Chapter Summaries

Aaron chose the Casket of Ancient Winters from Asgard's treasury, then returned to Earth after discussing Loki's possible survival and Thrór's responsibilities. Back in New Mexico, he collected mission rewards, left his Thoughtform to study spatial passages, and used the Bart Mask to gain partial control of the Shadow Realm and summon the Night Bats.

• Aaron selected the Casket of Ancient Winters as his reward and suggested that Loki might still be alive after falling into a Space Wormhole.
• Odin sent Heimdall to search for Loki, allowed Aaron to take a piece of the Bifrost, and opened a portal to Midgard.
• Thrór promised to return to Jane Foster within two years, and Aaron arrived in New Mexico, where he claimed 2700 Magic Points in mission rewards.
• Aaron told his Thoughtform in Jotunheim to study the spatial passages for three days, including whether the destroyed passage to Earth could be repaired.
• Aaron bought and absorbed the Bart Mask, gaining one-third of the Shadow Realm's authority and the ability to summon the Night Bats.
• Aaron refreshed the shop's product slot and found the Zamo Mask, which could summon the Troll Squad.

Aaron absorbed the Rat Talisman and considered using its power with the Goat Talisman and Divine Punishment Magic to create life in his Mind Space. Frigga visited Hela about a marriage arranged by Bor, while Aaron returned to Bridges Town, explained the Asgardian crisis, and refused to reveal Odin’s gift to S.H.I.E.L.D.

• Aaron absorbed the Rat Talisman, learned it could grant motion to inanimate objects, and refreshed the shop to reveal the Snake Talisman.
• Frigga told Hela that Bor had arranged a marriage for her, but Hela rejected the idea and insisted she would leave Helheim only after Odin released her or died.
• Aaron told Jane, Coulson, Selvig, and Daisy that Loki had attacked Jotunheim with the Bifrost, Thrór had broken it to stop him, and Odin had sent Aaron back to Earth.
• Aaron told Jane that Thrór expected to return within two years and offered to make her a potion that could preserve her appearance in exchange for Asgardian resources.
• Coulson questioned why Odin had brought Aaron to Asgard and asked about the treasure he received, but Aaron refused to disclose it or hand it over to S.H.I.E.L.D.

Aaron returned home, altered three Shadowkhan masks, and considered using the Casket of Ancient Winters to create a new race as part of his ambition to become the God of Magic. Meanwhile, S.H.I.E.L.D. assessed Aaron as powerful and difficult to control, and Nick Fury decided to strengthen the agency’s ties with him.

• Aaron's Phoenix, Fawkes, told him it had befriended Jean and suggested she would make a good mistress.
• Aaron gave the Nika, Lazzo, and Demon Masks side effects that trapped wearers and gradually let demons consume their minds.
• Aaron considered using the Casket of Ancient Winters' energy to create an attractive, intelligent race capable of ice magic, but concluded that creating life would have to wait until he created a world.
• Coulson briefed Nick Fury on Asgard's planet-destroying Bifrost, and Fury ordered the report placed in a Level Nine file.
• S.H.I.E.L.D.'s experts concluded that Aaron was powerful, cautious, and unlikely to help others if it brought trouble, while Nick Fury worried he could someday oppose the agency.
• Nick Fury decided to deepen S.H.I.E.L.D.'s ties with Aaron and told Coulson they would visit him the next day; Coulson then mentioned Aaron's treasure from Odin, prompting Fury to curse.

Aaron used his Thoughtform clone in Asgard to increase his Magic Point earnings, then crafted a Spatial Ring and negotiated with Nick Fury and Coulson over S.H.I.E.L.D.'s access to his alchemical products. He left Fury considering a materials-for-products deal, with Aaron warning that each item could take months or years to make.

• Aaron discovered that his Thoughtform clone earned five Magic Points by signing in at Asgard and agreed to keep it there, sending it food through the Space Magic Array.
• Aaron fed Abei and Fawkes, then extracted the Moonstone Bracelet's remaining energy and crafted a Spatial Ring from a piece of spatial crystal.
• Nick Fury and Coulson visited Aaron, who introduced himself as a Regenerator, potioneer, Divination practitioner, and alchemist.
• Aaron refused to sell S.H.I.E.L.D. powerful bullets like the one used against the Destroyer, but offered ordinary enchanted bullets and alchemical products in exchange for special materials.
• Aaron insisted that S.H.I.E.L.D. had little choice but to accept his terms, and told Fury that alchemical products could take from six months to five years to produce.

Aaron negotiated with Nick Fury over magical artifacts and refused to let S.H.I.E.L.D. take the Casket of Ancient Winters. After divining Frank Castle’s family’s murder, Aaron offered to help him kill his enemies in exchange for Frank’s life and soul.

• Nick Fury ordered a defensive artifact and a Spatial Ring, while Aaron explained the Spatial Ring’s uses and limitations.
• Aaron revealed that the Casket of Ancient Winters could trigger an ice age, but refused to surrender it to S.H.I.E.L.D.
• S.H.I.E.L.D. delivered Vibranium and Adamantium, and Aaron used some of the materials to begin crafting artifacts.
• Frank Castle came to Aaron for medicine and Divination, carrying stolen money that Aaron refused to accept.
• Frank told Aaron that his wife and children had been murdered and that he was seeking revenge; Aaron divined that their deaths had been caused by a smokescreen.
• Aaron promised to help Frank kill every enemy if Frank gave him his life and soul, leaving Frank shocked and afraid.

Aaron recruited Frank as his fourth follower and first in this world, promising to help him find his family’s killers while explaining the dangers surrounding his identity and lineage. Months later, Aaron continued training and cooking, then received two dinner reservations from Elektra Natchis.

• Aaron offered Frank a contract making him his follower in exchange for help finding his enemies, and Frank signed it.
• Aaron gave Frank Captain Jack's Compass and explained that his ancestors, his hidden magical power, and powerful beings on Earth made secrecy essential.
• Frank asked about Aaron's other followers and his own death; Aaron warned that Frank’s soul would return to him but that Aaron would not avenge Frank or his family.
• Over the following months, Aaron practiced magic, brewed potions, crafted Alchemical Bullets, and bought a Frozen Bison to share with Abei and Fawkes.
• After lunch, Aaron received a tablet message showing two dinner reservations from Elektra Natchis.

Matt reunited with Elektra, who asked him to help recover her father's property from Roxxon Corporation, but he refused to take the case on such short notice. After dinner at Aaron's Everything House, Elektra sought Divination about her troubles, and Aaron warned that her problems might be as serious as Matt's.

• Elektra found Matt and told him she needed help with a mess left by her father.
• Elektra took Matt to Aaron's Everything House, where they ate dinner and discussed her father's dealings with Roxxon Corporation.
• Elektra asked Matt to help her recover her father's property at a meeting with Roxxon's Board of Governors the next day, but he refused because he lacked time to investigate.
• Matt showed Elektra around the shop, and she bought two bottles of Calming Draught.
• Elektra asked Aaron for Divination, and Aaron suggested that her troubles might be as serious as Matt's.

Aaron told Matt that his divination showed Elektra surrounded by attackers and fatally wounded, then agreed to share the details in exchange for Matt watching for magical items. The next day, a blind martial arts master asked Aaron about his fate and The Hand, leaving Aaron newly interested when he learned its leader had never changed.

• Aaron divined that Elektra would be attacked and found bloodied, and she left after hearing that Matt might come to her that night.
• Matt returned to learn what Aaron saw, agreed to look for magical items, and heard the two scenes from Elektra's possible fate.
• Aaron spent the next morning making Felix Felicis and refining enchanted bullets with Vibranium and Adamantium.
• A blind old man arrived at the House of All Things, ate a meal, and asked Aaron whether The Hand could be destroyed.
• Aaron declined to divine The Hand's destruction but read the old man's future and saw him wielding a bloodstained Katana in a vast cavern.
• The old man explained that The Hand had existed for centuries and that its leader had never changed, which caught Aaron's interest.

Aaron rejected the Stick Monk’s attempt to recruit him into the True Pure Society, but became interested in learning what The Hand’s leaders knew. The Stick Monk and Elektra discussed Matt and traced The Hand’s suspicious excavation work to Midland Circle.

• Aaron questioned the Stick Monk about The Hand’s history and heard his account of its conflict with the True Pure Society.
• Aaron refused to join the True Pure Society, arguing that he would stay neutral and could leave the city if danger arose.
• After the Stick Monk left, Aaron told Abei and Fawkes that most of the Stick Monk’s story was fabricated and decided to wait for a chance to speak with The Hand’s leaders.
• The Stick Monk told Elektra that Aaron would help neither faction, and Elektra said Matt still helped her fight Japanese gangs despite rejecting her.
• Elektra reported that the Japanese gang’s accounts revealed trucks hauling away earth, and the Stick Monk identified Midland Circle as the likely excavation site.

Matt and Elektra uncovered a Hand stronghold and fought its ninjas, but Elektra was badly wounded and Matt was overwhelmed until The Stick Monk rescued them. The Stick Monk brought them to Aaron, who agreed to examine Elektra after Matt slapped him, and recognized her injury from a vision he had seen through Divination.

• Matt and Elektra investigated a construction site tied to the Japanese mob and found a pit at least forty stories deep.
• Ninjas attacked Matt and Elektra, who fought them off, but Elektra was stabbed in the abdomen and Matt was captured by two ninjas.
• The Stick Monk killed the ninjas threatening Matt and led him and the gravely wounded Elektra through a chase to escape their pursuers.
• The Stick Monk said he could save Elektra and brought her to Aaron's shop, where Matt pleaded for help.
• Aaron demanded that Matt slap The Stick Monk, and Matt complied before Aaron noticed Elektra's wound matched a scene from his Divination.

Matt, Elektra, and The Stick Monk brought the fallout of their fight with The Hand to Aaron, who saved Elektra and learned about the centuries-old conflict. The next day, Aaron faced three Hand operatives searching for the injured woman and quickly turned their attack against them.

• Aaron anesthetized Elektra, sold Matt an All-Purpose Potion for her poisoning, and ordered Matt to treat her wound.
• The Stick Monk revealed that Elektra served the True Pure Society, Yoshioka Shin could be revived, and The Hand threatened to devour the world; Matt refused to join the fight.
• Aaron dismissed Matt and The Stick Monk, then considered visiting the construction site at 44th Street and 11th Avenue to investigate The Hand.
• The next morning, Aaron learned from Fawkes that The Hand sought to summon an evil god called Black Hole, checked in with the system, and chose not to spend his Magic Points.
• Three Hand operatives questioned Aaron about Matt, Elektra, and The Stick Monk, then attacked him; Aaron disarmed two and stopped the blue-haired woman's charge with a gun pointed at her forehead.

Aaron forced the Hand’s agents to reveal a meeting with one of its leaders, then faced Yoshioka Shin and a squad of ninjas at the Midland Circle construction site. He left Shin alive after slaughtering the squad, while the Hand’s plans for the site remained unresolved.

• Aaron broke the blue-haired woman’s leg and shot two of her companions while demanding to know who had sent them.
• Aaron spoke with the Hand’s boss by phone, learned the boss was at Roxxon, and arranged to meet a Hand leader at Midland Circle that night.
• Koji ordered Yoshioka Shin to oversee the meeting as a precaution, and Aaron went alone to the construction site.
• Yoshioka Shin revealed that Aaron would not meet the city’s leader and ordered dozens of ninjas to attack him.
• Aaron killed most of the ninjas, disabled the survivors, and warned Shin off after deflecting his chained blade.
• Aaron identified himself as an ordinary diviner, leaving the shaken Shin to question how he had become so powerful.

Aaron met Madam Gao to settle the Hand’s attack and ask for information about the extraordinary forces in the world. After Madam Gao apologized and punished Tanaka Koji, she began explaining what she knew, leaving Aaron’s search for knowledge underway.

• Aaron told Yoshioka Shin that the Hand had tried to cut off his finger and asked to meet Madam Gao, who agreed to see him the next day.
• Back at the Hundred Affairs Shop, Aaron agreed to let Fawkes visit Jean Grey in exchange for weekly phoenix tears and sent a brief reply.
• Madam Gao welcomed Aaron at a secluded room beneath a garment factory and explained that she had investigated him and preferred peaceful coexistence.
• Madam Gao killed the blue-haired woman and cut off Tanaka Koji’s finger and arm to apologize for the Hand’s attack, while Aaron spared Koji’s life.
• Aaron asked Madam Gao about the extraordinary people, factions, and inhuman creatures in the world, explaining that his divination had warned him of future disasters.

Aaron traded a bottle of Felix Felicis to Madam Gao for The Hand’s intelligence about the supernatural world. He learned about Mutants, Inhumans, and other powerful factions, leaving with a clearer picture of the forces around him.

• Aaron offered Madam Gao a bottle of Felix Felicis in exchange for The Hand’s knowledge, and she accepted rather than risk him sharing information with the True Pure Society or S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Aaron revealed that he was an alchemist who had made his own spatial ring and brewed the potion, making Madam Gao regret not seeking his friendship first.
• Madam Gao explained that Mutants had varied abilities and faced persecution, and she identified Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr as powerful leaders with opposing ideals.
• Madam Gao said The Hand had employed individual Mutants but avoided trying to seize their powers, and Aaron suspected the group was still pursuing its efforts to summon Black Hole.
• Madam Gao described Inhumans as an ancient people whose abilities awakened through a special ritual or medium, then named the True Pure Society, Kunlun, Ten Rings, and Ta Lo as other supernatural factions.

Aaron learned The Hand’s intelligence about vampires, werewolves, and demons, then ended his dealings with the organization and warned it not to become hostile. Madam Gao tested Aaron’s Felix Felicis on Koji, confirmed its extraordinary effects, and began considering how The Hand could exploit the potion and investigate Aaron and New York’s vampire families.

• Madam Gao told Aaron that vampires had once been ruled by seven progenitors, until Horn Gaius defeated them, and described the blood clan’s factions and The Hand’s knowledge of demons.
• Aaron denied knowing whether he was related to Horn Gaius, ended his transaction with The Hand, and warned Madam Gao that hostility would have a price.
• After Aaron left, Madam Gao reprimanded Koji for provoking him and ordered Koji to drink the Felix Felicis so The Hand could test it.
• Koji’s potion-fueled luck made the short-haired girl’s dagger miss his neck, but Yoshioka Shin cut off Koji’s reattached arm to test the potion further.
• Madam Gao concluded that the potion was magical and discussed studying Aaron, consulting the other Hand leaders, and secretly investigating New York’s vampire families.

Aaron agreed to join S.H.I.E.L.D.’s mission after learning that Loki had stolen the Cosmic Cube, and he boarded the Helicarrier with Abei. There, he met Steve Rogers and Bruce Banner as the team gathered to pursue Loki and recover the Cube.

• Aaron decided not to get involved in The Hand’s affairs and resolved to seek out potential allies and talented people.
• Over the following months, Aaron developed a Spatial Portal spell, exchanged weekly letters with Jean Grey, and attended Elektra’s funeral after she died fighting The Hand.
• Maria Hill summoned Aaron to help S.H.I.E.L.D. deal with Loki, who had stolen the Cosmic Cube, killed agents, and controlled Barton and Doctor Selvig.
• Aaron accepted missions to capture Loki and recover the Cosmic Cube, then flew with Hill to the Helicarrier.
• Aaron met Steve Rogers and Bruce Banner on the Helicarrier and learned they had also been called to help find the Cosmic Cube.

Aaron joined the Helicarrier’s search for Loki and the Cosmic Cube, offering S.H.I.E.L.D. a defensive artifact while insisting he could refuse combat missions. The chapter ended with Loki and Barton beginning their operation in Stuttgart, where Loki used the Mind Scepter on Doctor Heinrich Schäfer as Barton obtained his retinal data.

• Aaron gave Bruce Banner a Calming Draught and suggested he might be able to solve Banner’s problem, though Banner did not take the offer seriously.
• The Helicarrier rose above the ocean and entered stealth mode as S.H.I.E.L.D. began searching for the Cosmic Cube.
• Banner proposed using spectrometers and a tracking algorithm to locate Gamma Rays, while Aaron delivered Nick Fury a defensive artifact and warned that he could refuse combat missions.
• Loki directed Barton to obtain Iridium Metal and an eyeball, then S.H.I.E.L.D. found Loki in Stuttgart and sent Steve and Aaron to retrieve him.
• Barton acquired Heinrich Schäfer’s retinal data while Loki attacked Schäfer with the Mind Scepter in front of the fleeing guests.

Loki attacked a crowd in Stuttgart, but Steve, Natasha, and Tony captured him and took him aboard the Quinjet. Aaron recognized Loki’s plans and threatened to keep his identity secret, but his attempt to hypnotize Loki failed, leaving the two locked in a mental standoff.

• Loki forced a Stuttgart crowd to kneel and attacked an old man, but Steve deflected his blast and challenged him.
• Natasha and Aaron tracked Loki’s real body from the Quinjet, and Tony arrived to help Steve subdue him.
• Aaron questioned Loki about the Cosmic Cube, Barton, and Selvig, then silenced Loki when he threatened to reveal Aaron’s identity.
• Loki told Tony that Aaron was an alchemist, and Tony asked Aaron to make him a spatial artifact.
• Aaron and Loki communicated privately, with Loki proposing an alliance to conquer Earth and Aaron planning to contact Heimdall and hypnotize him.
• Aaron tried to hypnotize Loki, but Loki resisted with his own mental strength and met Aaron’s gaze with glowing green eyes.

Aaron failed to control Loki, and their confrontation aboard the Quinjet ended with Thor taking Loki and escaping. The others pursued them, while Aaron prepared a sniper rifle and admitted Loki knew a secret that could enrage Nick Fury.

• Aaron tried to control Loki with the Killing Curse, but a mental defense shattered the spell and Loki resisted.
• Thor arrived on the Quinjet to retrieve Loki and the Cosmic Cube, while Aaron tried to keep him from learning Loki's secret.
• Loki provoked Aaron into punching him, giving Thor the chance to knock Tony aside and escape with Loki.
• Aaron ordered Natasha to turn the Quinjet around, while Tony and Steve jumped out to pursue Thor and Loki.
• Aaron drew a black sniper rifle and prepared to join the pursuit.

Thor confronted Loki over the Cosmic Cube and tried to bring him back to Asgard, but Tony intervened and fought Thor. Aaron threatened Loki with an enchanted rifle, then negotiated a magical contract to protect his identity while allowing Loki to continue his plan.

• Thor demanded the Cosmic Cube from Loki and urged him to abandon his ambition and return to Asgard.
• Tony knocked Thor off the cliff, then fought him with his Iron Man armor as Loki watched.
• Aaron fired an enchanted bullet that carved through the forest and threatened Loki with the rifle.
• Aaron explained his concerns about Loki’s magic and proposed knocking him unconscious until S.H.I.E.L.D. found the Cosmic Cube.
• Loki persuaded Aaron to negotiate a contract, and Aaron wrote terms forbidding Loki from revealing his identity while restricting his interference with Loki’s plan.
• Loki questioned the strict terms, and Aaron told him to sign or face the consequences.