Recaps

New York’s police and gang forces entered the Sewer World to hunt the Reapers, while Green Arrow Duck led his mech team through an abandoned subway tunnel. The chapter ended with the team stopping at a bricked-up passage.

• New York City police officers and gang gunmen assembled at sewer entrances and descended into the underground world.
• The human teams encountered Reaper ambushes, and Ultraviolet Grenades destroyed groups of New Breed Vampires.
• Green Arrow Duck led Ursa Major, Bonnie, Bullhead, and Kitty in Leopard Type armor through an abandoned subway tunnel.
• Green Arrow Duck explained that Kitty’s armor could support the team’s scouting and tactics, then stopped before a sealed brick passage.

Alexei led five mechas into New York’s sewers to join the Continental Hotel team’s encirclement and drive the Reapers toward their nest. After splitting up to follow separate routes, Green Arrow Duck sealed the vertical shaft with traps and set off with Kitty to attack.

• Leopard Type blasted an entrance into the sewers and rigged it with Ultraviolet Grenades to prevent the Reapers from escaping.
• Alexei used Sparrow Drone reconnaissance to map the Continental Hotel team’s five attack routes and planned for the mechas to descend through a vertical shaft and block escape passages.
• The five mechas dropped through the sewer’s iron grates, which Green Arrow Duck shot loose, then split up along their assigned routes.
• Green Arrow Duck and Leopard Type trapped the vertical shaft with Ultraviolet Grenades before Green Arrow Duck ordered Kitty to follow him and cause a ruckus.

Green Arrow Duck and the other mechs discovered that Reapers ignored them until attacked, then fought their way through the creatures. Green Arrow Duck and the Leopard Type rescued a besieged group led by John Wick, who asked what to call the duck mech.

• Green Arrow Duck and Bullhead reported that Reapers ignored their mechs, and Gilgamesh discovered that attacking one alerted the nearby creatures.
• Ursa Major advised the group to push deeper while keeping pressure on the Reapers, and Green Arrow Duck advanced with the Leopard Type.
• Green Arrow Duck and the Leopard Type coordinated missiles, gunfire, and close combat to destroy the Reapers in their path.
• Green Arrow Duck and the Leopard Type reached a detention basin and wiped out the Reapers surrounding a group of humans.
• John Wick, struggling to recover his vision, asked Green Arrow Duck whether he should call it Robin Hood or Donald Duck.

Green Arrow Duck used a map to direct John Wick’s group through the uncertain yellow passages while he and the Leopard Type drove Reapers into a newly excavated nest. Before Green Arrow Duck could coordinate a full assault, another group of humans rushed blindly into the nest.

• Green Arrow Duck marked the sewer passages on a 3D map, and John Wick identified the red route as the vampire gathering place and the yellow routes as uncertain.
• Green Arrow Duck and the Leopard Type went ahead, and John Wick organized the others into groups to explore the yellow passages while sending Mike and Johnny back to safety.
• John Wick and the others reloaded their weapons, then split up and entered different yellow passages on high alert.
• Green Arrow Duck and the Leopard Type used Sun Pharma lamps to drive the Reapers into a newly excavated underground space, then switched off the lights and surveyed the nest.
• A group of humans charged into the Reaper nest with only weak flashlight beams, and Green Arrow Duck watched as they stumbled into danger.

Cassandra Eagle-Bearer and the Assassin Brotherhood were trapped in a Reaper nest after exposing a false plea for help, and they struggled to hold off the swarm. Green Arrow Duck waited for all five Mecha to reach their positions, then took control and unleashed a coordinated volley of ultraviolet fire, leaving the Reapers exposed to overwhelming firepower.

• Cassandra Eagle-Bearer led the Assassin Brotherhood into the Reaper nest, where the group heard a voice pleading for rescue.
• The assassins used powerful ultraviolet lights to expose the speaker and burn the surrounding Reapers, revealing that the plea had been a trap.
• Reapers launched a relentless attack, forcing the assassins to fight while their ammunition, batteries, and searchlights threatened to run out.
• Usha, Bonnie, and Bullhead arrived with the other Mecha, and Green Arrow Duck took temporary control of all five.
• Green Arrow Duck ordered a full-ammunition volley that flooded the space with ultraviolet radiation and turned the Reapers caught in it to ash.

After the mechs annihilated the Reapers, Henry encountered Mephisto in a frozen moment and learned that the demon had nudged the monsters toward New York. Mephisto sought to reclaim a coin and recruit Henry as his human-world spokesperson, but Henry refused to trust his offer and provoked him to strike.

• The five mechs unleashed a massive volley that destroyed the Reapers and rescued the trapped humans.
• Green Arrow Duck found herself immobilized as time seemed to stop, and Henry phased out of the Duck Leopard armor.
• Mephisto appeared in the form of a Reaper and admitted he had given the rampaging beasts a small push and direction.
• Mephisto asked Henry to return his lost coin and offered him a deal to act as his spokesperson and occasional vessel.
• Henry rejected Mephisto's contract offer, accused him of intending to possess him, and dared him to hit him.

Cassandra destroyed Mephisto’s avatar, ending the time stop, and reunited with Thena as Henry and the others regrouped. The survivors then learned that many more people were still being held by the Reapers elsewhere in the sewers.

• Cassandra used Hermes’ Staff to destroy Mephisto’s avatar, and the time-stop effect ended.
• Henry returned to the others in Green Arrow Duck, while Cassandra confronted him and Bonnie intervened.
• Thena revealed herself to Cassandra, and the old friends reunited before agreeing to discuss what had happened later.
• Gilgamesh told the group he had been unable to move during the time stop, while Alexei asked what he had missed.
• The group discussed clearing the remaining Reapers in the sewers, and a rescued captive asked them to save people still held elsewhere.

Green Arrow Duck and his allies debated whether the sewer survivors deserved rescue while continuing to clear out the Reapers. After the main Reaper force was defeated and the injured and captured humans were left in the hands of rescuers, the mechas withdrew from the New York sewers.

• Old Black asked the assassins to rescue the imprisoned humans, but Green Arrow Duck remained focused on the Reaper cleanup.
• Alexei argued that ordinary people deserved help, while Green Arrow Duck doubted anyone in the sewers was worth saving; Red Guardian chose to follow Old Black and find out for himself.
• Ursa Major Mecha followed Old Black to rescue survivors, while Green Arrow Duck and the other mechas continued clearing the sewers and brought injured Continental Hotel gunmen to guarded entrances.
• The Continental Hotel personnel intensified their cleanup after learning the main Reaper force had been defeated, and Green Arrow Duck signaled the mechas to withdraw.
• The mechas collected their devices and erased their traces before leaving the New York sewers.

After the battle, Henry and Alexei discussed the horrors Alexei had witnessed among humans held captive beneath the city, and the group shared a meal at the secret base. Cassandra asked Henry about his connection to a demon, prompting him to begin explaining how he found and adopted Skye.

• Henry asked Alexei why he was brooding, and Alexei described the suffering and exploitation he had seen among the captive humans.
• Henry and Alexei shared vodka as the others joined them and listened to Alexei recount the settlement and its piles of bones.
• Henry prepared a large dinner, and the exhausted Cassandra ate with particular gusto.
• Cassandra asked Henry what was happening between him and a demon, and Alexei reacted with surprise that demons existed.
• Henry placed a coin on the table and began telling the group how tracking a troublesome child led him to the sewer world and eventually to Skye.

Henry explained to Alexei why he had helped Skye but ignored other people in danger, saying he had followed the circumstances and fate of each encounter. He then asked Cassandra and the others how he could free Skye’s soul from the coin he had taken from Mephisto, but they had no solution and Henry rejected seeking help from Kamar-Taj or the church.

• Henry told Alexei that his choices to help Skye and ignore other survivors had followed different circumstances, which he called fate and letting nature take its course.
• Gilgamesh defended Henry’s reasoning as a difference in their core beliefs, while Cassandra and Thena joked about Henry debating Socrates.
• Cassandra asked Henry how he planned to solve the other Skye’s problem, and Henry admitted he did not know whether the coin from Mephisto could help her soul.
• Cassandra, Thena, and Gilgamesh examined the coin but could not understand its markings or offer a solution.
• Gilgamesh suggested Henry seek sorcerers at Kamar-Taj or capable people at the Vatican, but Henry refused because he feared violence or that they would destroy the coin and Skye’s soul.

Barbara Morse informed the former Howling Commandos that their mission in New York had been canceled because the New Breed Vampires there had been eliminated by the Continental Hotel and unexpected allies. She asked the disbanded team to reorganize under S.H.I.E.L.D., with the remaining vampire threat in Los Angeles still unresolved.

• Barbara Morse arrived at the Pine Barrens meeting and announced that the New York mission had been canceled because the vampires had already been eliminated.
• Barbara explained that the Continental Hotel had received help from a third party and members of the Assassin Brotherhood, including an Elder.
• Jack Russell read the report describing cartoon-like animals among the attackers and questioned whether the account was credible.
• Barbara confirmed that multiple informants supported the report, though S.H.I.E.L.D. had no photographs and was investigating the group’s identities.
• Barbara offered the Howling Commandos S.H.I.E.L.D. support if they reorganized, and told them that the hunt for New Breed Vampires in Los Angeles continued.

After the former Howling Commandos refused Barbara Morse’s offer to rejoin, Steve Grant Rogers met with Peggy Carter and the others to discuss S.H.I.E.L.D.’s changing role and the danger within it. The old captain revealed that half of S.H.I.E.L.D. was Hydra, leaving Peggy and her allies with no safe way to act.

• Vampire by Night told Barbara Morse that the former Howling Commandos would not return to the team, and Barbara agreed to relay their decision to Director Pierce.
• After Barbara left, Steve Grant Rogers joined Peggy Carter and the former Commandos, read the documents about the resolved vampire incident, and discussed S.H.I.E.L.D.’s push to become an international organization.
• Peggy Carter explained that Director Pierce wanted S.H.I.E.L.D. to gain international funding and authority after U.S. agencies had ignored its warning about a terrorist attack.
• Peggy Carter asked why Steve Grant Rogers had opposed incorporating the Howling Commandos into S.H.I.E.L.D., and he revealed that half of S.H.I.E.L.D. was Hydra.
• Steve Grant Rogers warned that a purge could paralyze or destroy S.H.I.E.L.D., while Peggy Carter and the others struggled to find a safe way to confront Hydra.

Henry returned Alexei Shostakov and the Ursa Major Mecha to Europe, where Alexei explained why he no longer wanted to wear it. As the Reaper crisis ended on both coasts, questions remained about the virus’s collaborators and whether it could resurface; Cassandra Eagle-Bearer moved into Henry’s Manhattan building.

• Henry escorted Alexei Shostakov to Europe and carried the Ursa Major Mecha back with him.
• Alexei told Henry that he had accidentally killed people who tried to steal the mecha, so he would rather call for support than wear it except when necessary.
• Alexei left for Debrecen to avoid being hunted by Vampires in Budapest, and Henry agreed to upgrade the mecha using its combat data.
• The Continental Hotel led the effort to eliminate Reapers on the East Coast, while Blade killed Eli Damaskinos and his eldest son and helped eradicate the Reapers on the West Coast.
• Black Super asked Whistler who had helped Eli Damaskinos develop the virus, and Whistler agreed to seek Nyssa’s cooperation and investigate the threat.
• Cassandra Eagle-Bearer moved into the eighth floor of Henry’s Manhattan building, becoming Thena’s upstairs neighbor.

Henry learned from Cassandra how the Assassin Brotherhood was organized and how it related to the High Table and Continental Hotel. Cassandra explained her role and the Brotherhood’s history, then she and Henry resumed their playful wrestling.

• Henry asked Cassandra about her elder role in the Assassin Brotherhood, and she explained that she guarded a long-standing inheritance while avoiding interference in mortal affairs.
• Cassandra told Henry that the High Table and the Assassin Brotherhood were not in a simple hierarchy, and that a Middle Eastern faction held both a High Table seat and the elder position.
• Cassandra described how the Brotherhood grew from the Hidden Ones in Egypt, spread around the world after Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad dissolved the Masyaf base, and retained a Syrian faction tied to the High Table.
• Cassandra explained that the Brotherhood, High Table, and Continental Hotel shared overlapping ties, and that she had joined the New York operation to help with the new Vampires.
• Henry and Cassandra teased each other about their trust and strength before Henry carried her back to the bed and they began another round of wrestling.

Henry cared for Katharine Hepburn as she regained her health, explaining that he was repaying the help she had once given him. As Cassandra asked whether he was interested in Isu Technology and offered him a chance to restore or modify her equipment, Henry was left considering her proposal.

• Henry returned to Turtle Bay before dawn after fighting Cassandra, and he resolved to meet her in battle again another day.
• Henry helped Katharine Hepburn maintain her health through dementia treatment, exercise, careful meals, and daily care.
• Henry told Cassandra that he cared for Katharine because she had helped him when he had nothing to offer in return.
• Gilgamesh and Thena said Henry helped people according to his mood rather than following strict rules about favors.
• Cassandra asked whether Henry was interested in Isu Technology and suggested he restore or modify her gear.

Henry agreed to help Cassandra retrieve and study ordinary Isu equipment hidden on the seafloor of the Aegean Sea. Back home, Skye and Gwen reacted to his suggestion of a trip, and Katharine Hepburn proposed arranging it for spring break.

• Cassandra explained that she had spent centuries destroying dangerous Isu artifacts and wanted Henry to help improve the ordinary Isu equipment she had kept.
• Henry agreed to consider studying Cassandra's equipment, which she said was hidden in the Aegean Sea and would need to be retrieved from the seafloor.
• Henry returned home and asked Katharine Hepburn whether she wanted to vacation in the Aegean Sea.
• Henry tried to keep Skye home for school and asked Gwen to babysit, but Skye protested and appealed to Katharine.
• Katharine suggested taking the trip during spring break, while Skye celebrated and Gwen voiced her jealousy.

Henry and his companions traveled to the Aegean Sea to secretly retrieve Isu Gear that Cassandra had sunk, with Henry expected to handle the deep-sea work. The group arrived at a private island resort and set out by yacht, leaving Gwen behind because her father would not allow her to travel.

• Henry persuaded Gwen not to join the trip, explaining that George would object to her traveling so far while she was still applying to college.
• Henry arranged a private jet through Kingo, while Cassandra, Thena, and Gilgamesh joined the expedition to recover the Isu Gear.
• Cassandra recalled that she had sunk the equipment east of Crete, where the Aegean Sea reached depths of 3,544 meters, too deep for Henry's Mecha or the Eternals to work efficiently.
• Henry booked an entire island resort and rented a yacht so the group could search without attracting attention.
• Eight people and a tiger arrived in the Aegean Sea, where Cassandra took the helm and the group began their vacation and search.

Henry and his companions sailed to an island resort for a week of rest, while Skye asked Thena to teach her how to get stronger. The trip ended with a drunken Kitty falling into the sea as they disembarked, and Henry pulled her safely onto the dock.

• Gilgamesh forced Kitty to drink beer while Henry and Kingo joked about fishing with her.
• Skye asked Thena to teach her to train so she could punch Henry, and Thena encouraged her.
• Cassandra steered the yacht to the resort island, where the staff welcomed the group and Henry arranged the mooring rope.
• Kitty stumbled off the gangway and fell into the sea, so Henry grabbed her by the scruff and hauled her onto the dock.
• The group prepared to spend a week at the island resort with no fixed itinerary.

Henry and his companions began their vacation on a Greek island, while Henry discreetly sent drones to survey the Aegean Sea. Katharine Hepburn recognized that he had another purpose for coming, but Henry said it was not urgent and the vacation still had time.

• The group toured the island and chose rooms, with Skye sharing with Katharine Hepburn to look after her.
• Henry teased Skye after she warned him about the possibility of a serial killer on the island.
• The group enjoyed the beach and sea, while Henry carried Katharine Hepburn’s painting case and deployed Sparrow Drones to survey the skies, water, and seabed.
• Henry discussed the island’s scenery and Katharine Hepburn’s memories of the film Summertime as she searched for a subject to paint.
• Katharine Hepburn told Henry she knew he and his friends had another reason for coming, and Henry replied that their task was not urgent.

Henry set aside his usual surveillance and joined the others on a deep-sea salvage mission to find the chest Cassandra had thrown into the sea. The group reached the target waters and began descending, with Henry’s speed surprising the Eternals and Cassandra nearing her physical limit.

• Henry helped Katharine Hepburn set up her easel while Skye and Kitty played in the sea, then spent a day resting from his information feeds.
• The next day, Henry and the Eternals, Spartans, and Kryptonians traveled toward the target waters while everyone else stayed at the vacation island.
• Cassandra recalled that the lost items were in a flat-sided wooden chest bound with iron chains, and Henry handed out deep-sea flashlights.
• Henry kept Thena on the yacht because her Vibranium jewelry might come loose underwater and trigger her madness.
• Henry led Cassandra, Gilgamesh, and Kingo down by an iron chain, and Cassandra struggled as the group descended at astonishing speed.

Henry used sound to navigate the Aegean seabed and searched with Cassandra and the Eternals for Isu equipment, collecting several suspicious boxes. They returned to the yacht with their finds, where Cassandra struggled to catch her breath while the Eternals relaxed.

• Henry used sound waves and water-current feedback to map the deep sea as he descended toward the seabed with Kingo and Cassandra.
• At 3,000 meters, Henry confirmed that Cassandra could move normally with the aid of an Isu Relic, and the group agreed on contact signals and a rendezvous point.
• Henry searched the seabed, identified suspicious wooden boxes by their materials, and carried several back to the meeting point.
• Cassandra and the others returned with their finds, and Henry towed everyone and their trophies toward the surface at a controlled pace.
• Thena helped bring the spoils aboard the yacht, while Henry flew onto the deck and Cassandra leaned against the railing, gasping for breath.

Henry, Cassandra, and Kingo opened salvaged crates and found ancient Roman coins, gemstones, and red coral. They decided to donate the coins, while Henry treated the gemstones as spoils that would be difficult to sell.

• Henry snapped open an iron chain by hand and accidentally broke the first seawater-damaged crate while opening it.
• Cassandra identified more than 2,200 coins as Hadrian Gold Coins, and Henry agreed to pack them up and donate them rather than sell them.
• Henry and the others opened another crate, spilling emeralds, peridots, two large pieces of red coral, and red coral beads onto the ground.
• Cassandra wondered whether the crates came from a Roman merchant ship, but Henry said he had seen only the crates and no wreckage.
• Henry concluded that the gemstones would be difficult to sell and that most could only count as spoils.

Henry and his companions salvaged treasure from the Aegean Sea, agreed that Kingo would sell most of it, and recovered Cassandra’s long-lost Isu Gear. When Henry handled the fiery short sword, its flames went out, and Cassandra said he could not use it.

• Kingo offered to sell the gems and coral, and Henry and Cassandra each chose one red coral to keep.
• Henry and Gilgamesh searched the seabed while Cassandra and Kingo opened chests on the yacht, finding several filled with decayed fabric and foul-smelling remains.
• After the fourteenth chest brought up Cassandra’s Isu Gear, Henry returned to the seabed to bring Gilgamesh back, and they stopped salvaging.
• Cassandra recovered a seamless short sword whose blade produced flames, though she said its power had weakened underwater.
• Henry took the sword, and its flames went out in his hand; Cassandra said he was unable to use it.

Henry and the Eternals sorted and distributed the recovered artifacts, while keeping the Isu Gear aboard the yacht to study during their remaining vacation. They sailed back toward the island, stopping to fish, where a giant moray eel clamped onto Henry's head.

• Cassandra explained that Isu weapons required Isu genes, but the Eternals could use them and Henry could not.
• Henry had Cassandra test the other pieces of Isu Gear and learned that they were still functional, though weakened.
• Henry sorted the recovered treasures, delivered artifacts to museums in Italy and Greece, sent Kingo's belongings to Mumbai, and stored his own items in Manhattan.
• Henry kept the Isu Gear aboard the yacht, and Cassandra started the engine to sail back to the island.
• Kingo asked Henry to catch seafood, and Henry caught several fish before a giant moray eel bit down on his head and clung to him.

On the final day of the vacation, Skye asked Gilgamesh to teach her how to fight, and he decided to demonstrate his combat style by challenging Henry. Gilgamesh caught Henry off guard and sent him skipping across the sea, leaving the fight unresolved.

• Skye asked Gilgamesh to teach her how to fight, explaining that Thena only taught her basic training.
• Gilgamesh told Skye that Thena was the best teacher for her and said he would demonstrate the combat style he and Henry excelled at.
• Gilgamesh challenged Henry to a serious fight so Skye could see him fight and understand why she should not challenge him.
• Gilgamesh activated his combat mode and charged Henry with a series of heavy punches.
• Gilgamesh broke through Henry's guard, struck his jaw, then hit him again as he fell, sending him spinning and bouncing across the sea.