Chapter Summaries

Wes confronted a mercenary squad that had tracked him for a 300 Million USD bounty, then learned the bounty had been issued by S.H.I.E.L.D., Hydra, and the U.S. Military over his possession of the Scepter. He spared the mercenaries and sent them away to spread word of his presence in Hell’s Kitchen.

• Wes entered an abandoned building, where a mercenary squad prepared an ambush with rifles, snipers, and a drone.
• The drone operator lost contact with his team, and the mercenaries encountered Wes as he calmly descended the stairs.
• The captain recognized Wes’s advantage, surrendered the squad’s weapons, and pleaded for their lives.
• The captain explained that a 300 Million USD bounty had drawn mercenaries and assassins to New York, and that the bounty was connected to Wes’s Scepter.
• Wes spared the squad and ordered the captain to spread news of his location.
• The captain led his men out of Hell’s Kitchen, warning them that something big was about to happen.

A flood of bounty hunters entered Hell's Kitchen to pursue Wes, while police sealed off the neighborhood and intelligence agencies watched. Wes's magical defenses killed many intruders and trapped the survivors inside the building, forcing them to head upstairs toward him.

• News of Wes's location and the 300 Million USD bounty spread through the underworld, drawing hunters into Hell's Kitchen.
• The NYPD recalled its officers and sealed off Hell's Kitchen after crowds began flooding into the neighborhood.
• Hunters gathered at Wes's abandoned building as S.H.I.E.L.D., Hydra, the CIA, the FBI, and other organizations monitored the scene.
• Wes sensed the intruders from the fifth floor, then returned to his book as they entered the building.
• Wes's first-floor Magic Circle killed at least half the hunters with mental attacks, while a mysterious lamp collected their souls.
• The surviving hunters failed to escape through Wes's barrier and realized they had to join forces and go upstairs.

Bounty hunters and assassins entered Wes’s building and were killed by its psychic and gravity-based defenses. Wes emerged to face the survivors, including Kingpin, who feared him.

• After repeated groups vanished inside the building, Kingpin arrived and asked Bullseye whether they had discovered who posted the bounty.
• Kingpin warned Bullseye that the target was dangerous, but Bullseye entered the building and several other confident hunters followed him.
• The intruders suffered a psychic attack, then found Bullseye struggling under crushing gravity on the second floor.
• The gravity doubled and killed the hunters before they could escape.
• Wes left the fifth floor, saw the corpses, and walked out of the building as Kingpin and the other survivors watched him nervously.

Wes confronted the people behind the bounty and destroyed The Continental after learning it had only acted on orders from its European Headquarters. Unable to identify the mastermind, he suspected S.H.I.E.L.D., Hydra, or another force and decided to head to Washington.

• Wes warned the unseen bounty issuer that the war had begun, then left as the crowd made way for him.
• The Black President ordered Nick Fury to prevent further incidents during his term, and Fury told Natasha not to stop Wes from going to The Continental.
• Wes entered The Continental, demanded the manager's name, and used Legilimency to learn that the hotel had followed orders from its European Headquarters.
• After the manager triggered the alarm, Wes set the people inside The Continental ablaze with flames they could not extinguish.
• Wes concluded the hotel staff were pawns, considered whether S.H.I.E.L.D. or Hydra had issued the bounty, and decided to go to Washington.

Wes traveled to Washington and confronted Alexander Pierce, revealing that he knew about Hydra. Pierce tried to recruit Wes, but Wes rejected him and dismissed Hydra’s ambitions, leaving Pierce furious and plotting to ruin him.

• After hundreds of assassins died in New York, Kingpin kept his men restrained while Natasha told Nick Fury that Wes had headed to Washington in a flying car that S.H.I.E.L.D. could not track.
• Security agencies searched Washington for Wes, but they could not find him.
• Pierce returned home, had dinner with his family, and found Wes waiting in his study.
• Pierce tried to learn why Wes had come and offered him a place in Hydra after Wes said, “Hail Hydra!”
• Wes rejected Pierce’s offer and said Hydra had no right to rule the world.
• Pierce suppressed his anger and secretly plotted to ruin Wes’s reputation.

S.H.I.E.L.D. surrounded Pierce’s house and sent an eighteen-man elite squad to capture Wes. Wes sent out a clone to fight them while his real body watched from the study, and the chapter ended with the squad resisting his Gravity Curse as Pierce tried unsuccessfully to negotiate.

• S.H.I.E.L.D. armored vehicles and fighter jets surrounded Pierce’s house, and Pierce sent his wife and children away.
• Nick Fury ordered an assault after Wes mocked Pierce’s influence over S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra’s infiltration of the agency.
• Wes created a clone and sent it outside while remaining in the study.
• Nick Fury tried to negotiate with the clone, but it blasted the ground near him, prompting him to order the eighteen-man squad to attack.
• The squad fired energy rounds at the clone, which used Gravity Curse, but the soldiers countered it with their anti-gravity devices.
• Pierce tried to negotiate to save the squad, but Wes sealed his mouth and told him to watch.

Wes’s clone wiped out S.H.I.E.L.D.’s assault force and confronted Pierce, who realized ordinary forces could not oppose Wes. Wes rejected Pierce’s attempt to appeal to his reputation as a superhero and left his intentions clear.

• Wes’s clone used fire and explosive grass to overwhelm the special operations squad, injuring Nick Fury and devastating S.H.I.E.L.D.’s convoy.
• A giant hand seized and crushed all eighteen soldiers, and Wes reflected the fighter jet’s weapons back at it, destroying the aircraft and wiping out S.H.I.E.L.D.’s forces.
• Nick Fury ordered his forces to open fire, while the clone dismissed his claims that the agents were innocent.
• Wes addressed Pierce, who stayed silent after recognizing Hydra’s backup forces could not defeat him.
• Pierce asked Wes to let him go and invoked his status as New York’s savior, but Wes laughed and denied being a superhero.

Wes confronted Nick Fury and the Avengers after S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were killed in a battle over a bounty. After revealing evidence that Pierce had ordered the bounty, Wes ignored Fury’s denial and cursed Pierce with an unbearable itch.

• Iron Man, Steve, Natasha, and Hawkeye arrived as Wes and his clone faced Nick Fury and the surviving agents.
• Wes brought Pierce onto the lawn, merged with his clone, and told Steve that S.H.I.E.L.D. had declared war by issuing a bounty.
• Nick Fury denied S.H.I.E.L.D. had offered a bounty, but Wes extracted Pierce’s memory and showed him ordering his men to issue it.
• Nick Fury rejected the memory as evidence, while Tony condemned S.H.I.E.L.D. for its actions.
• Wes sent black mist into Pierce and cursed him with an itch that would not cause pain or kill him.

After Wes crippled Pierce and left S.H.I.E.L.D. to handle the fallout, news spread that he was the Wizard and the owner of Hogwarts Potion Shop. Kingpin invited Wes to Fisk Tower and began telling him that the Dragon Bone was hidden in Manhattan.

• Wes tormented Pierce with an itching curse, handed him back to Nick Fury, and left while Tony flew away in disgust and Steve stayed behind.
• The next morning, the news blamed a Washington explosion on improper use of natural gas, while organizations identified Wes as the Wizard and sought him out or marked him as dangerous.
• Wes learned that the bounty on him had been withdrawn, then met Kingpin when he returned to New York.
• Kingpin took Wes to Fisk Tower, cleared the office, and asked if he knew about the Dragon Bone.
• Wes recognized the Dragon Bone as something associated with Kunlun, but Kingpin said it was actually in Manhattan and began recounting how he knew.

Kingpin told Wes about his conflict with Madam Gao over the Dragon Bone and asked him to help secure it. He revealed that he hoped to use it to resurrect his murdered wife and son, and Wes applauded his resolve.

• Kingpin used his influence to buy the site where the Dragon Bone was buried and announce plans to make it a public landmark, forcing Madam Gao to negotiate with him.
• Kingpin told Wes that Madam Gao had four companions who could wield Qi, making the five of them too dangerous for him to face alone.
• Kingpin asked Wes to help him obtain the Dragon Bone and said he was willing to risk S.H.I.E.L.D.'s attention.
• Kingpin explained that he wanted the Dragon Bone to resurrect his assassinated wife and son.
• Kingpin said he trusted Wes not to betray him because Wes was powerful but principled, and Wes applauded him.

Wes agreed to cooperate with Kingpin against The Hand over the Dragon Bone, and Kingpin gave him a floor in Fisk Tower. Meanwhile, Daredevil met Frank in Hell's Kitchen after detecting him by his heartbeat.

• Wes agreed to partner with Kingpin, and they toasted to their cooperation.
• Kingpin briefed Wes on The Hand and said its Five Fingers would appear when the Dragon Bone emerged; they planned to act then despite the threat of street-level heroes.
• Kingpin arranged a floor in Fisk Tower for Wes and ordered his subordinates to fulfill Wes's requests.
• Kingpin left to maneuver against Madam Gao and monitor the Dragon Bone excavation.
• Daredevil met Frank on a Hell's Kitchen rooftop and explained that he had found him by listening to his heartbeat.
• Frank asked Daredevil why he had called him there.

Daredevil persuaded Frank to cooperate with the Defenders against Kingpin and The Hand, though Frank insisted on commanding the team. At the Defenders’ base, Frank began assessing everyone’s abilities, provoking Jessica Jones.

• Daredevil asked Frank to help bring down Kingpin and explained the danger of Kingpin and Madam Gao’s Dragon Bone conspiracy.
• Frank agreed to cooperate if Daredevil accepted three conditions, all requiring the team to follow his orders.
• Daredevil led Frank to the Defenders’ secret base, where Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Danny Rand, and Stick were waiting.
• Frank asked everyone to state their abilities, and Jessica objected that they were not his subordinates.

The Punisher laid out an aggressive plan against Kingpin, and Daredevil persuaded the Defenders to follow it. At the construction site, Kingpin and Madam Gao found the Dragon Bone and decided to lure Danny Rand into activating it, while the workers were sent away.

• Jessica and the other Defenders described their abilities, and the Punisher devised a battle plan that worried them with its risks.
• Daredevil agreed to follow the Punisher's plan, telling Danny that it was their best chance to defeat Kingpin.
• Kingpin and Madam Gao secretly continued plotting to claim the Dragon Bone for themselves as excavation at the construction site continued.
• Workers uncovered the Dragon Bone, and Madam Gao confirmed it needed the Iron Fist's power to activate it.
• Kingpin proposed leaking information to lure Danny and wipe out the Defenders, while Madam Gao remained wary of him.
• On Friday, construction crews were told to stop work, leaving only gang members at Kingpin's site.

The Punisher, Iron Fist, Stick, and the Defenders prepared to attack Kingpin while the Five Fingers of The Hand gathered over the Dragon Bone. As they watched New Yorkers emerge from clubs, Stick reflected that defeating Kingpin and Madam Gao would not end the drug trade or the problems their fall could cause.

• The Punisher inspected and loaded his weapons, while Danny Rand said they had to return the Dragon Bone to K'un-Lun.
• Stick explained that the Five Fingers of The Hand would gather that day, and the group agreed to attack Kingpin.
• The Punisher declared they would move that night as New York's clubgoers poured into the streets after hours of revelry.
• Jessica condemned the drug users and gangs, and Luke Cage reassured her that stopping Kingpin and Madam Gao could improve the city.
• Stick considered how demand would sustain the drug trade and how Kingpin's fall could unleash gang violence and burden New York's authorities.

The Punisher led the group in a surprise assault on the construction site where the Dragon Bone was held. As they fought their way inside, Madam Gao and Kingpin waited underground, each secretly planning to betray the other.

• Elektra reported that the Hand ninjas and Kingpin guarded the Dragon Bone on the site's lowest level, so The Punisher ordered Plan B.
• Luke Cage drove a truck through the gates, then detonated its hidden C4, killing nearby gang members and scattering the rest.
• The Punisher executed the unconscious gang members, and Daredevil stopped Danny Rand from intervening.
• Luke Cage emerged unharmed from the flames, while Jessica gave him spare clothes and Stick urged the group to move quickly.
• Underground, Madam Gao and Kingpin heard the explosion and each secretly planned to eliminate the other after securing the Dragon Bone.

Wes secretly watched the heroes battle the Hand as they advanced through the building. Naito Soma and an unseen, extraordinarily fast attacker turned the fight against them, leaving Daredevil to confront the invisible assailant.

• Wes concealed himself with a spell and observed Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, Elektra, the Punisher, Stick, and the Chaste fighting the Hand.
• The heroes pushed back the Hand until Naito Soma appeared and sliced Luke Cage’s shield apart with his katana.
• Stick deflected Naito Soma’s attempt to stab Luke Cage, and the Punisher fired at him, but Naito Soma blocked every bullet with his sword.
• A swift, unseen attacker cut down Chaste ninjas and forced Elektra and the Punisher to struggle to keep up.
• Daredevil struck at empty air, and a hidden attacker blocked his Expandable Baton with a kunai.

The superheroes fought the leaders of The Hand in a battle that settled into a stalemate while Wes watched Iron Fist. As Kingpin followed Madam Gao out of the underground chamber, he touched the green gemstone Wes had given him.

• Murakami, Botu, Sowanda, and Naito Soma surrounded Daredevil, Elektra, Stick, The Punisher, Danny Rand, Luke Cage, and Jessica Jones.
• The heroes carried out The Punisher's battle plan, with Danny Rand and Stick attacking Naito Soma while Luke Cage held off Botu.
• Daredevil and Elektra fought Murakami, while Jessica Jones and The Punisher pushed Sowanda onto the defensive.
• Wes watched the fighting from the shadows, paying particular attention to Iron Fist because his power was needed to activate the Dragon Bone.
• Kingpin mocked Madam Gao over her companions' performance, then followed her out of the underground chamber and touched the green gemstone on his ring.

Kingpin and Madam Gao joined the battle, where Naito Soma wounded Iron Fist and was then struck down by Kingpin. Kingpin revealed he had captured Iron Fist and worked with the hidden Wes, whose golden chains restrained everyone and drained their strength.

• Madam Gao attacked Stick, allowing Naito Soma to slash Iron Fist across the chest and knock him unconscious.
• Botu kept Luke Cage occupied while Naito Soma disparaged Danny Rand and grabbed him by the hair.
• A laser struck Naito Soma, and Kingpin followed with a punch that drove him into the floor and knocked him out.
• Kingpin declared that Iron Fist was in his hands and Madam Gao was no longer useful.
• Golden chains restrained the Hand and the superheroes, draining their energy as Kingpin praised Wes, who dismissed his attack as a sneak attack.

Wes captured the Hand's five leaders to study the corrupted power of Dragon Bone, then left Kingpin to deal with the Defenders. Kingpin began attacking them, but Iron Fist threatened to self-destruct unless Kingpin released his companions, and Kingpin refused.

• Daredevil confronted Wes over being an Avenger, but Wes denied ever claiming that label and sealed Daredevil's mouth.
• Wes used magic to bind the Hand's five leaders and put them in his pocket, then told Kingpin to handle the Defenders as he wished.
• Kingpin kicked Daredevil through a wall and prepared to finish him, but the wounded Iron Fist stopped him.
• Iron Fist threatened to self-destruct before Kingpin could control him, warning that the Dragon Vein plan would fail if he did.
• Kingpin asked Wes about Iron Fist's threat, then demanded Iron Fist state his conditions.
• Iron Fist demanded that Kingpin release his companions, but Kingpin refused.

Wes used the Mind Stone to take control of Danny Rand and make him touch the Dragon Bone, despite the Divine Dragon’s warning that Danny still had a mission to complete. Danny regained consciousness as the Dragon Bone began to awaken, leaving its mysterious power enveloping him.

• Danny offered himself in exchange for Kingpin releasing his companions, and Kingpin demanded that Danny activate the Dragon Vein.
• Wes summoned the Dragon Bone and used the Mind Stone and Cruciatus Curse to invade Danny’s consciousness.
• Wes encountered the Divine Dragon inside Danny’s mind, and the dragon insisted that Danny could not die before completing his mission.
• Wes took control of Danny, prompting Kingpin to release him while Jessica, Luke Cage, and Stick watched helplessly.
• Danny touched the Dragon Bone, regained consciousness to its roar, and felt his qi connect with it as its outer layer cracked away to reveal a glowing blue surface.