Chapter Summaries

Henry’s armors reached Budapest to rescue Alexei, who was trapped among armed attackers and monsters. Green Arrow Duck delivered Alexei’s Bear Armor and collected the radioactive materials needed for UV Bullets as their enemies closed in.

• Henry’s three armors used their homemade satellites to reach Alexei in Budapest in twenty-nine seconds and locate his hiding place.
• Green Arrow Duck descended through the roof and found Alexei, who initially fired at him before recognizing Henry.
• Green Arrow Duck unfolded the Bear Armor for Alexei and blocked gunfire while Alexei handed over a backpack of raw materials for UV Bullets.
• Alexei equipped the Bear Armor and watched through the drones’ feeds as attackers and monsters approached.
• Gunfire from an unseen source tore into the invading monsters, leaving them temporarily unable to move.

Alexei and the allied mechs escaped the Vampire and Werewolf battle using the Hyper-Acceleration Ejection System, then returned to their Manhattan base. Selene’s Death Walkers investigated the vanished enemies and withdrew, while Alexei arrived badly motion-sick and discovered that the mechs’ communications sounded like animal calls.

• The Bear Armor linked with Little Duck, the Support Mech, and the spy drones, then Alexei and the other mechs launched toward New York using the Hyper-Acceleration Ejection System.
• After the mechs vanished, Selene’s Death Walkers defeated the fleeing Werewolves, searched for Alexei’s reinforcements, and ordered her wounded taken for treatment.
• The four mechs entered their Manhattan base through a rooftop ventilation shaft, where Alexei opened his armor and vomited from motion sickness.
• Green Arrow Duck and Bullhead exchanged encrypted animal sounds, and Thena laughed when she realized she could not understand them.

Henry explained that Alexei had stolen radioactive materials from Werewolves after a Vampire trap drew both factions into pursuing him. The materials were safely destroyed and turned into ammunition, but Alexei learned that his super-soldier physiology made him easy for Vampires to track.

• Henry checked the Mecha for damage while Alexei recovered and ate with him.
• Henry asked why Alexei had been hunted, and Alexei admitted he had robbed Werewolves of radioactive materials they wanted for UV Bullets.
• Alexei explained that Vampires had used transmitters in the packages to locate the Werewolves’ armory, and that he destroyed the transmitters with Little Duck’s help.
• Henry said he had not killed the pursuers because exposing the Mecha could help conceal his other secrets.
• Henry explained that the packages had contained no remaining trackers and that Alexei’s blood aura and super-soldier physiology had made him easy for Vampires to find.

Henry introduced Alexei to Thena and Gilgamesh, and Thena proved her strength by decisively beating Alexei in an arm-wrestling match. Alexei accepted the pair as allies and prepared to familiarize himself with Henry’s Mecha while Henry monitored the Continental Hotel’s movements for the operation.

• Alexei questioned whether Thena and Gilgamesh were capable fighters, and Henry described them as seasoned warriors he had recruited to help.
• Thena challenged Alexei to arm-wrestle, and she beat him using one arm despite his effort and leverage.
• Alexei accepted that Thena and Gilgamesh were qualified allies and asked when they would move out.
• Henry offered Alexei a furnished apartment, access to cash, and warned him to be careful in public because of his recognizable face.
• Henry said the operation would depend on the Continental Hotel’s movements and that he would coordinate with his contacts there.

Alexei and Henry finalized the weapons and ammunition for their mechas ahead of the operation against the Reapers, tailoring each suit to its role. Alexei questioned the enormous ammunition supply, and Henry quickly withdrew his suggestion to use a nuclear bomb when Alexei offered to help obtain one.

• Alexei tested the Ursa Major armor and studied the capabilities of the Bullhead Mecha and Bonnie Mech.
• Henry and Alexei reviewed the mechas’ weapons, reconnaissance systems, and ammunition for fighting the Reapers in New York’s sewers.
• Henry explained that the large ammunition reserves were necessary because the enemy numbers were immense and ordinary bullets might be inefficient.
• Alexei suggested that he and Henry acquire a nuclear bomb in Eastern Europe, and Henry immediately told him to forget the idea.

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.