Recaps

Ye Mo used the Extremis Virus residue to trace a rhythmic signal to an abandoned industrial zone, where Tony’s scans found Killian’s gathering forces. Ye Mo then realized Killian had sensed their tracking attempt, while a Vibranium fragment began resonating with the same signal.

• Ye Mo followed recurring viral fluctuations with Memory Resonance and located a cluster of heat sources southeast of the laboratory.
• Ye Mo told Tony the signals pointed to a site within fifteen kilometers, and Tony ordered S.H.I.E.L.D. to send reconnaissance drones discreetly.
• Tony’s drones detected at least six heat sources inside a factory building, and Ye Mo warned that the Extremis subjects were being prepared for warfare.
• Ye Mo experienced a brief vision of a lab-coated figure and concluded Killian had sent it to test their mental link.
• Ye Mo noticed the Vibranium fragment vibrating at the same frequency as the signal he had tracked.

Ye Mo, Tony, and Emma Frost realized Killian had detected their surveillance and was already synchronizing a viral attack, so they created the City Guardian Response Plan to coordinate trusted allies. Thor joined the new network first, but the fragment in Ye Mo’s pocket suddenly burned hot as another signal connected.

• Ye Mo explained that Killian had sent a deliberate mental signal and was calibrating the virus attack against the Anti-Extremis Armor’s suppression frequency.
• Emma Frost warned that viral carriers could spread through half the city within three hours, while Tony identified six dangerously feverish people at an industrial site.
• Ye Mo proposed coordinating trusted combat assets through a shared early-warning network, and Emma Frost supported the plan.
• Tony established the encrypted City Guardian Response Plan, with Ye Mo, Tony, and Emma Frost as its initial nodes.
• Thor became the first verified ally to connect, and additional signals began joining the network.
• As a new signal connected, the vibranium fragment in Ye Mo’s pocket suddenly grew hot.

Ye Mo defended Tony’s laboratory from an assault by Extremis Soldiers, using his Steel Bone to withstand grenades, rockets, and gunfire while Tony activated automated turrets. As more powerful enemies regrouped outside and Ye Mo’s armor neared its limit, he braced for another attack to keep the laboratory secure.

• Ye Mo sensed the attackers approaching when the vibranium fragment in his pocket heated up, and he transformed his body into Steel Bone before the laboratory door.
• Ye Mo pinned a grenade beneath his steel palm and then endured a rocket blast that left him scorched but standing.
• Tony directed Ye Mo to activate concealed turrets, which shot at the attackers as Ye Mo knocked several enemies aside.
• Ye Mo protected Tony’s equipment from an Extremis Soldier’s shotgun blast and struck the soldier with a blade formed from his Steel Bone arm.
• Ye Mo shielded the laboratory from another rocket with his back, sustaining severe damage while his Steel Bone began repairing itself.
• As more Extremis Soldiers, including enhanced variants, regrouped outside, Ye Mo returned to the doorway and prepared to hold it against their next attack.

Ye Mo defended the laboratory doorway against repeated attacks while Tony worked to finish loading the Anti-Extremis Armor's core program. The enemy regrouped for another assault just as Tony neared completion, and Ye Mo braced himself to meet it.

• Ye Mo, badly injured and nearly exhausted, held the doorway while Tony continued working behind him.
• Ye Mo fought off attackers, dodged poisoned needles, and stopped enemies trying to enter through the window and ventilation duct.
• Ye Mo defeated three soldiers carrying high-frequency blades, but his steel bone body continued to crack as Tony reported the core module was ninety-two percent complete.
• Ye Mo and Tony joked about what would happen if Ye Mo fell, then Ye Mo raised his arms as flames flared outside the door again.

Ye Mo used a newly awakened Group Healing ability to stabilize the wounded researchers while Tony worked to finish the armor. The healing left Ye Mo’s Steel Bone severely strained, and the chapter ended with the outside threat still active and Tony’s data packaging stalled by a missing parameter.

• Ye Mo noticed the injured researchers and combined ability fragments to create Group Healing.
• Ye Mo sent healing pulses through the medical area while Emma Frost calmed the wounded by conveying that they were still alive.
• The researchers’ injuries stabilized, but Ye Mo exhausted himself and Group Healing entered an unknown cooldown.
• Tony reported that the armor’s core module was nearly complete, then found that final data validation was blocked by a missing parameter.
• Ye Mo, Emma Frost, and Tony remained in the laboratory as distant explosions showed the crisis was still unfolding outside.

Tony completed the Anti-Extremis Armor after tracing a strange bioenergy pulse from Ye Mo, and the two prepared to leave the damaged base and track Killian. Ye Mo was still injured, but he planned to use his energy-tracking ability and Vibranium fragment to locate their enemy before attacking.

• Tony traced a bioenergy pulse to Ye Mo and used its waveform to complete the armor’s encapsulation protocol.
• Tony tested the Anti-Extremis Armor, confirming that its heat-resistant membrane worked and its amplified punch blasted through a concrete wall.
• Ye Mo questioned the armor’s energy-response delay, then insisted that he would join Tony despite his injuries and depleted abilities.
• Ye Mo proposed tracking Killian and gathering information before attacking, while warning that the base could not withstand another assault.
• Tony and Ye Mo left the laboratory to strike back, and Ye Mo carried the Vibranium fragment that he expected would lead them to Killian.

Ye Mo unlocked Spatial Perception using the Vibranium fragment and located Killian in an abandoned biotechnology research institute. Tony headed there in stealth mode to scout, while Ye Mo returned to the base to save the coordinates and warned him not to charge in alone.

• Ye Mo focused on the Vibranium fragment and the Gene Spiral Tower until Spatial Perception revealed a damaged building three kilometers northwest with several heat sources.
• Tony identified the location as an abandoned biotechnology research institute and used his scanner to verify that Ye Mo had undergone unusual mental strain.
• Ye Mo told Tony that Killian was likely waiting for something and warned him to scout the building instead of rushing inside.
• Tony marked the coordinates and flew toward the institute in stealth assault mode, while Ye Mo stayed behind because his abilities were unavailable and his head hurt.
• Tony reported finding no external security but detected activity inside as he circled overhead; Ye Mo planned to save the map and note that Tony should not attack alone.

Ye Mo, Tony, and Emma Frost planned a coordinated assault on Killian’s base to rescue Pepper before the next virus synchronization. They activated Operation Daybreak and prepared to move, with the Vibranium fragment set to signal the start of battle.

• Ye Mo marked Killian’s location and reported that Pepper was inside the damaged base with at least six high-temperature individuals.
• Tony proposed a direct assault, but Ye Mo argued the base likely had traps and a contingency that could endanger Pepper.
• Emma Frost offered to delay the guards’ judgment for up to ten seconds, and the three agreed that Tony would draw fire while Ye Mo cut the power and Emma disrupted the guards.
• Ye Mo configured encrypted communications using the Vibranium fragment as a signal relay, and Emma warned that Killian could activate another batch of soldiers within three hours.
• Ye Mo locked in Operation Daybreak, then left the command center as the red dot on the map continued blinking.

Ye Mo awakened thermal vision through the Vibranium fragment and found a cool ventilation duct that bypassed the defenses of the derelict building. He gave Tony the “green light,” but they held position while waiting for the right moment before the virus synchronized and Killian was caught off guard.

• Ye Mo’s vision shifted to thermal imaging, revealing patrols, heat sources, and a cool ventilation duct leading into the logistics area and underground passage.
• Tony questioned Ye Mo’s new ability, then studied his projected thermal image and agreed the duct could bypass the main defenses.
• Ye Mo and Tony agreed on “green light” as their signal and prepared to infiltrate with Tony following in standby.
• Ye Mo called “green light,” but he and Tony stayed still, waiting for the best opportunity as the Vibranium fragment grew burning hot.

Ye Mo infiltrated the base through a damaged ventilation grate while Tony drew the defenses away with an attack on the east wing. After bypassing guards and reaching the core laboratory door, Ye Mo waited for Tony to create a final distraction before turning the handle.

• Ye Mo used the Vibranium fragment and Steel Bone Body to break into a ventilation duct and crawl toward the maintenance level.
• Tony attacked the base’s eastern defenses, drawing fire and allowing Ye Mo to slip past patrols and hide his body heat.
• Ye Mo ambushed a guard near the B-7 passage, shorted the access panel, and entered the route to the core laboratory.
• Ye Mo’s Thermal Vision failed and his headache worsened, but he reached the core laboratory door and waited for Tony to draw more guards away.
• After another explosion shook the floor, Ye Mo gripped the handle and turned it.

Ye Mo and Tony discovered that Killian’s laboratory housed a living Extremis incubator whose growth was accelerating. The tissue inside sensed them, leaving them facing an imminent threat.

• Ye Mo entered the core laboratory, found the Extremis-7 data card, and noted that its countdown had fewer than six hours remaining.
• Three guards arrived to capture Ye Mo, but he used Lightning Control to incapacitate two and knocked out the third.
• Tony joined Ye Mo and identified the enormous container as an incubator that absorbed electricity and would become more dangerous if its power was cut.
• Ye Mo connected the seventh-generation prototype to signs of escaped earlier experiments and learned that the containers were set to activate together upon a remote command.
• The tissue inside the container began pulsing faster, turned toward Ye Mo and Tony, and Tony realized it was waiting for them rather than a signal.

Ye Mo used a newly activated ice ability to freeze the viral equipment and stop it from exploding, but Aldrich Killian arrived and revealed that the experiment was adapting. The lab plunged into darkness as the tissue began to awaken, leaving Ye Mo and Tony facing Killian and the emerging threat.

• Ye Mo activated Low-Temperature Manipulation and froze the container, the lab equipment, and the surrounding area.
• Aldrich Killian burst into the lab, aimed an oscillation gun at Ye Mo, and declared that the virus would be reborn in flames.
• Ye Mo realized the tissue inside the ice was still alive and might be adapting to the temperature changes, so he warned Tony to keep it from absorbing heat.
• Killian charged his weapon as Ye Mo prepared to attack, but the lab lights suddenly went out and the tissue began trembling more strongly beneath the ice.

Ye Mo and Tony fought Killian in the laboratory as Killian used heat to melt the ice around the evolving tissue and tried to restart the system. The tissue began pulsing in a deliberate rhythm, and Ye Mo wondered whether it was counting their breaths.

• Killian fired at Ye Mo, who activated his Steel Bone Body and endured the blast while he and Tony faced Killian together.
• Killian released toxic mist from purple-liquid canisters, and Ye Mo activated his viral resistance and used electricity to slow the spreading smoke.
• Killian melted the ice around the container, reviving the pulsing tissue, then damaged the main console as Ye Mo struggled with the aftereffects of his transformation.
• Ye Mo disrupted the laboratory circuits to throw off Killian's aim, allowing Tony to strike Killian with a knee.
• Killian said the tissue needed a technological and genetic individual as mediums, then moved to the container as Ye Mo and Tony prepared to attack.
• Ye Mo noticed the tissue pulsing in a deliberate pattern and asked Tony whether it was counting their breaths.

Ye Mo activated Strength Enhancement and fought Killian alongside Tony, then discovered that striking the pulsing green tissue between beats could disrupt it. Killian and the tissue remained active, and Ye Mo and Tony prepared to continue the battle.

• Ye Mo activated Strength Enhancement and struck Killian, while Tony blasted his shoulder with energy cannons.
• Ye Mo and Tony attacked Killian as he regenerated and tried to heat the container holding the green tissue.
• Ye Mo struck Killian with a knee and an elbow, but Killian then accelerated the tissue's pulsing and triggered its emergence from the broken container.
• Ye Mo discovered that hitting the tissue between its pulses stopped its rhythm briefly, giving Tony a chance to blast Killian in the chest.
• Killian rose again and warned that the tissue would adapt, while Ye Mo and Tony readied themselves for another round.

Ye Mo and Tony teamed up to attack Killian, using electricity and Iron Man’s weapons to exploit openings in his defenses. Killian survived their assault and unleashed an uncontrolled wave of heat that left both of them battered as he declared his power.

• Tony arrived in the laboratory in his Mark 42 armor and joined Ye Mo in fighting Killian.
• Tony and Ye Mo coordinated their attacks, but Killian deflected most of their shots with intense heat and a shock wave.
• Tony planned to use the pulse cannon while Ye Mo disrupted Killian, and Ye Mo charged across the scorching floor to strike him with an electric sphere.
• Killian faltered long enough for Tony’s pulse cannon to hit his back and send him crashing into a laboratory bench.
• Killian rose with severe injuries, claimed Extremis had made him the first to complete its evolution, and began radiating uncontrolled energy.
• Killian unleashed a massive shock wave that hurled Ye Mo into a wall and damaged Tony’s armor before he declared, “This... is true power.”

Ye Mo’s emergency regeneration activated during his fight with Killian, letting him withstand repeated attacks and help Tony defeat him. Killian remained alive but incapacitated as Ye Mo’s power began to show signs of a brief cooldown, and they waited for S.H.I.E.L.D.

• Ye Mo’s emergency repair protocol rapidly healed his injuries, and he continued fighting Killian despite suffering burns and blows.
• Ye Mo targeted Killian’s wounds while his own injuries healed, causing Killian’s body to reject the virus and making him increasingly weak.
• Tony blasted Killian in the back of the neck after Ye Mo moved aside, leaving Killian unable to stand.
• Ye Mo knocked Killian onto his side with an electric sphere and told Tony they would question him after he recovered.
• Tony said S.H.I.E.L.D. was on its way, while Ye Mo noticed his regeneration and electricity briefly faltering.

Ye Mo and Tony subdued Killian, but the damaged Extremis container began leaking unstable, corrosive solution. Ye Mo braced the container with a torn-free support column while Tony went to activate the emergency containment program, leaving Ye Mo alone as his Regeneration began to return.

• Ye Mo restrained Killian while Tony used a Shockwave device to shut down his energy pathways.
• The container labeled “Extremis - Stable Phase” cracked and leaked corrosive green liquid, and Tony’s force field only slowed the spreading mist.
• Killian claimed that Extremis was a life-form that chose its host, but Ye Mo and Tony dismissed his warning as the container’s cracks widened.
• Ye Mo tore a metal support column from the floor and wedged it beneath the container to keep it from tipping over.
• Tony found the emergency containment program on a backup terminal in passage B-3 and left to trigger it while Ye Mo held the brace in place.
• Ye Mo remained alone at the leaking container as golden-red light began to appear beneath his skin, signaling that his Regeneration was returning.

Ye Mo used his recovering Regeneration to revive Pepper after her condition nearly became fatal. Pepper stabilized, but Ye Mo was badly weakened, the green virus continued leaking from the damaged container, and Tony had not returned.

• Ye Mo noticed the alarm change and spotted green mist escaping from the medical bay, where Pepper was convulsing.
• Ye Mo rushed to Pepper and received a system warning that she was near death.
• Ye Mo carefully sent Regeneration into Pepper in short pulses until her heartbeat and breathing steadied.
• Ye Mo covered Pepper with his hoodie and rested against the wall, injured and with his Regeneration dormant.
• Ye Mo noticed green residue in a glass beside Pepper and waited for Tony to return while the damaged container continued to creak.

Ye Mo used reverse-phase oscillation to remove the virus from Pepper, who woke after Tony confirmed her vital signs had stabilized. The lab remained dangerous, and Ye Mo and Tony stayed ready for the threats still outside.

• Ye Mo followed the system’s timing cue and used precise energy fluctuations to strip the virus from Pepper’s cells.
• Tony returned, examined Pepper’s readings, and confirmed that her viral markers had fallen to zero.
• Pepper woke and exchanged quiet looks with Tony and Ye Mo as her condition stabilized.
• Ye Mo joked with Tony about payment and food while both stayed alert beside Pepper.
• The alloy pillar creaked sharply, and Ye Mo remained in place, waiting for Pepper to be ready to leave and for the next threat.

Ye Mo and Tony fought off Killian’s attackers in the laboratory and prevented them from breaching the alloy pillar. With more enemies waiting outside and the pillar still unstable, they headed out to strike first.

• Three of Killian’s men burst into the laboratory, and Ye Mo used his steel-boned arm and electrical attack to take them down while Tony rebooted his armor.
• Two attackers tried to detonate a charge beside the alloy pillar, but Ye Mo’s Shockwave redirected the blast and prevented the breach from opening.
• Ye Mo and Tony defeated two more attackers, then disabled the last one with an EMP so they could question him about Killian’s plans.
• Tony detected regularly spaced heat signatures outside the laboratory, suggesting an encirclement, while Ye Mo’s Regeneration ability remained on cooldown.
• Ye Mo picked up a pulse rifle and led Tony toward the exit to attack the waiting enemies first.

Ye Mo activated his newly unlocked Time Lag ability to slow four attackers, allowing Tony to disarm them before their own EMP grenade incapacitated them. After they stopped an isolation door from closing, Ye Mo and Tony prepared for Killian’s next move as a signal continued blinking from the console.

• Four attackers rappelled into the laboratory, and Ye Mo triggered Time Lag, freezing their movements and an EMP grenade in midair.
• Tony disabled the attackers’ weapons, and the grenade detonated when time resumed, knocking all four men unconscious.
• Ye Mo noticed a hidden attacker operating the western control console, then jammed the descending isolation door by hurling a pulse rifle at its power module.
• Tony traced a protocol the hidden attacker had triggered while Ye Mo recovered from using Time Lag and warned that he could use the ability again.
• Ye Mo and Tony waited for Killian’s next move as the console’s indicator light continued blinking.

Ye Mo, Tony, and Emma Frost defeated Killian's men in the damaged laboratory, though all three were injured and their resources were nearly spent. They secured the area and destroyed the recording devices, but the victory remained temporary as they waited for communications and the lab systems to recover.

• Ye Mo and Tony used a short circuit, missiles, and a small Time Lag fluctuation to disrupt the attacking squad and knock several enemies down.
• Emma Frost arrived in Diamond Form, deflected a grenade, and used her psychic powers to make the remaining attackers turn on one another.
• Ye Mo slowed two fleeing enemies while Tony restrained them, and Ye Mo shielded the group from an explosive blast with his Steel Bone arm.
• Emma identified the attackers as Killian's men, and the trio collected weapons, destroyed recorders, and searched the laboratory for hazards.
• Emma confirmed the laboratory was secure, and the three survivors agreed to celebrate once Tony could fly again.

Ye Mo, Tony, and Emma Frost investigated the attackers’ resources and concluded that Killian had been backed by a larger, well-organized power. They decided to assume they were being watched, keep their response secret, and use information bait to lure the hidden enemy into revealing itself.

• Tony identified the attackers’ weapons and equipment as too advanced for Killian to have supplied alone, while Emma Frost found that their memories had been scrubbed and only the code name “X-7” remained.
• Ye Mo’s system warned that a greater power might be backing Killian, and Emma Frost offered to monitor the city for similar psychic signatures while Tony arranged satellite support and locked down incident data.
• Ye Mo pointed out that the attackers had precise knowledge of Pepper’s condition, the lab’s work, and gaps in its defenses, raising the possibility of surveillance or an internal leak.
• Emma Frost, Tony, and Ye Mo agreed to avoid networks and official channels, form a closed response team, and investigate the enemy’s background while appearing to do nothing.
• Emma Frost replaced “information lockdown” with “information bait,” and the three prepared to lure the hidden group into making its next move.

Ye Mo deployed the first resonator near the alley behind Starbucks to detect the scouts monitoring the group, while Tony and Emma Frost prepared to strengthen their defenses. The team expected the scouts to test them next and planned to install six more nodes before dawn.

• Emma Frost detected three synchronized scouts near Southern Fifth Avenue, and Ye Mo decided to plant a resonator in their path.
• Ye Mo used a maintenance passage to reach the alley behind Starbucks and embedded the resonator in a gap in the wall.
• Emma Frost confirmed the resonator was active, and Ye Mo returned with a decoy signal source planted in a nearby dumpster.
• Tony and Emma Frost observed signs that the scouts were suppressing emotions and adjusting their strategy after the deployment.
• Ye Mo planned to install six more nodes, Emma Frost prepared to refresh the emotional model, and Tony isolated the resonators and put J.A.R.V.I.S. into deep sleep.

Ye Mo and Tony discovered that an unknown drone swarm was using mental pulses to attack the city and encircle their lab. Ye Mo endured a second pulse to absorb a new mental-interference ability, but the drones then focused a full-power strike on the building, leaving him braced to face it.

• Ye Mo noticed that someone had retrieved his decoy signal source, and Tony confirmed the alley footage showed a deliberate recovery.
• Ye Mo detected an unknown mental attack from drones above Fifth Avenue, whose pulses disrupted the reactions of people across the city.
• Ye Mo and Tony realized the drones were targeting people with extraordinary perception and circling their building to prepare a synchronized attack.
• Ye Mo endured a stronger pulse, resisted its false visions, and absorbed a mental-interference ability that could implant false memories.
• The drones locked onto the lab and concentrated their energy into a full-power beam as Ye Mo prepared to withstand the next strike.