Chapter Summaries

Luke quickly defeated Blackheart and his demons in the Hell match while Stephen Strange waited for the fight to end. The match concluded with all six participants eliminated, and a portal opened to return Strange.

• The No Doors Bar audience watched Luke's punch destroy Earth Demon Greyshil and speculated about Luke's identity as Rocket Raccoon celebrated his winning bet.
• Blackheart ordered Wind Demon and Water Demon to attack Luke, but both tried to flee instead.
• Luke inhaled Wind Demon and vaporized Water Demon, then pursued Blackheart as he escaped.
• Luke tore off Blackheart's wings, overpowered his transformed demon form, and destroyed him with heat beams in a volcanic crater.
• Stephen Strange waited for Luke until his marker opened a teleportation passage, revealing that all six participants had been eliminated.

After Luke’s overwhelming victory in the second match, Strange and seven other candidates arrived in San Venganza for the final trial. They learned they had to save the town’s residents, who had sold their souls to Mephisto, and Luke and Strange set out to investigate.

• Luke rapidly eliminated contestants in the second match, turning it into a one-sided sweep that bored the bar’s viewers.
• Strange emerged from a teleportation passage into a collapsing alternate dimension, where Carter Slade welcomed him to San Venganza.
• Seven other candidates arrived, and Magik explained that Luke’s elimination of six contestants had sent them directly to the next match.
• Strange revealed that the final trial was to save San Venganza’s residents by guiding them away from the path they had taken after selling their souls to Mephisto.
• The candidates split up to enter the town, while Luke and Strange decided to investigate what had happened to its residents.

Strange and the other contestants arrived in San Venganza, where Carter Slade explained that Mephisto had enslaved the souls of three thousand residents. After the town’s violent nighttime transformation and its apparent reset at dawn, Loki concluded that the residents had sold their souls and proposed finding the mayor.

• Carter Slade told Strange that San Venganza was a projection from a rift in Hell and that Mephisto controlled the souls of its three thousand residents.
• Luke advised Strange to observe his competitors while he explored the town, then Strange wondered what Mordo and Kaecilius would do.
• At night, Thor fought townspeople who surrounded him and Loki, and the brawl escalated into a violent clash involving thousands.
• The next morning, the townspeople appeared alive and friendly again, leaving Thor bewildered.
• Loki explained that the residents returned each morning because they had lost their souls, then suggested that she and Thor find the town mayor.

The Sorcerer Supreme candidates pursued different ways to save San Venganza’s fallen townspeople, while Sorcerer Strange struggled to find his own path. After Luke suggested he think like the Sorcerer Supreme, Strange decided to confront Mephisto and reclaim the contract that held the townspeople’s souls.

• Loki deceived San Venganza’s mayor with a false gold-mine discovery and persuaded him to fund an excavation scheme, hoping the promise of wealth would give the townspeople hope.
• Kaecilius founded a growing congregation by preaching that Dormammu’s Dark Dimension offered eternal life, while Mordo challenged his methods and instead healed and encouraged the townspeople.
• Sorcerer Strange told Luke he could not understand how to save the townspeople, despite sympathizing with them and questioning the other candidates’ approaches.
• Luke advised Strange to put himself in the Sorcerer Supreme’s shoes, and Strange decided to solve the problem at its source by taking the San Venganza Contract from Mephisto.
• Strange put on magic-resistant armor and opened a portal to confront Mephisto, while Luke realized his advice had been misunderstood but accepted Strange’s plan.

Strange entered Mephisto’s Hell with Luke to reclaim the San Venganza Contract, offering his future soul as payment. After battling through Mephisto’s tide of evil spirits, Strange prepared to sign the deal, but a nuclear blast erupted behind him.

• Strange and Luke arrived in Mephisto’s Hell, where Strange explained that he intended to negotiate for the San Venganza Contract and offered his soul as a bargaining chip.
• Mephisto refused to negotiate on equal terms and unleashed a tide of evil spirits against Strange and Luke.
• Strange fought through the spirits with his Fire Kirin and magic while Luke battled the demons that threatened them.
• Strange reached Mephisto, who offered him the San Venganza Contract in exchange for the soul of a future Sorcerer Supreme.
• As Strange prepared to sign the contract, a nuclear blast erupted behind him and began obliterating Hell’s demons and spirits.

Luke confronted Mephisto in Hell over the San Venganza Contract, surviving the devil’s attacks and forcing him to hand it over. Luke left with the contract and Stephen Strange, who was declared the winner of the third match.

• Luke’s enormous lighting spell nearly tore Hell apart, and Mephisto stopped the destruction before confronting him.
• Luke offered to take the San Venganza Contract in exchange for leaving Hell, but Mephisto rejected his terms and attacked.
• Mephisto struck Luke and engulfed him in Hellfire, but Luke’s Devastator template adapted and made him immune to the flames.
• Mephisto continued the fight, then gave Luke the San Venganza Contract and demanded that he leave Hell.
• Luke promised to keep Mephisto’s surrender secret, then took Strange back to San Venganza as Strange was named the winner of the third match.

After Stephen Strange won the Sorcerer Supreme Tournament, the Vishanti judged him unqualified and selected Luke Cahill, Superman from another world, as the new Sorcerer Supreme. Luke accepted after a mission appeared requiring him to take the role, while Strange was left to keep growing and a multiversal crisis loomed.

• Stephen Strange won the tournament after Luke forced Mephisto to retreat, and the contestants returned to the real world.
• Ancient One sent Strange and Luke to meet the Vishanti, who praised Luke's potential and judged Strange lacking in strength, wisdom, and decisiveness.
• The Vishanti declared Luke Cahill the more suitable Sorcerer Supreme, and Luke accepted after an intense emotion surged through him.
• The Vishanti announced Luke as Sorcerer Supreme across countless dimensions, prompting surprise and interest from figures throughout the multiverse.
• Luke returned to Kamar-Taj, promised Strange he would eventually pass the role to him, and saw a mission to become Sorcerer Supreme and a qualified player for the reward of Tenth Metal X Element.

Luke reflected on the power of Tenth Metal and the benefits and obligations of becoming Sorcerer Supreme, then handed Kamar-Taj’s responsibilities to Strange. With Ancient One’s help, he used the Cauldron of All Things to travel back to the Main Universe.

• Luke examined Tenth Metal’s abilities and considered visiting the neighboring universe, though he preferred to avoid Gotham.
• Luke recognized that the Vishanti and the Dimensional Demon Gods had their own motives, and resolved to leave his duties behind whenever possible.
• A week later, Luke handed the Three Sanctuaries and Kamar-Taj’s work to Strange, Old Wang, and Mordo before preparing to return to the Main Universe.
• Luke encouraged Strange to trust himself and shoulder responsibility, then told him to send Rocket Raccoon and Thor back.
• Luke used the Cauldron of All Things and the Vishanti’s power to return to the Main Universe.

Eight months after Superman disappeared, Howard recorded how his absence had weakened S.H.I.E.L.D. and intensified global tensions while he searched for a way to find Luke. An assassin ambushed Howard on his drive, but Howard survived in his portable exoskeleton and killed him.

• Howard wrote in his journal that the President was undermining S.H.I.E.L.D., international tensions were rising, and he suspected Luke had been taken to a parallel universe.
• Howard described his failed efforts to find Luke, including his satellite launch and his plans to use the Tesseract, while noting that the military might seize it.
• Howard left S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters and drove toward a hotel as an assassin followed him under orders to kill him.
• The assassin blocked Howard's car and fired two magazines into its armored windows and body.
• Howard emerged in his portable exoskeleton, struck the assassin with its mechanical arm, and killed him.

Howard Stark fought off assassins in a powered exoskeleton until Captain Rogers arrived and saved him. As more Clone Warriors from Essex Corporation emerged, Rogers said he had important news about Bucky, Hydra, and the president.

• Howard Stark used his portable mechanical exoskeleton to defeat one assassin, then faced two more who attacked him with submachine guns.
• Howard flipped a Ford automobile into the attackers, but they survived the explosion and overpowered him in close combat.
• Howard activated the exoskeleton’s electric shock device, but one assassin destroyed its battery and prepared to kill him.
• Captain Rogers arrived, struck one assassin with his shield, and destroyed the other with energy from his eyes.
• Captain Rogers freed Howard and identified the new assassins as Clone Warriors from Essex Corporation.
• Captain Rogers told Howard he had news about Bucky, Hydra, and their president.

Mister Sinister and Conqueror Kang used the President to advance their plans while preparing to eliminate key figures, and Captain America and Howard Stark uncovered Essex Bio-Tech’s role in attacks against them. At Howard’s Long Island villa, they found a familiar visitor who appeared to be an old friend reunited.

• The President followed Conqueror Kang’s commands under hypnosis, while Mister Sinister rebuked him for ordering an assassination attempt on Howard Stark.
• Mister Sinister explained that he planned to control the Mutants and obtain S.H.I.E.L.D.’s gene bank, and Kang urged him to target Captain America and Nick Fury as well.
• Captain America and Howard destroyed the attackers emerging from a vehicle that contained Essex Bio-Tech cloning equipment, then connected the company to Hydra and the White House.
• Rogers told Howard that Bucky had become Leviathan’s Winter Soldier and that he had failed to rescue him from the Soviet Union.
• Howard and Rogers arrived at Howard’s villa and found a familiar man waiting at the dining table, greeting them as old friends.

Luke returned to his universe after traveling through several others and explained his absence to Rogers and Howard. After learning about the world's recent turmoil, he asked where the hidden enemies were so he could deal with them.

• Rogers tested Luke's identity with a question about their Brooklyn past, and Luke proved himself by recalling private memories of Rogers and Bucky.
• Rogers accepted that Luke was his old friend and lowered his shield, while Howard asked where Luke had been.
• Luke described his travels through the multiverse, including meeting another Howard's son and becoming Sorcerer Supreme in a different universe.
• Luke said he had returned about fifteen minutes earlier, visited Kamar-Taj, and then come to New York.
• Luke asked Rogers and Howard where their enemies were hiding so he could fly over and solve the trouble.

Luke returned to Universe 1024 and decided to target Essex Bio-Tech and Mister Sinister before confronting the president impostor. At the Hellfire Club, the White Queen mourned the loss of hope for Mutants until Luke appeared, leaving her astonished.

• Howard cautioned Luke against impulsively attacking the president, and Luke said he would first bring down Essex Bio-Tech and Mister Sinister.
• Howard explained that Essex Bio-Tech had taken over Mutant affairs and provoked renewed conflict, while Emma Frost’s Hellfire Club had repeatedly failed to stop it.
• The White Queen told Silver Fox Kayla she planned to rally Mutants in Boston against Essex Bio-Tech, while Kayla defended her relationship with Logan.
• The White Queen lamented that S.H.I.E.L.D. could no longer protect Mutants and that the hope Superman had offered was gone.
• Luke entered the Hellfire Club hall, surprised the White Queen, and pinched her chin as Kayla quietly left them alone.

Luke returned to the White Queen and enlisted her and the Hellfire Club to expose Essex Bio-Tech’s abuses and undermine Mister Sinister. Essex dismissed the protests until a televised accusation drew public attention to the company’s treatment of Mutants.

• The White Queen welcomed Luke back and described how his disappearance had unsettled the world.
• Luke asked the White Queen and the Hellfire Club to help bring down Essex Bio-Tech, and she agreed to follow Howard’s plan.
• Mister Sinister reflected on Essex Bio-Tech’s rise and worried that Howard Stark had defeated his Clone Warriors.
• Mister Sinister’s secretary told him Mutants were protesting outside Essex Tower over the company’s experiments and arrests.
• Mister Sinister brushed off the protest, but a television report showed a Black man accusing Essex Bio-Tech of forcibly taking his Mutant brother Bob and mistreating him.
• The Black man highlighted Bob’s marginalized identities, prompting the crowd to rally against Essex Bio-Tech.

Luke used Bob’s story to turn a protest against Essex Bio-Tech into a broader demonstration by marginalized groups, then killed Mister Sinister and stopped the ensuing riot. As Luke invoked the language of civil rights, the crowd began singing “I Have a Dream.”

• Interviews and demonstrations made Bob a household name, and a crowd of Black people, LGBTQ people, animal activists, and other supporters gathered outside Essex Tower.
• Mister Sinister called the president, who ordered him to deny government involvement and blame the scandal on a deranged temporary worker.
• Luke explained to Howard that he had used the dead Mutant Bob as a symbol of the oppressed and intended to draw public anger toward Essex Bio-Tech.
• Black leader Robert Williamsming and other activists addressed the crowd, and Mutants joined the growing protest by pushing through Essex Tower’s security.
• Luke flew into Mister Sinister’s office and killed him, then told the crowd that Nathaniel Essex had confessed and received punishment.
• Luke spoke from the sky as the crowd stopped rioting and began singing “I Have a Dream.”

Luke used Superman’s return to calm a racial riot, killed Mister Sinister, and then hunted down Conqueror Kang beneath the White House. After vaporizing Kang’s brain, Luke was suddenly transported to an Ancient Egyptian pyramid.

• Luke ended his speech to the crowd, shattered Mister Sinister’s ruby, and sent his soul through a portal to Mephisto.
• Luke told Howard he planned to shift public anger from Essex Bio-Tech to the Federal Government and said Conqueror Kang might be hiding in Washington D.C.
• Luke used Super Vision and Super Hearing to locate Kang’s secret base beneath the White House, then teleported inside.
• Luke destroyed Kang’s Clone Warriors with his Bio-Force Field and vaporized Kang’s brain with Heat Vision.
• Luke sensed space shifting and found himself inside an Ancient Egyptian pyramid.

Luke was transported into an Egyptian pyramid, where he found Apocalypse awakening and told him that Conqueror Kang was already dead. Apocalypse offered to transform Luke into a Mutant, but Luke refused and resisted the attempt, leaving Apocalypse shocked as the pyramid began to shake.

• Luke realized Conqueror Kang had sent him to an Egyptian pyramid to face Apocalypse, his ancient enemy.
• Luke descended through the pyramid and found the sleeping Apocalypse beginning to awaken.
• Apocalypse learned that Conqueror Kang was dead and praised Luke for killing him.
• Apocalypse offered to make Luke a Mutant, but Luke refused and blocked his radiant energy with his Bio-Force Field.
• Apocalypse demanded to know who Luke was, but the pyramid suddenly shook before Luke could answer.

A Middle Eastern warlord hired Caliban to locate an untouched Pharaoh’s tomb, but opening the buried pyramid awakened a towering armored figure and revealed a second overwhelming presence. Caliban suspected the first figure was Apocalypse and sensed that another being of comparable power had appeared.

• Caliban sensed a buried pyramid and led a Middle Eastern warlord’s men to its hidden entrance.
• The warlord ordered explosives to breach the sealed tomb and sent a team inside to investigate.
• Caliban sensed someone inside the pyramid and urgently told the warlord to flee.
• The buried pyramid rose from the sand, and a towering figure in metal armor stepped out.
• Caliban suspected the figure was Apocalypse, then sensed a second presence nearly as powerful.

Luke confronted Apocalypse after the former Pharaoh awakened, and their battle devastated the desert around the pyramid. Apocalypse recognized Luke as a formidable opponent, leaving their fight poised to continue.

• Apocalypse awakened in Caliban's mindscape, and the bearded warlord ordered his men to fire rockets at him.
• Apocalypse stopped the rockets in midair and detonated them before Luke confronted him.
• Luke and Apocalypse argued over Mutant supremacy and the survival of the fittest before Apocalypse attacked with lightning.
• Luke countered with high-temperature energy, and their attacks erupted in explosions that turned sand into glass and killed one of the warlord's men.
• Apocalypse appeared in front of Luke and traded a powerful punch with him, then admitted that he had underestimated Luke.

Luke and Apocalypse fought across a vast swath of land, but neither could gain an advantage. They agreed to a truce after Luke warned Apocalypse that his Tenth Metal sword could kill him, and Apocalypse teleported away to find his Four Horsemen.

• Luke and Apocalypse resumed their battle, unleashing powerful attacks that devastated the land from Egypt to the Persian Gulf.
• Iran’s king considered sending the military against the fighters, then backed down after learning that Luke was one of them.
• After hours of fighting, Apocalypse acknowledged that neither of them could win decisively and proposed a truce.
• Luke pointed his Tenth Metal sword at Apocalypse and warned him against pursuing a Mutant empire or exterminating humans.
• Apocalypse teleported away, intending to find his Four Horsemen and return to settle the score with Luke.