Chapter Summaries

Evenson entered Milhark’s home to save him, but Natalia mistook him for another fraud and threatened him. After Milhark recognized Evenson as the devil, Evenson drained the bodyguards and used green energy to restore the withered half of Milhark’s body.

• Evenson rummaged through the refrigerator, ate caviar, drank vodka, and told Natalia he had come to save her father.
• Natalia offered Evenson rubles to leave, accused him of being a scammer, and threatened him with her pistol.
• Milhark called out to Natalia and said the devil had arrived, while Evenson walked in behind her with the bodyguards following stiffly.
• Evenson released green energy that turned the bodyguards into skeletons and restored the withered right half of Milhark’s body.

Evenson restored Milhark by giving him the life force drained from two bodyguards, leaving him wildly overexcited before he finally collapsed and recovered. After Milhark asked what Evenson needed, Evenson requested a Broken Arrow.

• Evenson used the two bodyguards’ life force to heal Milhark, who ran around the house in an uncontrollable frenzy and thanked everyone.
• Natalia worried over her father while Evenson explained that Milhark had received too much vitality.
• Milhark collapsed after spending the night and part of the afternoon running around, then woke with his right side restored.
• Milhark offered to host Evenson with vodka and caviar, and Evenson asked what else the arms dealer could provide besides weapons.
• Evenson told Milhark he wanted a Broken Arrow.

Evenson bought two suitcase nuclear bombs from Milhark, who explained how nuclear weapons had become cheap after the Soviet Union's collapse. After Evenson left with the cases, Natalia asked whether he had paid, and Milhark said the purchase would go on his tab.

• Evenson asked Milhark for black nuclear bombs, and Milhark produced a list of available weapons.
• Evenson chose two suitcase nuclear bombs, and Milhark sent someone to retrieve them.
• Milhark introduced his daughter Natalia Voskya, who said her internship employer had fired her while she cared for him.
• Evenson advised Natalia to seek work at an American company, and the deliveryman brought the two cases.
• Evenson inspected the cases, took them, and vanished from the room.
• Natalia asked whether Evenson had paid, and Milhark said he had put the purchase on Evenson's tab.

Evenson returned to his shop and found police investigating the disappearance of Hakon, leader of the Marana Triangle Gang, who had fled into the shop and been killed by Dumen. Holmes explained that New York’s gang violence stemmed from disrupted drug supplies, leaving Evenson to realize that a high-ranking Greater Demon had brought chaos with him.

• Evenson teleported back to his basement and went upstairs after hearing a crowd in the shop.
• Holmes and Watson confronted Evenson, while Inspector Grayson and Detective Bell explained that they were searching for Hakon, who had disappeared after entering the shop.
• Holmes said witnesses had seen Hakon climb through a window into the shop, and Evenson glanced at Dumen, realizing Hakon was dead.
• Grayson showed Evenson his First Class Defender Medal and defended the police against Evenson’s accusation that they were cowards.
• Holmes explained that the deaths of General Caiba and the Three-Eyed Poison Emperor had disrupted drug supplies, causing New York’s gangs to fight over what remained.
• Evenson realized that the supply crisis explained the city’s chaos and that a high-ranking Greater Demon had helped cause it.

Evenson denied knowing Hakon while detectives suspected he was helping gang members escape and tried to search his property. Agent Sitwell arrived and identified Evenson as a S.H.I.E.L.D. operative, ending the confrontation.

• Evenson learned that gangs had started a war after their suppliers stopped providing goods and their stocks ran out.
• Holmes explained that Evenson’s unusual finances had made him suspect Evenson earned money from gang dealings.
• Evenson denied knowing Hakon and claimed he had been in Russia, prompting Detective Bell to dismiss his story.
• Grayson proposed searching Evenson’s room and basement, but Evenson objected as the confrontation reached a deadlock.
• Agent Sitwell entered, showed his credentials, and declared that Evenson was one of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s own.

Evenson reunited with Sitwell, Rumlow, and Melinda, who arrived to stop Grayson’s police team from questioning him. As the officers withdrew, Holmes noticed evidence linking Evenson to caviar from Milhark’s home, and Evenson arranged to contact him after the fish egg vanished in a wisp of green smoke.

• Evenson greeted Sitwell, Rumlow, and Melinda, then learned Rumlow and Melinda had lost half a year of bonuses after their team stayed out of the battle in Skovia.
• Sitwell and Holmes revealed that Holmes had once been a S.H.I.E.L.D. recruitment target but had not joined because of his personal habits.
• Sitwell ordered Grayson’s officers to stand aside, and Grayson reluctantly called off the operation because he lacked legal grounds to proceed.
• Holmes brushed a tiny fish egg off Evenson’s clothes and said he had believed Evenson’s story was true.
• Evenson grabbed Holmes’s hand and asked to exchange contact information, and the fish egg vanished into green smoke before Holmes handed him a business card.

Evenson learned why S.H.I.E.L.D. could not target the source of New York’s gang drugs, then faced Melinda’s admonitory interview and the next stage of treatment. Their conversation was interrupted when Pepper Potts arrived at his shop.

• After the police left, Sitwell explained that S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were helping the NYPD crack down on gangs after Nick Fury raised the issue and Minister Pierce ordered action.
• Evenson suggested attacking the gangs’ suppliers, but Melinda explained that their supply to U.S. gangs had stopped, making a strike politically dangerous.
• Melinda began an admonitory interview with Evenson, then said Peggy Carter had intervened and Nick Fury would not pursue the incident further.
• Melinda revealed her contract mark and prepared to begin the next stage of treatment, and Evenson agreed.
• Pepper Potts arrived at the shop, interrupting Melinda and Evenson.

Pepper Potts visited Evenson to ask him to help Tony Stark with severe anxiety after the Battle of New York. Evenson recognized Tony’s postwar trauma, and Pepper asked to hire him again as Tony’s health consultant.

• Pepper entered Evenson’s establishment while he and Melinda were discussing S.H.I.E.L.D. business, and Melinda went to wait in the back room.
• Pepper told Evenson that S.H.I.E.L.D. had hired Tony to design an anti-gravity flight system.
• Pepper explained that Tony had stopped holding parties, avoided women, worked obsessively on Iron Man suits, and suffered insomnia and nightmares since the Battle of New York.
• Evenson identified Tony’s condition as postwar anxiety and suggested that Pepper find psychologists for him.
• Pepper said Tony would refuse to see a psychologist and asked Evenson to return as his health consultant, with the price negotiable.

Evenson negotiated a $50,000-per-day fee with Pepper to treat Tony Stark, despite worrying she might cancel his pay again. After Pepper left, a spying Kilrogg's Eye left Evenson in tears, and he regretted teaching Klayya the spell.

• Evenson reminded Pepper that she had once tried to withhold his pay, and she promised to pay him this time.
• Evenson agreed to Pepper's offer of $50,000 per day and promised to stay despite Tony having scared off previous psychologists.
• Pepper prepared to pay ten days in advance, but a floating dark green eye startled her and watched Evenson write down his bank account details.
• Pepper left with Evenson's account information, and Evenson realized the eye was Klayya's Kilrogg's Eye spell.
• Evenson regretted teaching Klayya the spell after it caused him intense pain and threatened his secret savings.

Klayya secretly monitored Evenson and discovered he had earned a large payment, which she invested in Gospel Company stock. Meanwhile, Evenson gave Melinda another Fel enhancement and asked her to arrange sick leave so he could focus on his own cultivation.

• Klayya watched Evenson and Melinda with Kilrogg's Eye, then calculated his expenses and decided to invest the remaining money.
• Klayya bought stock in Gospel Company, a medical equipment company whose logo appealed to her.
• Evenson found Melinda waiting in his basement and moved two unopened chests out of her reach.
• Melinda drank Fel Water from Evenson's pressure cooker and endured a second body enhancement that hurt less than the first.
• Evenson asked Melinda to get him sick leave from the Director while he dealt with anxiety over spending his capital on treating people.

Evenson prepared to work for Tony Stark and went to Stark Industries, where Pepper told him Tony was staying at the villa by the cliff. Before leaving, Evenson sensed a dangerous, scorching energy in a listless man on a sofa and stopped to investigate.

• Evenson took leave, dressed for his new job, and refused to bring Klayya to Tony Stark’s home.
• At Stark Industries, Evenson found Pepper and Happy discussing replacing cleaners with robots.
• Pepper told Evenson that Tony was staying at the villa by the cliff.
• Evenson sensed unusual, explosive energy within a bored man in a wrinkled suit and changed his mind about leaving.

Evenson discovered that Aldrich Killian and his bodyguard possessed unusual energy linked to Extremis, then identified Killian as the competitor the Eredar Twins had mentioned. Saloras already knew Killian’s identity and his connection to Extremis, leaving Evenson surprised.

• Evenson sensed unstable energy and a hidden shackle inside Pepper's guest's body, while Happy identified the man's companion as a bodyguard.
• Evenson used Kilrogg's Eye to spy on Pepper's meeting and heard the guest describe Extremis and its ability to develop neural potential.
• Evenson learned from Happy that the guest was Aldrich Killian, a scientist Tony Stark had met at a 1999 science congress.
• Evenson contacted the Eredar Twins and offered to reveal the competitor's identity in exchange for next month's allowance.
• Saloras named Aldrich Killian and identified him as the person behind Extremis, surprising Evenson.

Evenson learned that the Eredar Twins had built an intelligence network by recruiting former Leviathen agents through Dottie Underwood. The Twins planned to meet the President of the United States and said Umbrella would soon be able to suppress Killian and take over his organization.

• Evenson questioned how the Eredar Twins had identified Killian as a competitor so quickly, and Aurelles credited their intelligence network.
• Saloras explained that Dottie Underwood’s long history as an agent gave her valuable training expertise and connections to former Leviathen operatives.
• Aurelles said the recruited agents had shared information that Killian’s organization had secretly cooperated with people in the military for years.
• The Eredar Twins said they would screen and reeducate the agents, then use Umbrella’s growth to suppress Killian and acquire his organization.
• The Twins left to prepare for a meeting with the President of the United States and told Evenson they would be out of ordinary contact for a while.

Evenson learned that Mandarin had attacked a US Air Force base and threatened President Ellis, a crisis that could accelerate the Eredar Twins’ meeting with the president. He arrived at Tony Stark’s home to work as Pepper’s psychological consultant, but Tony refused to let him in.

• Evenson searched the news and watched Mandarin claim responsibility for the attack on the US Air Force base and threaten President Ellis.
• Evenson concluded that the threat would push the president to make public appearances, potentially bringing the Eredar Twins’ meeting forward despite their isolation screening.
• Evenson arrived at Tony’s home and saw a giant rabbit doll bearing a Christmas message for Pepper.
• Jarvis told Tony that Pepper’s psychological consultant had arrived, and Tony ordered him sent away.
• Evenson threatened to blow up the two-million-dollar door with a fireball, then put it out and begged Tony to open the door.

Evenson got into Tony’s workshop by teleporting through a Demon Array, then used magic to make Tony face his fears. Tony first revealed a disturbing childhood memory, and Evenson made him relive his sacrifice in the Battle of New York without being rescued.

• After failing to get Tony to open the door, Evenson slipped a paper bearing a Demon Array beneath it and teleported into the workshop.
• Tony’s automatic fire suppression system covered Evenson in powder, and Evenson used cleaning magic to remove it before demanding compensation for his ruined suit.
• Evenson confronted Tony about his lingering fear of the Battle of New York, but Tony deflected by arguing over the IOU he owed Evenson.
• Evenson used magic to make Tony face his fears, and Tony panicked over a childhood memory involving Aunt Peggy.
• Evenson tried again, sending Tony back to the Battle of New York, where Tony was consumed by the nuclear explosion without being rescued.

After Evenson’s illusion forced Tony to face his fear of dying in the Battle of New York, Evenson challenged him to consider what price he had paid for power. The chapter ended with Evenson asking Tony why he hid inside his Iron Man suit.

• Tony admitted that the illusion was terrifying and that he still feared he might have died in the nuclear blast.
• Tony and Evenson compared their feelings about killing, and Evenson said learning Magic had cost him part of his soul and left him unable to feel anything when he killed.
• Evenson argued that he, Natasha, Hawkeye, and Captain America had paid a price for power, while Tony had paid almost none.
• Tony called himself an ordinary man hiding inside a tin can, and Evenson tapped an Iron Man helmet and asked why Tony hid inside it.

Evenson argued that Tony’s body limited the Iron Man armor and suggested remotely controlling it from safety. Tony acknowledged the idea but admitted he wanted to keep wearing the armor and showing off, leaving him unwilling to choose between that and staying alive.

• Evenson pointed out that Tony’s body kept the armor from reaching its full speed and would not survive powerful impacts.
• Tony argued that he needed to be inside the armor to make decisions, but Evenson suggested a brainwave synchronization system for remote control.
• Tony raised the risk of hacking, and Evenson countered that remote control could let Tony fight back from the laboratory.
• Evenson realized Tony wanted to wear the armor to enjoy people’s envy and urged him to choose between showing off and living.
• Tony grinned and asked whether he could have both.

Evenson urged Tony to talk through his pain with Pepper, and Pepper later discovered Tony had used a remotely controlled Iron Armor to deceive her. After Tony confessed that fear and insomnia had driven him to build the armors, Pepper embraced him.

• Evenson advised Tony to open up to Pepper, and Tony felt somewhat better after their conversation.
• Pepper arrived to find a giant rabbit plush and an Iron Armor pretending to be Tony in the living room.
• Pepper went to the laboratory and discovered Tony controlling the armor remotely while exercising.
• Tony's excuses angered Pepper further when he admitted he had used the armor to spy on her.
• Tony told Pepper he could not sleep and felt safe only while building armors and having her nearby.
• Pepper embraced Tony after hearing his confession.

Evenson saved Happy after an explosion tore through the Grand Theatre's plaza and took him to a hospital. He called Tony with the news, but Tony hung up before Evenson could ask him to cover Happy's treatment costs.

• Evenson ate at a Chinese restaurant near the Grand Theatre and noticed a high-energy reaction just before an explosion hit the plaza.
• Evenson shielded the restaurant diners from the blast, then went outside and found Happy badly injured.
• Happy had followed Killian's bodyguard, uncovered a suspected drug deal, and survived the explosion by diving behind an ice cream truck.
• Evenson carried Happy to a hospital and got him treated after first mistakenly taking him to a veterinary clinic.
• Evenson called Tony to report Happy's injuries and ask for treatment money, but Tony hung up before he could finish.

After Happy was stabilized, Tony thanked Evenson and prepared to pursue Mandarin, who had claimed responsibility for the theater bombing. Nick Fury put Evenson on leave and cut off his contact with active S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel, leaving Evenson convinced that the agency was avoiding a threat it could not handle.

• Tony transferred Happy to his own hospital, then sincerely thanked Evenson for saving him.
• Nick Fury told Evenson that Mandarin had claimed responsibility for the theater bombing and asked about Tony’s condition.
• Evenson said Tony was furious and would not be talked out of confronting Mandarin.
• Nick Fury approved the leave Melinda had requested for Evenson and declared that his actions during it would be personal, not S.H.I.E.L.D.'s.
• Nick Fury ordered Evenson not to contact active S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel during his leave, then hung up without explaining why.
• Evenson concluded that S.H.I.E.L.D. was distancing itself from the attacks because something was beyond its ability to handle.