Chapter Summaries

Tony, Thor, Peter, Harry, Gwen, and Lin Hai fought the Chitauri forces pouring through the portal above Manhattan. Lin Hai held back his strength and watched the portal, waiting for the much larger Leviathans to arrive.

• Tony, Thor, Peter, and Harry flew up to attack the Chitauri Flyers as they emerged from the portal.
• Peter used his spider legs and webbing to kill Chitauri Soldiers and crash their Flyers into one another.
• Harry blasted Flyers with his energy cannons and cut down a Chitauri Soldier with his Glaive.
• Thor smashed Flyers with Mjolnir and called down lightning on the Chitauri Soldiers.
• Gwen shielded and strengthened Tony, Peter, and Harry while attacking enemies that reached Stark Tower.
• Lin Hai casually shot down Flyers that passed the others and watched the portal for the Leviathans.

Matt Murdock, Elektra, and Dr. Connors fought Chitauri Soldiers attacking Manhattan while Tony, Thor, Peter, and Harry battled the Flyers overhead. Natasha and Clint brought a Quinjet to the city, dropping Steve Rogers and Bruce Banner on the ground before flying off to engage the enemy in the air.

• Chitauri Flyers slipped past Tony, Thor, Peter, and Harry, and Chitauri Soldiers attacked Manhattan’s streets as civilians fled for shelter.
• Matt Murdock dodged a Chitauri Soldier’s energy blast, knocked the soldier off its Flyer, and joined Elektra in clearing the streets.
• Elektra reassured a frightened girl as she and Matt fought together against the scattered Chitauri Soldiers.
• Dr. Connors used his lizard form to destroy Flyers and block Chitauri Soldiers at an intersection, then nodded to an armed old man before moving on.
• Natasha and Clint arrived in a Quinjet, and Natasha told Tony they were there; Tony directed them to help on the ground.
• Steve Rogers and Bruce Banner left the Quinjet in a damaged plaza, while Natasha and Clint took the aircraft back into the sky to fight the Flyers.

Banner transformed into Hulk to fight the Chitauri, while a massive Chitauri Leviathan emerged from the portal over the city. Lin Hai summoned an intelligent Wood Dragon to confront the approaching beast.

• Steve urged Banner to unleash Hulk's strength, and Banner transformed into the green giant.
• Hulk leapt into the sky toward a Chitauri Flyer, leaving Steve behind to wonder how Banner's pants had survived.
• A deep rumble drew Steve, Matt, Elektra, Dr. Connors, Lin Hai, Gwen, Tony, Thor, Peter, and Harry's attention to the portal.
• A huge armored Chitauri Leviathan squeezed through the portal and cast its shadow across the city.
• Lin Hai summoned the Wood Dragon, which coiled atop Stark Tower and faced the Leviathan.

Lin Hai used the Wood Dragon and emerald vines to bring down a Chitauri Leviathan while sealing its hatches to stop the soldiers inside from escaping. Loki appeared on a Chitauri Flyer and lured Thor away from the battle, leaving Lin Hai to face the next Leviathan.

• Lin Hai discovered that the Wood Dragon could act on his commands without requiring his continued attention, a change he traced to the Mind Stone strengthening his mental power.
• Lin Hai sent the Wood Dragon to tear open a Leviathan’s fin seam, then landed on the creature and spread seeds across its back.
• Lin Hai’s vines wrapped around the Leviathan, sealed its hatches, crushed escaping Chitauri Soldiers, and brought the creature crashing into the street.
• Lin Hai returned to Stark Tower through a Portal as a second Leviathan emerged from the deep-blue Portal.
• Loki appeared on a Chitauri Flyer with the Mind Scepter and flew past Thor, who recognized him and pursued him.

Tony destroyed the second Leviathan from the inside, while Hulk attacked the third and tore it apart above the city. Hulk landed safely as the wreckage crashed into the street.

• Tony flew into the second Leviathan's mouth and destroyed it from within, then emerged from the explosion cheering.
• A third Leviathan began emerging from the Portal as Hulk leaped onto Lin Hai's Wood Dragon.
• Hulk told Lin Hai he wanted to smash the Leviathan, and Lin Hai invited him to attack.
• Hulk landed on the Leviathan and ripped off its armor as he charged from its head toward its tail.
• Hulk leaped to a nearby rooftop before the powerless Leviathan crashed into the street.

Lin Hai confronted three newly arrived Leviathans while Thor remained absent after chasing Loki. He destroyed one, bound another, and sent the third back through the Portal, leaving Tony, Peter, and Harry stunned as Steve continued fighting on the streets.

• The Chitauri sent three Leviathans through the Portal at once after realizing the earlier beasts were being defeated one by one.
• Lin Hai charged the Plum Blossom Spear with Life Force and threw it through a Leviathan, causing it to explode along with the Chitauri soldiers inside.
• Lin Hai's Wood Dragon bit into another Leviathan's wing plate and tightly bound its front half.
• Lin Hai opened a Portal in the last Leviathan's flight path and sent it back into the Chitauri Portal, where it collided with incoming aircraft.
• Tony, Peter, and Harry watched Lin Hai deal with all three Leviathans, and Tony shouted in shock while Steve ran toward more explosions.

Hulk intercepted Loki during his escape from Thor and brutally beat him into unconsciousness. Thor later found Loki alive on a rooftop, unaware that Hulk had put him there.

• Loki piloted a Chitauri craft through Manhattan while Thor pursued him and called for him to surrender.
• Hulk spotted Loki and pulled him from the craft, throwing him onto a nearby rooftop.
• Loki tried to stop Hulk with a shout and boast that he was a god, but Hulk grabbed his leg and smashed him against the rooftop until he lost consciousness.
• Thor followed the unmanned craft until it crashed, then searched the district and found Loki lying in a crater.
• Thor checked Loki's breathing, found him alive, and accepted that he deserved the beating after causing so much trouble.

Thor brought the Mind Scepter to Lin Hai so he could close the Portal, but Lin Hai waited for the incoming nuclear missile and Tony’s plan to send it through first. Tony arrived on Stark Tower’s rooftop and prepared to carry the missile into the Portal, while Lin Hai warned him he might not return.

• Thor carried the dazed Loki and the Mind Scepter back to Stark Tower, where Lin Hai bound Loki from neck to toe and sealed his mouth with vines.
• Thor gave Lin Hai the Scepter, but Lin Hai said he would wait for the right moment and sent Thor to fight the Chitauri still in the sky.
• Tony landed on the rooftop and told Lin Hai that a nuclear missile was coming and that he planned to carry it through the Portal.
• Lin Hai pretended not to know about the missile, then mocked Tony’s plan and warned him that Pepper and Stark Industries might pass to someone else if he died.

Tony carried a nuclear missile through the Portal and destroyed the Chitauri Mothership, then barely made it back to Manhattan. Lin Hai closed the Portal and Gwen rescued Tony as the Chitauri forces fell silent.

• Lin Hai warned Tony about the risks of carrying the nuke through the Portal, then told him to bring it over and leave the rest to him.
• Tony flew to the incoming nuke and pushed it through a golden Portal Lin Hai opened, entering the blue Portal with it.
• Tony released the nuke near the Chitauri Mothership, destroying it in a massive explosion, and flew back toward the Portal with his armor nearly out of power.
• Lin Hai used the Mind Scepter to close the blue Portal, causing the Chitauri forces across Manhattan to collapse.
• Gwen caught the falling Tony with a beam of energy and pulled him onto Stark Tower, where he thanked Lin Hai.

After the Battle of New York ended, the Avengers debated what to do with Loki and the Tesseract. Lin Hai arranged for Thor to take the Tesseract back to Asgard after staying on Earth for one and a half days, giving Lin Hai time to explore its power.

• Thor, Peter, Harry, Tony, Steve, and Banner regrouped at Stark Tower as the city’s survivors celebrated their victory.
• Thor said he would take Loki to Asgard to face judgment, and no one objected.
• Tony argued that the Tesseract should remain on Earth for study, while Thor warned that humans did not understand its danger.
• Lin Hai proposed that Thor stay on Earth while they studied the Tesseract, and he and Thor agreed on one and a half days.
• Lin Hai privately hoped that contact with the Space Stone would affect him as the Mind Stone had and attract the Seven-Colored Essence.

The Avengers rested at Stark Tower after the battle while Lin Hai reflected on his powers and the people around him. Thor handed him the Tesseract, and Lin Hai opened its case and reached toward it after asking everyone to move back.

• Thor and Selvig discussed Jane, and Thor promised to visit her after things were settled.
• Peter asked Tony, Steve, and Banner about the battle, their fighting experience, and the Hulk transformation.
• Lin Hai reflected on his Mind Stone contact, the Wood Dragon, and his goal of preventing important people from dying prematurely.
• Thor gave Lin Hai the Tesseract, which was secured in a silver-white briefcase beside Mjolnir.
• Lin Hai opened the case and warned everyone that there might be fluctuations, so the others moved away.
• Lin Hai extended his hand toward the glowing Tesseract.

Lin Hai absorbed the Space Stone’s energy with help from the Seven-Colored Essence, enduring physical damage as his Life Force repaired and strengthened his body. He emerged apparently unchanged, reassured his friends, and held Gwen’s hand.

• Lin Hai touched the Tesseract, and the Space Stone’s energy began tearing through his body as his Life Force repaired the damage.
• Lin Hai deliberately let some Space Stone energy spread so the Seven-Colored Essence would awaken and absorb it.
• The Seven-Colored Essence consumed the energy in Lin Hai’s right arm and returned gentle silver-white energy that merged into his body.
• The Tesseract’s glow faded, and Lin Hai found no obvious changes in his dantian or Upper Dantian, though a silver-white gleam briefly flashed in his eyes.
• Lin Hai told Peter and Tony he was fine, closed the suitcase around the Tesseract, and reassured Gwen as they held hands.

After the Battle of New York, Lin Hai arranged for Tony to study the Tesseract and the others to rest, then discovered he could open Portals using his own power. The chapter left Tony heading to his Malibu beach house through Lin Hai’s newly transformed Portal, while Gwen wondered about its unusual magic.

• Peter, Harry, and Tony teased Lin Hai and Gwen as they held hands, then Lin Hai thanked everyone for their concern and handed Tony the Tesseract.
• Tony agreed to study the Tesseract at his beach house, and Lin Hai postponed the group’s celebration so everyone could rest.
• Banner chose to stay with Lin Hai, while Thor planned to accompany Tony and keep Loki restrained on the way to Asgard.
• Lin Hai opened a Portal without casting movements, and its emerald green and silver-white sparks revealed the Malibu beach house.
• Gwen questioned why Lin Hai’s Portal differed from Kamar-Taj’s golden-spark magic, and Lin Hai suspected he could now open Portals using his own fused Life Force and Space Stone energy.

After the Battle of New York, Lin Hai healed Steve, Clint, and Natasha, then brought Peter, Harry, Gwen, and Banner through a Portal back to his home. The group settled in to recover, with Banner given a guest room and Peter and Harry cleaning their armor.

• Lin Hai healed Steve, Clint, and Natasha while Steve agreed to stay behind and help S.H.I.E.L.D. handle the aftermath.
• Lin Hai opened a Portal home, and Peter, Harry, Gwen, and Banner said goodbye to Steve before returning with him.
• Harry dragged Peter to the basement laboratory to wash the grime from his suit, while Lin Hai showed Banner to a guest room upstairs.
• Gwen prepared to wash up, and Lin Hai removed his armor and stored it in the Plum Blossom Spear.
• Peter rinsed and stored his suit, and Harry finished cleaning the Nova Armor and stored it in his belt.

After the Chitauri invasion, Lin Hai brought Banner and his friends to Chen Bing’s clinic for medicinal hot pot and to check on his master. Chen Bing began discussing Banner’s Hulk condition through the principles of yin and yang, while Lin Hai and the others prepared dinner.

• Peter suggested eating barbecue, but Harry proposed cooking at home because the invasion had disrupted Manhattan businesses.
• Lin Hai suggested visiting Chen Bing for medicinal hot pot, and the group agreed to check that he was safe.
• Lin Hai opened a Portal to Chen Bing’s clinic and introduced Banner to Chen Bing after his master finished treating a patient.
• Lin Hai, Gwen, Peter, and Harry bought ingredients for hot pot while Banner and Chen Bing talked.
• Banner explained that anger brought out Hulk and cost him control, and Chen Bing connected the transformation to an imbalance of yin and yang.
• Lin Hai led the others to the kitchen to prepare the ingredients while Banner and Chen Bing continued their discussion.

Lin Hai, Chen Bing, Banner, and their friends prepared and shared a medicinal hot pot dinner in the clinic’s backyard. Banner left the meal feeling welcomed and believing Chen Bing’s advice could help him regulate the Hulk within him.

• Gwen, Peter, Harry, and Lin Hai prepared vegetables, meats, side dishes, and medicinal herbs for the hot pot.
• Lin Hai invited Chen Bing from the backyard, where he had been discussing Tai Chi and breathing with Banner.
• Chen Bing added the herbs and bone broth to the copper pot while everyone set the table and brought out the dishes.
• The group ate together, and Banner praised the hot pot after trying the pork belly and broth.
• Banner told Lin Hai that Chen Bing’s guidance had helped him see the Hulk as something he could regulate, and the group lingered together after dinner.