Chapter Summaries

Aaron prepared for a predicted vampire attack, gave Bruce Banner a Monster potion, and had Frank explain the pathways. When the Blood Clan attacked, Banner transformed into Hulk, leaving the vampires scrambling to escape.

• Aaron told Frank Castle and Bruce Banner that vampires would attack and gave Banner a Sequence Nine Monster potion.
• Banner discovered his new ability to perceive hidden qualities and recognized Abei as a powerful dragon who could read minds.
• Aaron and Abei waited with Frank and Banner as vampires entered the shop, led by the Barons Laisir and Bauer.
• Bauer recognized Banner and urged the vampires to retreat, but Laisir refused and Hulk transformed.
• Hulk blocked the shop door, and Laisir and Bauer tried to flee through a window.

Aaron’s shop was attacked by vampires sent by The Hand, but Frank and Aaron defeated them and forced the survivors to compensate for the damage. After learning about Jane Volturi and naming her his third Blessed One, Aaron warned Frank and Banner to prepare for stronger enemies.

• Laisir tried to escape through the shop window, but Aaron revealed that the glass was specially reinforced and identified him as the vampires’ leader.
• Bauer led the vampires against Frank, who killed many of them with Xuguang until Bauer tricked him into dropping the weapon and seized it.
• Frank fought the vampires without his gun, then reclaimed Xuguang after it refused to fire for Bauer; Aaron ordered him to spare both viscounts.
• Laisir agreed to pay double compensation and arrange a shop renovation, then revealed that The Hand had hired them because Aaron’s surname was Gaius.
• Aaron asked about the Volterra Family and Jane Volturi, and Laisir explained that Aro would have to approve any friendship with her.
• Aaron gave Frank an All-Purpose Potion, revealed that Jane was his chosen third Blessed One, and taught Frank and Banner an incantation to summon his help in an emergency.

After the vampires’ attack failed, the Hand weighed its options while Aaron chose to let the organization’s many enemies fight it instead of confronting it directly. He joined Coulson’s team aboard the Airbus, where S.H.I.E.L.D. revealed its list of people with special abilities and investigated a missing fire-controlling performer.

• Aaron ordered Banner and Frank to focus on sabotaging the Hand, while the vampires’ Laisir and Bauer reported their failed attack to Xiya, who directed Bauer to demand compensation from the Hand.
• Alexandra learned from Madam Gao that the vampires had failed and might have exposed the Hand, then ordered Black Hole’s revival despite concerns about the cost.
• Aaron decided to let the Hand’s enemies—including Stick Monk, Matt Murdock, True Pure Society, Danny Rand, Kunlun, and his follower—oppose it, and arranged with Coulson to stay aboard the Airbus while his shop was renovated.
• Aaron threatened Laisir with Hulk if the renovation was unsatisfactory, packed up his shop, and boarded the Airbus, where Coulson’s team received a mission concerning Chen Haoran, a missing street performer with fire-control abilities.
• Coulson explained that S.H.I.E.L.D. maintained a secret list of people with special abilities, and Aaron learned that he was on it under restricted access while the team discussed how Chen had been monitored.

S.H.I.E.L.D. investigated Chen Haoran’s disappearance while the woman who abducted him persuaded him to become the public hero Blazing Flame Man. Aaron helped the agents pursue hacker Miles Lyden, tracked him to a house, and caught him with Skye before the arriving team could question him.

• Agent Guan reported that Chen Haoran had been taken by unknown professionals, and S.H.I.E.L.D. linked the breach exposing him to the Rising Tide Organization.
• The woman in the floral dress offered to enhance Chen Haoran’s abilities and make him famous, and he accepted the name Blazing Flame Man.
• Skye traced the S.H.I.E.L.D. breach to Miles Lyden in Austin, and Aaron accepted a mission to find him.
• Ward spotted Miles, but Miles escaped by manipulating traffic lights; Aaron used Captain Jack’s Compass to locate him.
• Skye met Miles at his house, where they kissed, and Aaron unexpectedly walked in.
• Miles tried to leave with Skye, but Aaron aimed a revolver at him and stopped him.

Aaron and S.H.I.E.L.D. interrogated Skye and Miles over the leaked list, discovering that Miles sold it to a woman connected to a laboratory researching Centipede Serum. The chapter ended with Aaron ordering Miles to lead them to the lab, while Chen Haoran tested his enhanced fire powers there.

• Coulson questioned Skye about warning Miles, while Aaron threatened Miles until he agreed to cooperate.
• May escorted Miles away as Ward arrested Skye, and Chen Haoran received a serum that greatly amplified his fire powers at Leena's laboratory.
• On the Airbus, Ward revealed that Miles had deposited about one million dollars after selling the information, angering Skye.
• Miles identified the buyer as a wealthy Rising Tide fan in a floral dress who claimed to support people with his talent.
• Aaron connected the buyer's ecological research laboratory to dangerous Centipede Serum experiments and ordered Miles to take the team there.

Aaron joined Coulson and May to rescue Chen Haoran from a Centipede laboratory, where the experiments had stripped away Chen’s fire resistance. After Chen turned against his rescuers and attacked them with enhanced flames, the team remained trapped inside the locked-down building.

• Aaron accepted a mission to rescue Chen Haoran, and Coulson assigned Ward to guard the prisoner while he, May, and Aaron entered the laboratory.
• Chen learned that Centipede had extracted his fireproof platelets, leaving him badly burned when he tried to use his flames.
• Coulson, May, and Aaron found Chen and began freeing him, but Agent Quan was killed when Chen attacked after injecting himself with Centipede Serum.
• Aaron shot several Centipede personnel in the legs, then explained that the serum enhanced Chen’s fire but could make him explode as he used it.
• Chen unleashed blasts of fire and rejected Coulson and May’s attempts to calm him, declaring himself the Blazing Flame Man.

Aaron used the Casket of Ancient Winters to freeze Chen Haoran and helped S.H.I.E.L.D. contain the Centipede threat. Skye confessed that she had joined the Rising Tide to search for her parents, and Coulson agreed to investigate her past in secret while Aaron refused to get involved.

• Aaron accepted a mission to keep Chen Haoran alive, then froze him with the Casket of Ancient Winters before the Centipede Serum could make him explode.
• Coulson's team captured Chen Haoran and warned that his Centipede Serum and Extremis Virus could reactivate when he thawed.
• Coulson fitted Miles with a monitoring wristband and let him go, while Skye told Miles she hoped he would find answers.
• Coulson confronted Skye about her lies, and she gave him a data card containing an edited file marked with a S.H.I.E.L.D. emblem.
• Skye explained that she had joined the Rising Tide to find her parents, and Coulson gave her a wristband and promised to investigate discreetly.
• Aaron told Coulson he could use divination to find Skye's parents if they were alive, but he refused to help and suspected Centipede had learned about gifted individuals.

Aaron settled into his new divination shop until the Book of Prophecy warned that the Nine Realms would align, then Coulson called for help when Jemma Simmons was infected by a Chitauri virus. Aaron flew to the Airbus on his motorcycle and offered several ways to save her, leaving the choice unresolved.

• Aaron claimed 500 Magic Points for completing three missions and continued his routine while his Thoughtform settled into Asgard and his relationships with Jean, Frank, and Banner progressed.
• The Book of Prophecy warned Aaron that the Nine Realms would align and portals to the other realms would appear in Earth's skies.
• Coulson told Aaron that Jemma Simmons had contracted an electrostatic-transmitted alien virus and had only about two hours to live.
• Aaron accepted a mission to treat Jemma Simmons and flew across the Atlantic on his motorcycle to reach the Airbus.
• Aaron offered Simmons the chance to continue testing, Thor's hair, a Phoenix Feather, or a direct operation, but the chapter ended before she chose.

Aaron cured Jemma Simmons of an alien virus and earned a mission reward, then accepted a new mission to witness the coming celestial convergence. In London, he found unstable spatial nodes at an abandoned factory and showed the anomaly to Jane Foster, Daisy, and Ian.

• Aaron used an injection made from his own body to help Jemma Simmons overcome the alien virus, and the group realized the mouse experiment had succeeded.
• Aaron claimed 500 Magic Points for rescuing Jemma, then saw news of Erik Selvig running naked at Stonehenge and accepted a mission to witness the celestial convergence.
• Aaron followed Captain Jack's Compass to an abandoned London factory and observed unstable spatial nodes that made objects vanish, reappear, and behave strangely under gravity.
• Aaron sent three children away from the factory by showing them a S.H.I.E.L.D. ID, then met Jane Foster, Daisy, and Ian outside.
• Aaron led Jane, Daisy, and Ian to the spatial anomaly and demonstrated its effects by making a pebble float and disappear before reappearing.

Aaron warned Jane Foster and Daisy about the approaching convergence of the Nine Realms, but Jane pursued the spatial anomalies and vanished through a Spatial Node. Aaron divined that Jane was alive and would emerge elsewhere, then waited with Daisy and Ian while Daisy boldly pursued him.

• Aaron explained that the Nine Realms would briefly converge and warned Jane not to investigate, but Jane eagerly followed new readings from her detector.
• Daisy and Ian played with objects falling through Spatial Nodes, and Ian lost his car key in another space.
• Aaron sensed a violent spatial fluctuation and discovered that Jane had disappeared; his Divination showed her floating in dark crimson liquid and predicted she would emerge through another Node.
• Aaron set up a magically spacious tent in the factory, where Daisy confessed her feelings and agreed to pursue a relationship with him.
• Aaron accepted Daisy's offer to share his room, while Ian asked how Aaron attracted so many women.

Aaron and Daisy discovered that Jane had been infected by a strange substance after passing through a Spatial Node, and Thor took her to Asgard for treatment. Aaron, Daisy, and Ian then bailed Erik Selvig out of the police station, where Erik said he had a discovery to share at Jane’s laboratory.

• Aaron, Daisy, and Ian found Jane after she emerged from a Spatial Node, and Aaron warned that a dark-red substance inside her could threaten her health.
• Thor arrived in the rain, reunited with Jane, and took her to Asgard after Aaron explained her condition.
• Aaron told Daisy they needed to bail Erik Selvig out after she saw news of his arrest for streaking at Stonehenge.
• Aaron claimed to be a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and arranged Erik’s release from the police station.
• Erik reunited with Daisy, learned that Thor had taken Jane to Asgard, and asked the group to go to Jane’s laboratory so he could explain his discovery.

Jane learned that the dark red substance inside her was the Aether, while Aaron discovered a prophecy that the Dark Elves would invade Asgard and Frigga would die. Aaron accepted a mission to save Frigga and prepared to travel to Asgard, leaving Daisy and the others behind.

• Odin identified the substance inside Jane as an ancient relic and explained that the Dark Elves had once tried to use the Aether to plunge the universe into darkness.
• Erik explained the coming Convergence and his Apex Gravity Tester to Aaron, Daisy, and Ian, while Aaron told him Jane had been taken to Asgard for treatment.
• The Book of Prophecy foretold that Malekith would lead the Dark Elves in an invasion of Asgard and that Frigga would die at the hands of the Cursed Warrior.
• Aaron learned that the Aether was inside Jane and accepted a mission to save Frigga, despite the risks of altering the prophecy.
• Aaron gave Daisy the Snake Eater revolver, left Abei to protect the group, and announced that he would go to Asgard.

Aaron warned Heimdall that Malekith and the Dark Elves would invade Asgard and kill Frigga, then raced with him to the palace as the attack unfolded. They arrived too late to prevent Algrim from taking Frigga hostage, but Aaron destroyed Malekith’s escape ship as the Dark Elves prepared to leave.

• Aaron used the Casket of Ancient Winters and a warning about Frigga to persuade Heimdall to open the Bifrost, then told him the Dark Elves were coming.
• Heimdall destroyed an incoming Dark Elf ship, but a larger fleet attacked Asgard, and the palace’s defensive barrier fell after infiltrators sabotaged its defenses.
• Aaron and Heimdall flew into the palace, defeated the Dark Elves who had landed there, and learned that a dungeon riot had weakened Asgard’s defenses.
• Malekith confronted Frigga and Jane Foster, but Frigga overpowered him until Algrim seized her; Jane then vanished as an illusion.
• Aaron and Heimdall arrived after Frigga was captured, and Malekith demanded the Aether in exchange for her release.
• As Malekith and Algrim tried to escape with Frigga aboard a war-spear ship, Aaron fired a golden bullet into its power unit and blew it up.

Aaron intervened in the hostage negotiations between Odin and Malekith, using the Book of Prophecy to reveal that Frigga would die and helping secure a contract-backed exchange. Malekith escaped with the Dark Elves after the exchange, and Odin ordered Asgard to protect Frigga and Jane Foster.

• Aaron held Malekith at gunpoint and demanded that Algrim release Frigga, while Thrór and Odin arrived to support the negotiations.
• Odin and Malekith argued over the terms of the hostage exchange, and Aaron showed Odin a prophecy that Frigga would die at the hands of the Cursed Warrior.
• Odin and Malekith agreed to sign Aaron's contract, which guaranteed a peaceful hostage exchange and a half-hour truce.
• Algrim released Frigga, Heimdall handed Malekith over to the Dark Elves, and Malekith left aboard their warship.
• Odin told Frigga to stay beside him, ordered Heimdall to prepare Asgard's defenses, and sent guards to protect Jane Foster.

Odin refused Thrór’s plan to take Jane to the Dark World, while secretly deciding to advance his own plan involving Aaron and Asgard’s eldest princess. Aaron accepted a mission to remove the Aether, and Thrór’s allies began a secret attempt to rescue Jane and reach the Dark Elves’ ship.

• Odin ordered Jane to remain in Asgard, and Aaron refused to help Thrór before asking to return to Midgard; Odin denied his request and promised to send him within two days.
• Odin and Frigga agreed to move their plan involving Aaron and their daughter forward, while Aaron resolved to raise his Magical Energy and accepted the mission to remove the Aether from Jane.
• Thrór met secretly with Fandral, Volstagg, Sif, and Heimdall, and they planned to free Jane with Loki’s help and escape aboard a Dark Elf ship.
• Heimdall set out to draw Odin’s attention, Sif went to free Jane, Volstagg headed for the Dark Elf ship, and Fandral went to persuade Aaron to help.
• Thrór went to Asgard’s prison to ask Loki to help them leave Asgard.

Thrór enlisted Loki to help him escape Asgard with Jane and reach the Dark World, while Aaron joined them to ensure the Aether was removed and to leave Asgard. The group evaded Asgardian pursuers and arrived in Svartalfheim.

• Thrór told Loki about Frigga's attack and asked him to help escape Asgard so he could take Jane to Malekith and remove the Aether.
• Thrór and Loki freed Jane with help from Sif and Volstagg, while Heimdall admitted to Odin that he had committed treason by assisting them.
• Thrór, Loki, and Jane escaped aboard a Dark Elf ship, and Aaron and Fandral caught them with an airship as Volstagg held off the pursuing soldiers.
• Aaron explained that he wanted Jane's Aether removed and needed to leave Asgard, while Loki piloted the group toward his secret passage.
• Fandral boarded a pursuing airship to stop its crew, and Loki flew the group through a narrow mountain passage into Svartalfheim.

Thor, Loki, and Jane tried to destroy the Aether on Svartalfheim, but Loki appeared to betray Thor and handed Jane to Malekith. Thor’s strike could not destroy the Aether, which Malekith absorbed before escaping, while Loki approached the battered Thor with a weapon as Aaron watched.

• Aaron warned Thor that Jane’s mortal lifespan would eventually separate them, then refused to give her an immortality potion.
• Malekith arrived on Svartalfheim, and Aaron armed himself with a sniper rifle while Thor, Loki, and Jane went to meet him.
• Loki stabbed Thor, severed his hand, and presented Jane to Malekith, who drew the Aether from her body.
• Thor recovered his hand and armor through Loki’s magic, but his lightning failed to destroy the Aether, which flowed into Malekith.
• A Black Hole Grenade nearly swallowed Loki, but Thor saved him; the Cursed Warrior then battered Thor while Loki defeated four Dark Elves.
• Aaron kept his rifle trained on Loki as Loki picked up a black war blade and walked toward the battered Thor.

Aaron fought Algrim, the Cursed Warrior, while Thrór grieved over Loki’s apparent death. After Aaron and Thrór killed Algrim, Aaron blamed Thrór’s weakness for the tragedy and urged him to pursue Malekith, who had obtained the Aether.

• Loki appeared to sacrifice himself to save Thrór, and Thrór mourned him while Aaron confronted Algrim.
• Aaron accepted missions to witness the celestial convergence and stop the Dark Elves, then battled Algrim with his rifle and Acupuncture Gun.
• Thrór joined the fight with Mjolnir, and Aaron fired as Thrór struck Algrim, killing the Cursed Warrior.
• Aaron confirmed that his shot had earned him the kill, then rebuked Thrór for blaming him and accused him of being too weak to protect Loki and others.
• Jane comforted Thrór as Aaron warned that Malekith had the Aether and urged them to find him before the universe fell into darkness.

Aaron, Thor, and Jane escaped the Dark World through a Spatial Node and learned that Malekith planned to unleash the Aether during the Convergence in Greenwich. As the Dark Elves attacked Greenwich University, Aaron held off on shooting Malekith, waiting for a safer opportunity while Jane and Erik prepared to disrupt the Convergence.

• Aaron used Captain Jack's Compass to find a Spatial Node in the Dark World, and he, Thor, and Jane returned to London.
• Aaron, Jane, Thor, Daisy, Ian, and Erik identified Greenwich as the Convergence point and set out to prepare for Malekith's arrival.
• Aaron told Daisy to carry a revolver and keep Abei close, while Jane, Erik, and Aaron went up the Greenwich clock tower and Daisy and Ian placed gravity testers around the plaza.
• Malekith arrived at Greenwich University aboard the Dark Elves' mothership as the Convergence began, and Thor confronted him.
• Jane worked to activate the gravity testers while Thor fought Malekith, and Aaron aimed his sniper rifle but waited for the Dark Elves to spread out before firing.

Odin revealed why he had favored Loki, explained that Ragnarok threatened Asgard, and disclosed the cost of his fading power. Loki learned that Odin had used that power to seal away their sister Hela, the Goddess of Death, after her rebellion.

• Loki disguised himself as an Asgardian Guard, but Odin and Frigga saw through his illusion and welcomed him out of the dungeon.
• Odin challenged Loki’s resentment, telling him that he and Frigga had favored Loki and that Thrór had earned the heir’s place by protecting the Nine Realms.
• Odin admitted that he had once been a cruel tyrant, then explained that his peace with the Celestials and his centuries of maintaining a seal had drained his power.
• Frigga told Loki that Ragnarok was approaching and Asgard would face destruction after Odin died.
• Odin and Frigga revealed that Hela Odinson, Loki and Thrór’s sister, had been sealed in Helheim after raising an army against Odin, with the Valkyrie Legion wiped out in the rebellion.