leadership, covert operations, and superhero assets under Lynn Morris. It established the company's mechanisms for controlling superhumans and public opinion and warned that unauthorized disclosures would trigger the Night Mirror Protocol.

• Vought International defined its postwar mission as guiding superhuman power and securing public faith through controlled images and ideals.
• Lynn Morris held supreme command, while Motoko Kusanagi oversaw surveillance, information coordination, and the central AI system.
• Dr. Phineas Horton headed superhuman research, and Hannibal Lecter directed strategic operations and ideological reconditioning.
• Ada Wong managed intelligence and infiltration, with Barbara Minerva undercover within S.H.I.E.L.D. and Lazlo Valentin maintaining covert contact with Hydra.
• Selina Kyle oversaw leak investigations, misconduct cover-ups, and the destruction of noncompliant records through the Night Mirror Team.
• Vought International listed its hero assets and warned that unauthorized disclosure of the dossier would trigger the Night Mirror Protocol.

At Vought Plaza, Hannibal’s staged attack on Starlight and Guardian was disrupted when Vi stepped in to protect a mother and child. The heroes defeated the attackers, and a new team was introduced to the public.

• Lynn watched as Vought began a live fan event for Starlight and Guardian.
• Dark Iron, Soundwave, and Bloody Mary attacked the plaza, overwhelming the heroes and terrifying the crowd.
• Vi stopped Bloody Mary from attacking a mother and child, then beat her back with her Hextech Gauntlets.
• Vi hurled a car at Soundwave, breaking his sonic attack and giving Starlight and Guardian an opening to defeat Dark Iron.
• The crowd cheered as Vi stood alongside Starlight and Guardian, marking the birth of a new hero team.

After the live rescue made Vought’s heroes national celebrities, Lynn drew a Joker card and chose to keep it hidden while his empire expanded. Years later, he prepared to spread Compound V and staged metahuman threats across three more cities.

• Lynn received a bonus draw for the televised attack and pulled a Joker card, which he kept as a hidden trump card for the future.
• Lynn’s empire expanded for years without activating any major achievements, and Dr. Horton gave the enhanced serum to Lynn’s core assets to stop them from aging.
• By the late 1980s, Vought had turned Soldier Boy’s war image and the Justice Trio’s staged rescues into popular entertainment, while Dark Iron repeatedly broke out for planned spectacles.
• Motoko Kusanagi told Lynn that Compound V was ready for mass production and proposed creating uncontrolled metahuman communities in Washington, Chicago, and Los Angeles.
• Lynn approved the plan to spread metahumans beyond New York and make the public depend on Vought to manage them.

Lynn spread diluted Compound V through Illinois’s water supply, triggering the emergence of Metahumans, then presented Vought as the solution and proposed a national registration and management system. As Senator Robert Kelly challenged Vought’s authority, Lynn planned to use him and fabricated evidence to strengthen public support for his control.

• Lynn caused a Vought subsidiary’s chemical leak in South Chicago to release diluted Compound V into Illinois’s water supply.
• Kyle’s powers awakened after his classmates trapped and bullied him, and flames engulfed the locker room as Metahuman incidents spread across the country.
• Lynn announced that Vought would propose the Metahuman Registration and Management Act and send Starlight, Guardian, and Vi to Chicago.
• Senator Robert Kelly condemned Vought’s role and called for a congressional investigation into the crisis.
• Lynn told Hannibal that Kelly’s opposition would help persuade the public to accept Vought’s system and ordered Ada’s people to plant evidence implicating Hydra’s remaining forces.

Ada Wong supplied Michael with evidence that led Robert Kelly to blame Hydra for the S.O.M.S crisis and prepare a congressional investigation. In Chicago, Vi was thrown aside by a magnetic awakener as Starlight and Guardian fought him, while Lynn watched, knowing Vought had engineered the unfolding events.

• Ada Wong gave Michael an address and passwords to an abandoned website containing reports on Hydra's research into an Inhuman Gene Activation Serum.
• Michael and Robert Kelly opened the site, and Kelly decided to announce a special congressional investigative committee targeting Hydra.
• A magnetic awakener in Chicago repelled the National Guard and hurled Vi into a building during a livestreamed confrontation.
• Starlight hurt the boy with a beam of light, allowing Guardian to charge him and engage him in a struggle.
• Motoko Kusanagi told Lynn that Kelly's press conference would begin in ten minutes, and Lynn watched as Vought's plan continued.

Lynn manipulated S.H.I.E.L.D. and Senator Kelly’s committee into racing to a suspected Hydra outpost, where engineered test subjects turned their competing raids into chaos. The chapter left Peggy Carter’s S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and the FBI fighting amid the attack while disguised reporters recorded the scene.

• Senator Robert Kelly blamed Hydra for the crisis and announced a Congressional investigation, boosting his public support.
• Lynn told Ada Wong to have Barbara Minerva steer Peggy Carter toward a Hydra lead and intensify the rivalry with Kelly’s committee.
• Barbara presented Peggy with intelligence identifying an abandoned Illinois industrial site as Hydra’s former Cradle outpost, and Peggy sent in the Alpha Assault Team.
• Kelly’s investigator Michael revealed that the FBI was also heading to the target, and Kelly vowed to claim credit over S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Peggy’s team and the FBI arrived at the steel mill, where Hannibal’s modified test subjects burst out and triggered a chaotic firefight between the two forces.
• Disguised reporters recorded the battle from a distant hillside.

A mysterious swordsman appeared at the abandoned factory and killed the modified beings just as Peggy Carter and Barbara Minerva prepared to act. He vanished into the wind, leaving the stunned agents with no answer about who he was.

• FBI and S.H.I.E.L.D. agents fought amid the monsters’ attack while the chaos was broadcast across the United States, enraging Senator Robert Kelly.
• Peggy Carter silently told Barbara Minerva to expose her secret, and Barbara began removing her glasses.
• A blue-robed swordsman appeared and cut down the attacking monster with a single strike.
• The swordsman slaughtered the remaining modified beings in less than ten seconds, interrupting Barbara’s transformation.
• The swordsman walked into the factory’s shadows and disappeared after saying, “Death is like the wind, always by my side.”

After Yasuo’s intervention in Illinois, Lynn Morris turned the public’s fear of uncontrolled metahumans into support for Vought-led registration, while Yasuo wandered independently and rejected attempts to recruit him. S.H.I.E.L.D., Hydra, and other factions continued to pursue him, but he remained beyond their reach.

• Senator Robert Kelly’s political allies abandoned him after the Illinois livestream, and he shut himself away amid public ridicule.
• Lynn ordered Motoko Kusanagi to portray Yasuo as a dangerous, unrestrained ronin and to push Congress toward a metahuman registration law.
• Congress passed the Metahuman Registration and Management Act, established a Vought-led bureau, and appointed Lynn its director.
• A month later, Yasuo used the wind to disarm truck drivers at a New Mexico bar, then left without drawing his sword; similar accounts spread from other cities.
• Peggy Carter reviewed failed attempts to recruit Yasuo, while Hydra’s leader ordered that he be watched and turned into a problem for their enemies.

Lynn Morris announced a voluntary metahuman registration program that promised immunity, grants, and career support, while secretly preparing to recruit and reshape metahumans into Vought-controlled heroes. He chose Kyle, a bullied teenager with uncontrollable flames, as the program’s first public success story.

• Lynn announced a three-month voluntary registration period and promised legal immunity, grants, and free career planning to metahumans who registered.
• Motoko Kusanagi reported that Vought had identified 3,142 people with high S.O.M.S potential and ranked them by commercial value, social connections, and threat level.
• Hannibal Lecter presented a plan to reshape metahumans through virtual reality, psychological interventions, and memory correction, and Lynn approved it.
• Lynn ordered Motoko to make Kyle, a Chicago teenager whose uncontrolled flames had caused a level-three fire, Vought’s first target.
• Lynn decided to present Kyle’s rehabilitation as a story of a troubled teen becoming a community-protecting hero and told public relations to prepare a headline.

Kyle entered Vought’s registration center hoping for a future, but the company tested, manipulated, and trained him to turn his anger into a marketable superpower. As Vought prepared to launch him as Vulcan, Motoko Kusanagi’s system recorded every response as data for the Hero Production Line.

• Kyle registered at Vought’s center and was assigned Trainee No. 001 before undergoing invasive tests and an anger-triggered powers assessment overseen by Dr. Phineas Horton.
• Hannibal Lecter reframed Kyle’s anger as valuable fuel and persuaded him that Vought could help him control it.
• Vought housed Kyle in luxury and trained him to shape his flames into precise weapons and defenses while converting his resentment into a desire for power.
• Vought’s public relations team crafted Kyle’s tragic-hero backstory, gave him the codename Vulcan, and designed his red-and-gold suit.
• Lynn Morris told Kyle the world needed his power, while Motoko Kusanagi’s central system recorded his reactions and added them to the Hero Production Line database.

Haozi warned the Awakened Mutual Aid Society about Vought’s plans and escaped agents searching for him. At Vought Tower, Hannibal proposed secretly funding Metahuman groups to make them appear dangerous, and Lynn approved the plan by asking for a conspicuous target.

• Haozi read Prophet’s warning about Vought’s elite training project and learned that Vulcan was being used as a sample.
• Haozi reported that suspected Vought agents were approaching his location, then escaped through a ventilation duct.
• Motoko Kusanagi briefed Lynn on the Awakened Mutual Aid Society and its distrustful, noncooperative members.
• Hannibal proposed posing as a philanthropist to arm and manipulate radical Metahuman groups into discrediting themselves.
• Lynn requested a conspicuous target, and Hannibal promised to choose a spectacular stage for the plan.