Chapter Summaries

Salomon explained to Pepper Potts and Tony Stark that Stark was destined to save the universe, but Salomon intended to shoulder that responsibility himself and change the future. He left to buy steaks before they sold out, while Stark and Pepper were left to absorb his revelations.

• Pepper Potts questioned Salomon about her future child with Stark and learned that he had disclosed their future as part of an experiment to guide everyone toward a happier outcome.
• Salomon told Pepper that Stark was destined to become humanity's and the universe's savior, but said he planned to change the future and take that burden himself.
• Salomon explained that he served humanity and that Kamar-Taj hunted Extra-dimensional Beings who entered Earth.
• Stark asked about the Hellfire Club, and Salomon said it had been a fusion of the Spirit of Vengeance and an elemental demon.
• Salomon ended the conversation and hurried away because the steaks for dinner were about to sell out.

Salomon told Stark about Kamar-Taj, Asgard’s power, and Earth’s precarious position, then hinted that he possessed a weapon capable of destroying stars. He later brought Stark Industries’ beef to the orphanage, where Athena objected to the extravagance and Lorna swore.

• Salomon explained that he had limited trust in Nick Fury after forcing him to talk by trapping him in a Trans-dimensional Bacteria.
• Stark challenged the Sorcerer Supreme’s authority, and Salomon defended her status as Lord of Humanity and described Earth’s subordination to Asgard.
• Salomon warned Stark that Heimdall could observe the universe and that Asgard’s Bifrost could destroy planets.
• Salomon claimed Earth also had a Star-slaying weapon in his hands, startling Stark.
• Salomon brought Stark Industries’ supply of premium beef to the orphanage, where Athena criticized the indulgence and Lorna swore.

Salomon learned to craft magical items under Rodin’s guidance while preparing enchanted gloves and collecting custom sheaths for his weapons. He left with the finished sheaths for the Falling Leaf Twin Blades and Excalibur, while his magical-item training continued.

• After leaving Stark to plan new research, Salomon cooked for the children at the orphanage and prepared dinner at home.
• Salomon went to The Gates of Hell Bar to learn leatherwork and magical-item crafting from Rodin while Bayonetta and Jeanne watched.
• Salomon sewed gloves intended to combine Bloodletting and Vampiric Touch with the Falling Leaf Twin Blades.
• Rodin gave Salomon the finished sheaths for the Falling Leaf Twin Blades and Excalibur.
• Salomon tested Excalibur in its new scabbard and found that it fit perfectly.

Salomon treated Natasha Romanoff to dinner and apologized for abandoning her during a dangerous mission, then warned her that S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Tesseract experiment was reckless. He left the purpose of the Tesseract and his own plans unclear while insisting his goal was only to have dinner with her.

• Salomon complained to Natasha about having a Christmas birthday while Phoenix burrowed in his arms.
• Salomon apologized for abandoning Natasha when she was captured, explaining that he had not known whether she would survive and would make the same choice again.
• Natasha asked why Salomon had not taken her to another restaurant, and he joked about the trouble he had faced after she contacted him late at night.
• Salomon warned Natasha that Nick Fury planned to bombard the Tesseract with a particle accelerator for Project Pegasus and urged S.H.I.E.L.D. to be careful.
• Natasha pressed Salomon to explain his goals and whether he would help with the research, but he said S.H.I.E.L.D. needed to conduct the experiments and claimed he only wanted to treat her to dinner.
• Natasha asked whether the dinner counted as a date, and Salomon denied it.

Salomon discovered that Natasha Romanoff had approached him without Nick Fury’s orders and discussed the dangers of Project Pegasus with Fury. After they agreed on safeguards for Salomon to help Natasha, Bayonetta reacted angrily when she learned he intended to help her have a child.

• Nick Fury called Salomon and angrily asked what he had told Agent Romanoff, revealing that he had not sent her to meet Salomon.
• Salomon realized Romanoff had acted on her own and warned Fury that Project Pegasus’s particle accelerator could cause a disaster.
• Salomon and Fury argued about humanity’s defenses against Asgard and the Hulk, then discussed safer Tesseract research and the supernatural trouble caused by Fury’s experiments.
• Salomon told Fury that Romanoff had confided in him and asked whether he could help her, and Fury agreed under strict conditions.
• Salomon told Bayonetta he wanted to help Romanoff have a child, and Bayonetta pulled out a pistol.

Salomon met Nick Fury in the desert and explained that they would hunt a Hell Breath Spinner that had escaped from the Lower Planes and was hiding in dreams. They rode toward a nearby town to force it out of the dream realm, with Salomon ready to use a prepared spell and Nick Fury responsible for handling the police.

• Salomon flew over the desert in Shadow Dragon Form, crashed near Nick Fury, and revealed that the dragon was created by his new spell.
• Nick Fury showed Salomon an M3E1 Recoilless Rifle, but Salomon explained that ordinary weapons might not work against a being outside the Prime Material Plane.
• Salomon summoned Pegasus and told Nick Fury that the Hell Breath Spinner could disguise itself as anything and had to be forced out of dreams.
• Salomon and Nick Fury set out for the nearest town, where Salomon said the monster was hiding.

Salomon and Nick Fury investigated a suspected Hell-influenced creature that had apparently dragged a man into a kitchen fire. After confirming the suspect carried the creature’s sulfurous scent, Salomon put him to sleep so they could force the creature out through a dream.

• Nick Fury showed Salomon reports of strange noises and a fiery tentacle attack, and Salomon identified the case as involving a creature from Hell.
• Salomon warned Nick Fury that the King of Hell’s incarnation was also in the mortal world, then they went to the crime scene.
• Salomon and Nick Fury used false identities and Charm Person to enter the police station and question the trembling suspect.
• Salomon smelled sulfur on the suspect and told Nick Fury they needed to make him dream to drive the creature out.
• Nick Fury arranged for S.H.I.E.L.D. to replace the room’s surveillance feed, and Salomon knocked the suspect unconscious with rose petals.

Salomon put Conner to sleep and entered the dreamscape, where he recognized the smell of nightmares and realized the Hell Breath Spinner Spnog had escaped. As S.H.I.E.L.D. secured the police station, Salomon encountered a familiar dog in the dream that warned him something had awakened.

• Salomon drank a potion and fell asleep at the interrogation table, forcing Nick Fury to arrange the scene and keep Pegasus hidden.
• Phoenix stopped Nick Fury from examining Salomon, then drew a protective magic circle around him to strengthen his power in the dream.
• Salomon entered Conner's dream and realized someone else controlled the nightmare-filled dreamscape.
• Salomon recognized the scent of nightmares and concluded that Hell Breath Spinner Spnog had escaped rather than been smuggled out.
• Salomon saw a familiar dog in the dream, and it delivered the message that something had awakened.
• Nick Fury brought in S.H.I.E.L.D. reinforcements and ordered Coulson's tactical team to surround the police station and shoot any monster they saw.

Salomon fought and killed the Hell Breather that had emerged from a dream, while stray dog Jones warned him of a dangerous entity that might appear in the present. He left the burning police station with the monster’s head and planned to report the warning to the Sorcerer Supreme.

• Stray dog Jones warned Salomon that an indescribable existence would come to the present, and Salomon suspected it was Shuma-gorath.
• Salomon told Nick Fury to evacuate everyone as Phoenix’s banishment spell temporarily kept the Hell Breather away.
• The Hell Breather emerged at the police station, and Salomon attacked it with crimson serpents and the Falling Leaf Twin Blades.
• Salomon’s layered protective spells shielded him from the Hellfire as he severed the monster’s limbs and killed it.
• Salomon collected the Hell Breather’s head while Nick Fury and Coulson dealt with the burning station and the local police.

After helping S.H.I.E.L.D. eliminate the escaped Infernal Insects, Salomon returned to Kamar-Taj and learned that the Venerable One expected him to prove himself worthy of his inherited knightly titles. The chapter ended with her calling on him to demonstrate his swordsmanship as the trial began.

• Salomon hurled a spear of Vishanti power at a charging Hell Cockroach, then ordered Nick Fury to have S.H.I.E.L.D. finish off the insects.
• Nick Fury’s operatives killed the Hell Cockroaches with firearms and rockets, but Salomon flew away before Nick Fury could speak to him.
• Salomon reported the events to the Venerable One, who said the One-Eyed Alien was not his immediate concern and asked whether he had dreamed of the indescribable beings again.
• The Venerable One explained that Salomon had to master martial skills and prove himself worthy of his titles before the Round Table Council would approve him.
• The Venerable One called Salomon Sir Pendragon and asked to see his swordsmanship.

Salomon dealt with misbehaving pets and visited Tony Stark to escape his exhausting training and learn technical skills. He argued that extraordinary power, rather than modern political systems, governed the universe, and left Stark troubled by his certainty that he had to protect Earth.

• Jeanne and Bayonetta had the Cheshire Cat neutered after it seduced neighborhood cats, and Salomon comforted the miserable cat.
• Pegasus drank Salomon’s whisky and resisted wearing armor until Athena scolded it into behaving.
• Salomon visited Stark after finishing his training and dismissed Stark’s questions about S.H.I.E.L.D. and Project Pegasus.
• Salomon told Stark he accepted responsibility for protecting others because of his position and duty.
• Salomon compared Asgard, the Kree Empire, and Xandar, arguing that power mattered more than political systems in the universe.
• Stark called Salomon arrogant, and Salomon agreed that he would welcome anyone who challenged his authority.

Nick Fury and Agent Coulson discussed Salomon Damonet’s connection to the Tesseract experiments and the danger posed by his unknown magical abilities. Fury planned measures to deter him while arranging psychological help, and the chapter ended with Fury hinting that Agent Romanoff had selected the psychologist.

• Nick Fury asked Coulson whether the Extra-dimensional Beings were connected to the Tesseract experiments, while complaining that Salomon Damonet had disappeared again.
• Coulson and Fury agreed that Salomon was dangerous but had fought for humanity, and Coulson described how Salomon suppressed his own needs and risked his life.
• Coulson argued that Salomon needed education and guidance because he seemed to view kindness as weakness and disregard his own life.
• Fury said S.H.I.E.L.D. needed a plan to deter Salomon and defend itself if he turned to Dark Magic.
• Coulson suggested getting Salomon a psychologist, and Fury revealed that he had arranged one based on Agent Romanoff’s report.

Salomon hosted Jane Foster and Darcy, using their visit to recruit Jane as his astrophysics mentor while concealing his real interest in her potential. After the guests left, he revealed to Bayonetta that he wanted Jane to claim Mjolnir and gain Thor's power for humanity.

• Athena overruled Salomon's plans to study archaeology and theology, so he arranged to study astrophysics under Jane Foster at Oxford.
• Jane Foster and Darcy visited Salomon's apartment, where Bayonetta and Jeanne made the gathering tense until Darcy befriended the Cheshire Cat.
• Salomon served the guests lunch with magic and told Jane that magic and science were parallel ways of exploring the world.
• Jane asked whether Salomon could take her to Asgard, and he assured her that Thor would return after suppressing rebellions in the Nine Realms.
• After Jane and Darcy left, Bayonetta asked why Salomon had chosen Jane, and he admitted he valued her potential to wield Mjolnir and strengthen humanity.

Salomon continued to suffer recurring dreams of a ruby merchant and a silent black galley, while cats protected him from drinking the dream’s wine. He discussed the dreams with Cassilius, who revealed his own grief over his dead wife, and Salomon resolved to identify and kill whoever was invading his dreams.

• Salomon woke from the dream, recorded its fragments, and recognized that the cats were protecting him under the King’s influence.
• Salomon considered possible causes of the dreams, blamed Nyarlathotep, and used the Holy Marks before trying to sleep again.
• Cassilius returned from Canada and waited for Salomon after arguing with Mordo over abandoning his assignment.
• Cassilius told Salomon that he dreamed of his dead wife and wanted to resurrect her, but Salomon warned that Dark Magic would not bring her back as a human.
• Salomon explained that he would identify the demon god troubling his dreams and prepare a defense before seeking Vishanti’s help.

Salomon sought Merlin’s help with recurring, impossibly detailed dreams, and Dave concluded that they were someone else’s dreams rather than ordinary nightmares. Merlin arrived and speculated that Salomon’s fate had split, making the dreams a kind of self-originating déjà vu, then proposed an experiment.

• The Sorcerer Supreme summoned Salomon, Balthazar, and Dave to Glastonbury so Merlin could investigate Salomon’s recurring dreams.
• Balthazar examined Salomon and tried herbs and potions, while Dave reviewed the recorded dream memories.
• Dave noticed that Salomon remembered every dream perfectly and concluded that Salomon was watching someone else’s dreams.
• Salomon wondered whether the dreams showed another version of himself or his own future, recalling Yog-Sothoth’s words about his fate splitting.
• Merlin arrived and suggested that Salomon’s fate had split, causing the dreams as a form of déjà vu, and proposed an experiment.

Salomon woke at Kamar-Taj after Merlin ended the troubling dreams and learned they came from his own possible memories or futures. Back with Bayonetta and Jeanne, he was urged to share his burdens with his family, and the chapter ended with their teasing over his place in the household.

• Salomon woke beside the Cheshire Cat and asked the Venerable One what had happened to him.
• The Venerable One explained that Merlin had drawn Salomon into a dream, that the dreams came from Salomon himself, and that the Silver Key had placed him outside the gods’ script.
• Salomon learned that Merlin had fled before Balthazar woke, leaving a letter, and that the Venerable One had punched him over his old grievances.
• After returning to Bayonetta and Jeanne, Salomon heard Jeanne complain that he had not told them what happened while he was away.
• Bayonetta said Salomon should share his troubles with his family, including his adoptive mother Athena, and Jeanne teased him about losing his place to the Cheshire Cat.

Nick Fury brought Salomon to Steve Rogers after Hellfire left Steve with a wound that would not heal. Salomon prepared to treat Steve, leaving his larger plan and Steve’s reaction unresolved.

• Salomon admitted that he had arranged for Steve to be injured by Ghost Rider so Steve would eventually seek his help and be more receptive to his ideas.
• Nick Fury confronted Salomon about the unhealable Hellfire wound, then agreed to Salomon’s demand for a contract promising that the meeting would not be monitored.
• Nick Fury drove Salomon to Steve Rogers’s Brooklyn home, where Steve greeted them with his injured arm still bandaged.
• Steve showed Salomon and Nick Fury into his tidy apartment and spoke about adjusting to modern life over glasses of cola.
• Nick Fury told Steve to remove the bandage and asked Salomon to treat the wound, prompting Salomon to object to being treated like a street magician.

Salomon healed Steve Rogers’s burns and told him that the United States had committed grave crimes while he was asleep. He left Steve with books to read and questions about whether his loyalty belonged to the country or to humanity.

• Salomon used a Restoration Potion, diamond dust, and magic to heal Steve Rogers’s burns, then prescribed herbs and rest for his injured soul.
• Salomon challenged Nick Fury’s attempt to leave and told Steve that the world had changed while he was asleep.
• Salomon described American abuses and questioned whether Steve fought for humanity or for the United States.
• Salomon warned Steve that the military had considered operating on him and would replace him if it successfully replicated the Super Soldier Serum.
• Salomon left Steve copies of Das Kapital and Martin Eden, while Nick Fury protested that Steve should not hear Salomon’s accusations.

Salomon confronted Nick Fury over S.H.I.E.L.D.’s attempt to capture him and cursed him during their argument, while Steve Rogers struggled to keep them apart. Salomon later told Tony Stark about the confrontation and revealed that he had beaten Nick in a fistfight under Steve’s supervision.

• Sharon Carter overheard Nick Fury and Salomon arguing and fighting before Steve Rogers pulled them apart.
• Salomon accused Nick Fury of sending an action team to attack him, and Nick denied authorizing lethal force.
• Salomon cursed Nick Fury with itching, the loss of precious metals he touched, and a possible permanent curse if the first two failed.
• Steve Rogers questioned Nick Fury about the attack, but he and Salomon continued arguing until Steve tried to calm them down.
• Salomon later told Tony Stark that he had cursed Nick Fury and explained that he had beaten him in a supervised boxing match.

Salomon studied Tony Stark’s engineering and planned a magical, intelligent mechanical maid, with Stark agreeing to sponsor and observe the project. As Stark took him to Broadway to see a performer, Salomon invited Bayonetta to join them.

• Salomon studied Stark’s Iron Man designs and planned to build a humanlike mechanical construct powered by enchanted mana gems and J.A.R.V.I.S.’s intelligence.
• Salomon showed Stark designs for mechanical maids and armed mechanical monster girls, and Stark agreed that Salomon could build them in his workshop and sponsored miniature missiles.
• Stark arranged for Salomon to visit Broadway to watch the world’s finest stripper perform, while Salomon secretly texted Pepper Potts about Stark’s plans.
• Salomon shook two tickets and gently invited Bayonetta to come to the Broadway performance.