Chapter Summaries

Evenson explained why he joined S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Phase Two plan while the heroes argued, unaware that Loki's scepter was influencing them. After Banner located the Cube, an explosion rocked the Helicarrier, and Evenson ordered Tyler and the others to attack.

• Evenson told the heroes that he had joined Phase Two to limit its harm because the World Security Council had already approved it.
• Hawkeye and the woman accompanying him reached the Helicarrier, with the woman using a smoke-like transformation to slip aboard.
• Evenson warned Carter that the heroes' argument was strange, and Carter saw blue ripples radiating from Loki's scepter.
• Banner's instrument detected the Cube's location, but the Helicarrier exploded before he could explain.
• Evenson was caught in the blast and shouted for Tyler and the others to tear their attackers apart.

Explosions crippled the Helicarrier, leaving its passengers to face Hulk and invading squads amid the chaos. Sarah rescued Natasha from Hulk, while Sif, Tyler, and Evenson dealt with invaders elsewhere on the ship.

• Natasha was trapped with Bruce Banner in the damaged engine room, and Banner transformed into Hulk.
• Sarah intervened when Hulk attacked Natasha, then used a whip and a distraction to escape with her before Thor lured Hulk away.
• Natasha sincerely thanked Sarah, and the two continued holding hands after reaching safety.
• Sif and Tyler fought over three invaders, killed them, and then went hunting for more prey.
• Evenson used Saloras' Dark Strike to melt another three-man squad into puddles of pus.

Evenson’s allies defended the Helicarrier’s command center from an infiltration team, with Peggy Carter stopping Hawkeye and a mysterious sniper. The sniper revealed herself as Dottie Underwood, leaving Carter surprised by her return.

• Dumen swallowed a grenade thrown by the infiltrators and transformed into his Voidwalker form as they opened fire.
• Peggy Carter used Revenge to strike down the three infiltrators and criticized Nick Fury for the command center’s lax defenses.
• Carter used Ghost Vision to detect and deflect Hawkeye Barton’s Hacker Arrow before he could shut down the Helicarrier.
• Carter spotted another attacker in the ventilation shaft, but the black-mist sniper escaped her vision and fired past her.
• The sniper killed a wounded infiltrator who tried to attack Carter, then revealed herself as Dottie Underwood, leaving Carter to ask why she had returned.

Loki escaped and fought off Coulson while Hawkeye’s retreat was stopped by Natasha and Sarah, leaving only Loki’s pilot to flee. In the command center, Dottie confronted Carter with a dramatic claim of abandonment, then admitted she was a Deep Sleeper rather than a Sleeper.

• Loki tricked Thor into a cage, struck down the mercenary who freed him, and stabbed Coulson when Coulson hesitated to fire.
• Coulson blasted Loki into a wall, but Loki escaped as Hawkeye withdrew after his plan to cripple the Helicarrier failed.
• Natasha and Sarah ambushed Hawkeye, tied him up, and prepared to free him from Loki’s control; the rescue squad was captured while Loki and the pilot fled.
• Dottie arrived in the command center and accused Carter of abandoning her, drawing the attention of the watching agents.
• Carter challenged Dottie’s account of caring for her and exposed that Dottie had never retired; Dottie said she was a Deep Sleeper.

Dottie revealed that former Leviathen operatives had reactivated her and that Umbrella Corporation had given her shadow-based abilities. She delivered Umbrella’s offer of cooperation against extraterrestrial threats, backed by a threat to attack possible Cosmic Cube locations if Nick Fury refused.

• Dottie explained that Leviathen’s people had survived the organization’s dissolution and that one of them had contacted her.
• Dottie said her new organization had enhanced her abilities, including turning into black smoke and firing shadow energy through her rifle.
• Dottie identified the organization as Umbrella Corporation, alarming Nick Fury.
• Dottie told Nick Fury that Umbrella wanted S.H.I.E.L.D. to unite against extraterrestrial threats.
• Dottie warned that Umbrella would launch Operation Valkyrie and use the Ragnarok Helium-3 Cannon against possible Cosmic Cube locations if Nick Fury rejected its goodwill.

Nick Fury accepted Umbrella Corporation’s terms and inferred that its headquarters and giant cannon were likely on the Moon. After Coulson died, Evenson’s attempt to preserve his soul with the Soul Stone failed, leaving him grieving and confused.

• Nick Fury accepted Umbrella Corporation’s goodwill and had Carter take Dottie downstairs, while he and Hill discussed what they could learn from her.
• Nick Fury and Hill reasoned that Umbrella Corporation’s giant cannon was likely on the Moon, based on its mention of helium-3 and the weapon’s direct-fire nature.
• Nick Fury received word that Coulson was dying and rushed to see him, but arrived only in time for Coulson’s final words.
• Evenson mourned Coulson and tried to use a Soul Stone to preserve his soul, but discovered the stone was empty and crushed it in frustration.
• Evenson told Captain America and Iron Man that Coulson had been a good man and that he should not have died.

Evenson and the other heroes moved to stop Loki’s plan, while General Ross learned that New York would be invaded. The Eredar Twins urged Ross to seize the crisis as a chance to restore his reputation, leaving him uneasy about their dangerous plan.

• Tony, Captain America, and Evenson discussed Coulson’s death, and Evenson left to stop Loki by predicting where he would seek a powerful energy source.
• Tony realized Loki might target his home and left to repair his Iron Man suit, while Captain America gathered Hawkeye, Natasha, Carter, and Sif.
• Tony flew toward the threat, and Captain America led the remaining heroes aboard a commandeered S.H.I.E.L.D. aircraft.
• Natasha told Captain America that Evenson had returned to New York using a fixed-point teleportation spell and had recalled his subordinates.
• Saloras and Aurelles told General Ross that aliens would invade New York and persuaded him that he could use the crisis to restore his reputation.
• Aurelles revealed their plan to Ross, and Saloras promised that elite Brazilian mercenaries led by Hayden would protect him and keep it secret.

The Eredar Twins arranged for their own forces to protect Ross as the Chitauri invasion began, then sensed Evenson using the dangerous artifact Usaless. They teleported to confront him and warned that he could not control its power.

• The Eredar Twins told Luther to prepare the Shadow Sanctum and the Night Eternal Sisterhood to protect Ross, and dismissed the Brazilian hired guns as impractical.
• The twins saw the Chitauri emerge through the rift above Stark Tower and recognized that the invasion had begun.
• Saloras and Aurelles sensed Evenson using a dangerous power and realized he had gone ahead despite receiving Saloras's Dark Strike.
• Evenson returned to New York, put on his custom Corruptor robes, and prepared to face the invasion.
• The Eredar Twins teleported to Evenson, and Aurelles threw him into a table as Saloras scolded him for trying to wield Usaless.

Evenson explained that he planned to wield Uthalesh to ensure victory and shape the world beyond the war, despite the danger the artifact posed to his soul. Saloras and Aurelles agreed to help by branding protective magic patterns onto his arms, and the process began painfully.

• Evenson acknowledged that Uthalesh could consume him if he showed weakness, while Aurelles questioned why he insisted on using it.
• Evenson said the chaos outside marked the arrival of a new world and that he would use Uthalesh to prevent an End Time ruled by his enemies.
• Evenson revealed that his confidence in victory depended on wielding Uthalesh, and Saloras and Aurelles agreed to support his decision while warning him that a Soul Stone could not protect his soul.
• Saloras and Aurelles prepared to brand magic patterns onto Evenson's arms because they could not safely appear outside, and Evenson cried out as Aurelles applied the heated dagger.

While the heroes fought the Chitauri in New York, Evenson prepared a spell on a rooftop using Usaless and captured enemies as sacrifices. As the ritual began, another force noticed what he was doing.

• Thor attacked Loki, but Loki tricked him with a kidney strike, escaped aboard a Chitauri flyer, and left Thor behind.
• Sif, Carter, Natasha, and Captain America survived the Quinjet crash and fought the surrounding Chitauri.
• Carter transformed into her demon form and burned the Chitauri with Fel beams, leaving the others shocked.
• Evenson reached a rooftop after having demonic markings painfully branded onto his arms by Aurelles.
• Evenson began a spell with Usaless at the center of a magic circle while Tyler and the others arranged captured Chitauri as sacrifices.
• Another force noticed Evenson's ritual as it began.

The Order of Mages detected Evenson using Usaless while alien forces poured through a portal over New York. Olivann and the Sanctum mages struggled to stabilize the portal until Ancient One arrived, while Klayya wondered whether the dark wizard was someone she knew.

• Klayya sensed Usaless's power, and Olivann identified Evenson as the dark wizard he had been searching for but judged that he was not allied with the Chitauri.
• Olivann directed the New York Sanctum mages to focus on stabilizing the alien portal rather than fighting the invaders already in the city.
• Klayya recognized something familiar about Evenson but doubted he was the man she missed because of the tattoos on his arms.
• The Sanctum mages rallied around their duty to protect Earth, but their combined magic could only slow the portal's expansion and they neared their limits.
• Ancient One arrived through a yellow portal and apologized for her delay, explaining that unstable space had forced her to proceed carefully.

Evenson used Chitauri sacrifices to awaken Usaless, while Ancient One halted the portal’s expansion and decided to leave the dark wizard alone for now. The ritual summoned a gigantic Fel Lord, who appeared confused by his surroundings.

• Evenson noticed that the Cosmic Cube’s energy output no longer matched the portal’s expansion, while Ancient One’s magic stopped the portal from growing.
• Olivann asked Ancient One how to deal with Evenson, but she ordered the mages to leave him alone and said she would meet him after the crisis.
• Evenson discovered that Chitauri souls were incomplete and used more of them to supply the ritual’s required sacrifices.
• Evenson shouted for Usaless to awaken, and the scythe released red light and blood mist that formed a gigantic Fel Lord.
• The Fel Lord appeared holding a fan of cards, began to threaten the Holy Light, then noticed the unfamiliar scene and stared at Evenson.

Evenson summoned Uthalesh, the Wind Reaver, and discovered that its owner, Usaless, had been distracted by an internal Hearthstone tournament. After learning Usaless was a rare female Fel Lord who once threatened Sargeras’s authority, Evenson was left confronting the demon’s surprising hobby and appearance.

• Usaless explained that Evenson’s ritual had interrupted the final match of her Hearthstone tournament after she blocked outside calls.
• Evenson inspected and struck the scythe, then brought out Sathir to ask whether Uthalesh was genuine.
• Sathir confirmed the scythe was real and identified the demon phantom as Usaless.
• Sathir explained that female Fel Lords were rare and that Usaless had been the strongest of the three when Sargeras conquered their race.
• Usaless explained that female Fel Lords could command other Fel Lords, making their loyalty a threat to Sargeras’s control.
• Usaless revealed that she used her imposing appearance to intimidate opponents in Hearthstone tournaments.

New York’s police fought the Chitauri invasion with help from General Ross and covert allies, while Evenson negotiated with Usaless for her power. Usaless agreed to lend it after Evenson promised to seal Sargeras away.

• New York police officers fought the Chitauri while waiting for the National Guard to arrive.
• General Ross rallied the police chief, ordered civilian evacuations and defensive positions, and the chief followed his instructions.
• Captain America arrived, found the police already acting, and left to fight the Chitauri elsewhere.
• Veronica reported to her Mistress that the goods had been delivered and received orders to escort the actors safely and recover the corpses for The Hive.
• Usaless, dissatisfied with the Chitauri souls, asked Evenson to help destroy Sargeras, but he refused and promised instead to seal him away.
• Usaless accepted Evenson’s promise and agreed to lend him her power.

The Avengers and Evenson’s demons fought the Chitauri in New York as Hulk and Hawkeye helped bring Loki down. After the ritual was complete, Evenson joined the battle in a transformed state and declared his attack on the invaders.

• Hulk arrived and smashed Chitauri while Dottie used Shadow Power to protect Carter from a surprise attack.
• Natasha hijacked a Chitauri aircraft and lured Loki toward Hawkeye, who blasted him with an explosive arrow.
• Hulk hurled Loki into Stark Tower and defeated him with a powerful slam.
• Evenson released his demons to join the fight, and Sarah charged into battle while Tyler and Tripsy attacked together.
• Evenson transformed with horns and enormous wings, took up Usaless, and announced Black Scythe Lord’s Judgment against the Chitauri.

Evenson spread his newly grown wings to attack the Chitauri but nearly fell to his death before learning to fly. He then used Usaless to devastate the invaders, while Olivann judged him immensely powerful but untrained and believed the Sorcerer Supreme could suppress him.

• Ancient One sensed the soul-annihilating power of Usaless and considered how she should approach Evenson, while Klayya wrote down his dramatic declaration.
• Evenson leaped into the air without knowing how to fly, plummeted toward the ground, and finally managed to flap his wings and steady himself.
• Evenson launched Corrosion Seeds at the Chitauri, causing them to suffer and burst before his shadow power destroyed more enemies and their aircraft.
• Olivann watched Evenson's attacks and concluded that his weapon and strength were terrifying, though his unorthodox fighting style could be suppressed by the Sorcerer Supreme.
• Evenson advanced calmly through the Chitauri, melting any who came near him into puddles of pus.

Captain America and Sif struggled against the overwhelming Chitauri invasion as the battle turned against the heroes. Evenson arrived to protect them and began preparing a powerful spell, asking them to buy him time.

• Captain America watched Natasha, Iron Man, Thor, Dottie, Hawkeye, Hulk, and Peggy Carter face setbacks across the battlefield and questioned whether they could win.
• Sif rescued Captain America from two Chitauri attackers and urged him to fight on, even if they died gloriously.
• Evenson joined Captain America and Sif, absorbed life force from nearby Chitauri, and assured Sif he would not repeat the incident with something falling from the sky.
• Evenson used phantom scythes, Flesh to Ash, Legion Lightning, and Shield Orb to kill the approaching Chitauri.
• Evenson told Captain America and Sif to hold off the enemy while he prepared a big move.

Evenson fought alongside Thor against the Chitauri, using shadow magic to destroy a Golden Dragonfish before his attempt to cast a powerful soul-shattering spell was interrupted by Usaless. He gathered the souls of fallen enemies and unleashed Hand of Death, wiping out every Chitauri combat unit within eight kilometers and turning the tide of battle.

• Thor descended from the roof and joined Evenson as a Golden Dragonfish attacked them.
• Evenson sent a Shield Orb into the Golden Dragonfish, dissolving it into black slime.
• Evenson tried to cast Thousand Soul Darkness, but Usaless refused to give up its stored souls, so he disguised a different attack with Fire of Destruction.
• Evenson used Soul Charge to gather the souls of dead Chitauri while Ancient One watched.
• Evenson unleashed Hand of Death, killing every Chitauri combat unit within eight kilometers.

Evenson used Usaless to unleash a devastating spell that nearly wiped out the Chitauri invading New York, but the weapon’s power began to overwhelm him. The Eredar Twins prepared countermeasures as Evenson refused to release Usaless.

• Carter collapsed from exhaustion while fighting the Chitauri, then survived when Evenson’s yellow lightning destroyed the nearby invaders.
• Dottie watched the Chitauri fall and realized how powerful Evenson was, deciding he was a boss she could not betray.
• Evenson used the dead Chitauri’s souls to imitate Archimonde’s Hand of Death and decimated the invading army.
• Thor praised Evenson’s power, but Evenson became distracted and clutched Usaless as it filled him with power and pain.
• The Eredar Twins warned Evenson through his mind to put down Usaless, while Aurelles and Saloras activated their prepared countermeasures at Void’s Legacy nightclub.

Evenson was drawn into Usaless's inner world, where he uncovered her bizarre tournament fantasy and confronted her about using her power. Usaless offered to merge their souls in exchange for giving him access to all of her strength.

• Evenson watched Usaless parade as the champion of the 100,003rd Usaless Cup Hearthstone Tournament before she erased the arena and its audience.
• Usaless transformed into a giant bat and threatened Evenson, but he remained calm and she returned to her original form.
• Usaless accused Evenson of being addicted to her power, and he argued that their agreement entitled him to call upon it.
• Usaless dismissed their vague agreement and offered to merge their souls so Evenson could possess all of her power, while promising not to erase his will.