Chapter Summaries

After Obadiah Stane was found at a hidden Stark Industries property, Tony told Lake that Obadiah had transformed into a demon called Black Heart, who planned to reopen Hell Gate. Lake dismissed the demon’s threat as he waited to learn more.

• Lake received word that Obadiah Stane had attacked firefighters and police officers at a property in Hancock Fort.
• Tony arrived at Lake’s home battered and was knocked unconscious by Eevee’s lightning after sneaking in through the balcony.
• Lake revived Tony with a Life Potion while convincing Skye that Eevee’s attack had been an illusion.
• Tony explained that Obadiah had hidden in an unregistered Stark Industries warehouse beneath the Statue of Liberty and was conducting a cloning operation.
• Four Parasitic Demons attacked Obadiah, and he emerged transformed as Black Heart after a black tide blasted Tony from the warehouse.
• Tony told Lake that Black Heart intended to reopen Hell Gate, and Lake doubted that he could accomplish it.

Lake reassured Tony that someone would handle the demon, then warned him that S.H.I.E.L.D. would likely pressure him to conceal his identity. Tony decided he would not hide that he was Iron Man, while Lake learned that Rachel was coming to New York to report on Hancock Fort and made Tony choose between paying for a broken sofa or giving an interview.

• Tony told Lake how the Black Heart Demon overpowered him, but holy-water missiles drove the demon into explosives and let Tony escape.
• Lake dismissed S.H.I.E.L.D.'s ability to handle demons and predicted that its agents would soon ask Tony to deny being the person in a photograph.
• Lake warned Tony to defend his principles and boundaries against S.H.I.E.L.D.'s recruitment efforts, and Tony said he had no reason to conceal his identity.
• Rachel told Lake she would arrive in New York the next morning and wanted to report on Hancock Fort after photographs reached Washington.
• Tony broke Lake's sofa while sitting in his Iron Man Suit, and Lake demanded three thousand dollars or an interview in its place.

Lake arranged Rachel’s exclusive interview with Tony Stark, who publicly revealed that he was Iron Man, while Nick Fury considered his next move for the Avengers Initiative. The chapter ended with George investigating a Queens apartment building where a tenant found a corridor filled with mummified corpses.

• Lake met Rachel at the airport and told her Tony had agreed to give her an exclusive interview in exchange for three thousand dollars.
• Tony agreed to meet S.H.I.E.L.D. after Peggy Carter called him, while Lake left and returned to his office.
• Tony announced “I am Iron Man!” at his press conference, and Nick Fury reviewed the Avengers Initiative file before deciding to send Natasha Romanov to contact Tony.
• Rachel returned to Starlight Tower confident that her two-hour interview with Tony would lead her front-page story.
• George responded to a case in Queens after a tenant discovered an entire corridor of mummified corpses in an apartment building.

Lake investigated a slum apartment building where all 132 residents had become terrified desiccated corpses, and sensed a powerful dark aura that fed his restless Force Seed. Homeland Security’s imaging revealed that the building formed a pentagram linked to the spirit element.

• George and Joe arrived at the sealed building and found desiccated corpses across its floors, including a man George had seen alive the previous night.
• The NYPD requested Homeland Security’s help, and Lake changed course to join George and Joe at the scene.
• A CDC agent ruled out a gas leak and reported that the residents appeared to have suffered sudden severe dehydration.
• Lake sensed fear, wailing, and a powerful dark aura inside the building, which nourished his Force Seed.
• Lake had Jack bring an imaging device, and Homeland Security agents removed irrelevant details from the building’s 3D image to reveal a pentagram.
• An intelligence agent identified the thickened symbol in the pentagram as the wood element, indicating a spirit-element formation.

Lake tracked the pentagram’s elemental points and went to the Houghton Building after an explosion, where Black Heart Demon emerged from Obadiah Stane. Lake fought the demon and absorbed its dark power, but Black Heart Demon escaped, leaving Lake to explain his power to Tony before vanishing.

• Lake learned that the pentagram’s spirit element represented the head and ordered Homeland Security to identify and warn the four areas corresponding to its limbs.
• Tiffany told Lake that an explosion had occurred at the Houghton Building, where Iron Man tried to contain the fire but was caught by black mist.
• Lake leapt into the building, freed Iron Man, and fought Black Heart Demon, absorbing the demon’s power into his Force Seed.
• Lake used Six Senses Rebound and Gemini Maze against Black Heart Demon, but the demon detonated Obadiah Stane’s body and escaped as black mist.
• Tony asked Lake whether the demon had died, and Lake said it had escaped before disappearing in golden light.

Lake arrested Tony Stark after the Houghton Building incident, then handed the investigation over to S.H.I.E.L.D. and warned his agents to stay clear. Tony later asked Lake about Saga and the Cosmo, but Lake admitted he could not explain it and said Tony could not gain its power.

• Lake and his agents secured the thirty-sixth floor, arrested Tony Stark, and brought him to the Department of Homeland Security for questioning.
• Pepper Potts arrived, and Lake released Tony before telling him that a similar incident would happen again.
• Victoria Hand asked to take over the Houghton Building case, and Lake agreed while warning her not to use Homeland Security's name; he also ordered his agents to avoid the investigation.
• Tony asked Lake about Saga's questions regarding the Cosmo, and Lake described Saga's cultivation and immense potential power.
• Lake told Tony that he could not explain the Cosmo and that Tony could not obtain its power.

Lake told Tony that awakening Cosmo required punching a tree ten thousand times without stopping, and Tony left determined to try. Hermione later explained that Federal Mages had secretly bargained with Hell for long lives while ignoring demons, and that the Sorcerer Supreme could not intervene against Black Heart Demon because humans had summoned him.

• Lake challenged Tony to punch a big tree ten thousand times without stopping, and Tony left to attempt it.
• Hermione criticized the electronic fireplace and warned Lake that New York’s mages were petty.
• Hermione explained that Merlin had secured London mages’ long lives through a pact with Mephisto, while Merlin’s legacy had continued through a succession of mages.
• Hermione revealed that Federal Mages had traded their inaction toward demons entering through Hell Rifts for exemption from natural death.
• Hermione told Lake that Black Heart Demon had been summoned by humans, so the Sorcerer Supreme could not treat his arrival as a forceful invasion; she noted that Lake had already driven him away.

Lake revealed the Gold Cloth of Gemini to Hermione, who explained why the Sorcerer Supreme and Templar Mages could not intervene against demons summoned in the Federation. The chapter ended with Lake learning that the Templar Mages’ magical oath to the Federation remained in Hogwarts’s Blood Oath Sanctum.

• Hermione recognized Lake’s old Saint Seiya stories and teased him about being Saga of Gemini and about where his Athena was.
• Lake summoned the Gemini Cloth chest and showed Hermione the Gold Cloth, but said wearing it would kill him unless he first mastered the Seventh Sense.
• Hermione explained that the Sorcerer Supreme’s agreement with other dimensions barred intervention against beings summoned to Earth, even when humans exploited a loophole.
• Hermione told Lake that the Templar Mages had severed ties with the Federation after a dispute over Fantastic Beasts, but their magical oath remained in Hogwarts’s Blood Oath Sanctum.

Lake learned that Black Heart Demon planned to open Hell Gate by forming a pentagram across New York, and he went to the Brooklyn water plant as S.H.I.E.L.D. battled the demon. The chapter ended with Lake preparing to enter the fight.

• Hermione told Lake that Black Heart Demon was Mephisto's eldest son and urged him to protect New York.
• Skye returned home, met Hermione, and learned she was a witch from the London Wizarding World.
• Lake received a report of an attack at the Brooklyn water plant and deduced that Black Heart Demon was completing a pentagram to open Hell Gate.
• S.H.I.E.L.D. attacked Black Heart Demon with holy water, but he destroyed a fire truck and killed agents with corrosive black fog.
• Iron Man fought Black Heart Demon with holy-water missiles, but the demon struck back with a black whip.
• Lake watched the battle from a rooftop and prepared to make his entrance.

The military sent Bruce Banner as Hulk to fight Black Heart Demon, while Lake learned that S.H.I.E.L.D. had enlisted the military to test Hulk and prepare his public debut. Black Heart Demon corrupted Hulk with dark energy, and the chapter ended as Hulk turned on the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents after one of them accidentally shot him.

• General Ross sent Bruce Banner into the battle, and Hulk crashed into Black Heart Demon, driving him into the Brooklyn water plant.
• Lake discovered that S.H.I.E.L.D. had requested the military's help so Hulk could fight the demon and serve as a future public hero.
• Black Heart Demon turned into black mist, corrupted Hulk with rage, and escaped into the water plant as Iron Man launched Holy Water missiles.
• Lake warned Iron Man that Hulk was in danger of losing control, and Hulk turned toward the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents on the ground.
• General Ross ordered the agents to lower their weapons, but one agent accidentally shot Hulk, who roared and triggered an explosion.

After Hulk’s rampage destroyed much of Brooklyn, Lake blamed S.H.I.E.L.D. for provoking him and distanced the Department of Homeland Security from the failed operation. He identified a Long Island wind farm as the likely next target, while officials in Washington argued over responsibility for the disaster.

• Lake arrived at the ruined Brooklyn waterworks, where General Ross blamed Victoria Hand and mourned Hulk’s disappearance after S.H.I.E.L.D. agents’ gunfire enraged him.
• Lake suggested to General Ross that S.H.I.E.L.D. had deliberately made Hulk a public enemy, then avoided meeting New York’s mayor and governor.
• Lake told Secretary Kelly that S.H.I.E.L.D. had led the operation and caused Hulk’s rampage by firing on him.
• Lake’s team identified a Long Island wind farm as the likely next target, and he ordered satellites to monitor it around the clock.
• At the White House, Secretary Kelly accused S.H.I.E.L.D. of causing the Brooklyn disaster, and Nick Fury tried to respond before Kelly listed S.H.I.E.L.D.’s actions that led to Hulk’s rampage.

After S.H.I.E.L.D. New York was suspended and its authority frozen, Lake regained control of the case and prepared to confront the approaching supernatural threat with Saga. The chapter ended as Black Heart Demon arrived at the wind power station and faced Lake, while ignoring Iron Man.

• Secretary Kelly persuaded the President to suspend S.H.I.E.L.D. New York and transfer responsibility for the case to the Department of Homeland Security.
• Secretary Kelly told Lake that S.H.I.E.L.D. New York would cease activities, face an investigation, and eventually be transferred back to Washington.
• Lake saw Iron Man arrive at the Long Island wind power station and later met Tony there with Saga.
• Tony questioned Saga about becoming powerful through throwing ten thousand punches, but Saga asked whether Tony had sensed the power of the Cosmo.
• Lake left the cordon as Black Heart Demon approached, while his consciousness returned from his clone to his body disguised as Saga.
• Black Heart Demon emerged from the black mist and confronted Lake, ignoring Iron Man.

Lake confronted Black Heart Demon at his final pentagram site, where he continued draining the demon’s essence while waiting to advance his cultivation. After Black Heart Demon devoured a crowd that had welcomed Hell, he tried to tempt Iron Man with the promise of seeing his parents, but Lake realized Howard Stark and Maria Stark’s souls were not in Hell.

• Lake learned that Black Heart Demon had reached his final site and continued plundering the demon’s replenishing dark essence.
• A crowd of New Yorkers and reporters gathered at the cordon to welcome Hell, and Lake invited Black Heart Demon to take them.
• Black Heart Demon swept the crowd into his mist and devoured them, leaving Lake’s clone and the officers unharmed.
• Iron Man challenged Lake’s decision to let the crowd die, and Lake defended it as an expression of his own idea of love and justice.
• Black Heart Demon offered Iron Man a chance to see his parents and claimed they had begged him to spare their son.
• Lake noticed that Tony’s breathing settled and realized Howard Stark and Maria Stark’s souls were not in Hell.

Lake trapped Black Heart Demon in Dragonfly Captain’s Arena and awakened his Gemini power, summoning the Gemini Gold Cloth to face him. The transformation was witnessed across the world, while The Ancient One recognized Lake’s growth.

• Black Heart Demon revealed that Howard Stark and Maria Stark were not in Hell, then challenged Lake after boasting of his increased power.
• Lake summoned Dragonfly Captain’s Arena, which enclosed the battlefield and struck Black Heart Demon when he tried to reach beyond its boundaries.
• Lake revealed his Gemini Gold Cloth Token and awakened a powerful Gemini projection behind him as he prepared to fight Black Heart Demon.
• S.H.I.E.L.D., the Federal Mages, Hogwarts, and Kamar-Taj watched the Gold Cloth appear, and The Ancient One said Lake had finally grown.

Lake donned the Gemini Gold Cloth and fought Black Heart Demon on Long Island, using Galaxy Explosion to devour the demon’s darkness and plunder the Hell Dimension’s source. As Black Heart Demon tried to flee, Lake trapped him in a labyrinth arena and prepared to finish the battle.

• Lake summoned the Gemini Gold Cloth, rejected its helmet, and declared himself Saga, Gold Saint of Gemini, fighting for love and justice.
• S.H.I.E.L.D., Kamar-Taj, and the Wizarding World observed Lake’s transformation, while the Ancient One told Uncle Ba to keep watching.
• Black Heart Demon engulfed the power plant in darkness and attacked Lake with giant tentacles, but Lake threw Iron Man out of the fight and unleashed Galaxy Explosion.
• Lake’s golden attacks devoured the darkness and drained the Hell Dimension’s source, alarming Black Heart Demon and the force connected to him.
• Black Heart Demon tried to escape through the darkness, but Lake appeared above his law arena and began casting Gemini Labyrinth to end the battle.

Lake defeated and devoured Black Heart Demon inside the Gemini Nebula, then forced Mephisto’s projection to sever Hell’s connection to Earth. He returned to Long Island as the Hell Dimension rapidly withdrew, having learned how its past agreement with humanity restricted its power over Earth and the dead.

• Lake trapped Black Heart Demon in the Gemini Nebula and devoured his Hell origin while Black Heart Demon pleaded for Mephisto to save him.
• Mephisto appeared as a projection, but Lake’s Nebula devoured Black Heart Demon; Mephisto then exploded his projection and severed Hell’s connection to Earth.
• Lake returned to Long Island injured, switched places with his clone, and told Tony Stark the battle was over before leaving with Jack.
• Tony left the ruined wind farm as the NYPD arrived, while Lake drove through traffic and reflected on the crowds drawn to Long Island by Black Heart Demon.
• Lake sensed Hell disconnecting from Earth and learned that King Arthur and Merlin had once driven Hell away, leaving Mephisto unable to claim human souls directly.

Lake learned that Mephisto had expelled him from the Hell Dimension’s information database, while his Force Seed revealed that he needed to plunder the Four Elements of Creation to nurture his own world. After watching Councilman Braken criticize officials over the Long Island disaster, Lake recognized him as Beckett’s mother’s killer and Skye left to help Alexis prepare her graduation speech.

• Lake discovered that Mephisto had used his superior authority to expel him from the Hell Dimension’s information database.
• Lake learned that his Force Seed required him to plunder wind, fire, water, earth, and spirit to create a world.
• Lake watched the news blame Iron Man and Saga for the Long Island disaster, then recognized Councilman Braken as the enemy Beckett had been searching for.
• Skye returned home, then left to help Alexis review her graduation speech.
• Lake asked whether Skye could become Midtown High School’s outstanding graduate, and Skye pointed out that she competed with a bona fide genius.

Lake handled the fallout from the demon incident as Councilman Braken’s criticism turned public opinion against the Department of Homeland Security. The President planned to bring the Pope to New York, and after the demon story faded from the headlines, Lake focused on investigating Howard Stark, Maria Stark, and Da Vinci.

• Skye went downstairs with Lake to visit Alexis, who was struggling to prepare an important graduation speech.
• Secretary Kelly told Lake that the President planned to visit Long Island with the Pope and asked him to coordinate the Secret Service’s security assessment.
• Lake decided the Supervisory Bureau would counter the criticism of the Department of Homeland Security with its own public messaging.
• Caroline announced that Senior Special Agent Saga had contained the suspected demon incident and said the victims had willingly sacrificed themselves.
• Rachel’s newspaper published an interview with Saga, while official statements avoided confirming that the creature was a demon.
• By June 10, coverage of the demon incident had faded, and Lake used Red Queen’s extensive online research to investigate Howard Stark, Maria Stark, and Da Vinci.

Lake investigated clues that might reveal what happened to Wanda, including Da Vinci’s manuscripts and Howard Stark’s belongings. He found Skye and Alexis hungover at Martha’s house, discovered Cassel and Beckett hiding their relationship, and offered Cassel a way to connect with Beckett through her mother’s case.

• Lake had Red Queen block rumors about Howard Stark and Da Vinci, then asked Emilia to pursue a Da Vinci manuscript and told Tony to investigate his parents’ belongings at S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Lake realized Skye and Beckett’s auras were still in the apartment, so he went to Martha’s house and found Skye and Alexis hungover.
• Lake offered the girls beer as a hangover cure, and Cassel arrived while trying to conceal Beckett upstairs.
• Martha exposed Cassel and Beckett’s secret relationship by pointing out red lace underwear in the living room.
• Cassel asked Lake whether he could get Beckett reinstated, and Lake refused before offering him a way to connect with Beckett through her mother’s case.

Lake revealed that he had secretly found evidence in Joanna Beckett’s murder and pointed Beckett and Cassel toward the keepsake her mother left her. The evidence led Beckett to arrest Councilman Braken, while Lake punished Skye and Alexis for drinking too much.

• Lake told Cassel and Beckett that he knew where evidence in Joanna Beckett’s murder was hidden, then hinted that Cassel already knew the clue from his Derek Storm novels.
• Beckett remembered Lake’s questions about her mother’s keepsake and hurried with Cassel to the precinct to retrieve it.
• Lake used the Force to ease Skye and Alexis’s hangovers, then sent them to clean and refill the pool as punishment for drinking.
• Beckett’s suspension was canceled, and she and Cassel broke the keepsake open to find a cassette tape inside.
• Beckett arrested Councilman Braken after the district attorney’s office issued a warrant accusing him of fraud conspiracy and Joanna Beckett’s murder.