Chapter Summaries

Su Ming and Daisy arrived in Asgard to investigate Odin’s disappearance and learned Heimdall had left his post, troubled by guilt and divorce. Su Ming used truth-serum liquor to get information from Sif, then found Heimdall drunk and asleep at home.

• Su Ming took Thor and Daisy to Asgard, where Sif was guarding the Rainbow Bridge observatory in Heimdall’s place.
• Sif told Su Ming that Heimdall had gone home after feeling guilty about failing to witness Odin’s disappearance.
• Sif revealed that Heimdall had divorced and gave Su Ming the address where he was staying.
• Su Ming explained to Daisy that the liquor he gave Sif contained a mild truth serum made from a mushroom-brewing technique he had learned in Azeroth.
• Su Ming and Daisy reached Heimdall’s home and found him sprawled asleep on the floor with his armor scattered around him.

Su Ming deduced that Heimdall was pretending to be drunk and forced him to reveal himself with a threat of a humiliating medical treatment. Heimdall got up, and Su Ming demanded to know why he had staged the act at this suspicious time.

• Su Ming entered Heimdall’s alcohol-soaked room and concluded that Heimdall could not have become drunk so quickly, so he must have been pretending.
• Su Ming threatened to treat Heimdall for alcohol poisoning with gastric lavage and an enema while Daisy prepared to record the procedure.
• Heimdall sat up and dry-heaved when Su Ming described using the collected enema fluid for gastric lavage.
• Heimdall accepted Su Ming’s hand and stood, then questioned whether Su Ming had really intended to give him an enema.
• Su Ming asked Heimdall why he had pretended to be drunk at such a suspicious time.

Su Ming questioned Heimdall about Odin’s disappearance and learned that Heimdall had been secretly following Queen Frigga’s order to seal Asgard. Heimdall described what he had seen before Odin vanished, but Su Ming dismissed his suspicions of the Frost Giants because Laufey had an alibi.

• Heimdall explained that he had left his post to help seal Asgard after receiving Frigga’s secret order.
• Su Ming questioned Heimdall about everything he had observed during the hour before and after Odin disappeared.
• Heimdall recalled watching the Nine Realms and then finding Odin gone when he looked back at the Golden Palace.
• Heimdall said he had watched Laufey and the Frost Giants warming themselves by a fire, which he considered suspicious.
• Su Ming pointed out that Laufey’s presence with his people gave him an alibi, and Heimdall realized his hatred had clouded his judgment.

Su Ming investigated Odin’s Slumber and learned that Frigga wanted him to impersonate Odin while searching for him. He refused the long-term role but agreed to bring Odin back, then found a clue in the fireplaces and asked to question the patrol that discovered Odin’s disappearance.

• Su Ming told Daisy that Odin’s declining strength left him with only one final battle and suspected the traders Heimdall had brought back might be involved in his disappearance.
• Su Ming and Daisy reached the Golden Palace and went to Odin’s Slumber, where they found Frigga waiting beside the boat.
• Frigga warmly welcomed Daisy, and Su Ming explained that she was Earth’s Mjolnir God rather than Thor.
• Frigga asked Su Ming to find Odin and impersonate him to preserve Asgard’s deterrence, but Su Ming refused to play Odin long-term.
• Su Ming agreed to bring Odin back and noticed that one fireplace had gone out earlier than the others, so he asked Frigga to summon the patrol that discovered Odin’s disappearance.

Su Ming found a listening device beneath Odin’s longboat and deduced that an intruder had planted it to overhear Frigga speaking to Odin. He concluded that Odin had pursued the intruder after discovering it, and left with Daisy to investigate.

• Frigga summoned the guards, and Su Ming questioned them before confirming none were impostors.
• Strangle found and dismantled a listening device beneath Odin’s longboat, and Su Ming determined its parts had no identifiable origin.
• Su Ming reasoned that the device was meant to record Frigga’s private conversations with Odin, though Frigga denied planting it herself.
• Su Ming found a fresh cut on Odin’s Beast Hide blanket and deduced that Odin had attacked an intruder with Gungnir before pursuing it.
• Su Ming suggested the intruder had escaped by teleportation, then left with Daisy to investigate.

Deathstroke and Daisy left the Golden Palace to investigate the attack on Odin, deducing that the infiltrator wanted to torment him by killing his family and letting him hear Frigga mourn. They ruled out Thor, Loki, and Hela because they knew Odin was not truly asleep, then emerged from a Yggdrasil passage ready for their next stop.

• Deathstroke took Daisy across the sea in an Asgardian Flying Boat and explained why Odin’s pursuit suggested he knew the infiltrator.
• Daisy concluded that the attacker intended to kill Odin’s family and make him suffer before his death.
• Deathstroke and Daisy crossed a Yggdrasil passage while discussing how the attack resembled a killer’s revenge scheme.
• Daisy and Deathstroke ruled out Thor, Loki, and Hela because they knew about Odin’s Slumber.
• Deathstroke told Daisy to take a few drinks as their Flying Boat approached the passage’s exit.

Deathstroke brought Daisy to Jotunheim to investigate Laufey’s suspicious timing without alerting Heimdall or revealing Odin’s disappearance. After reaching Ice Fortress, Deathstroke demanded to see Laufey and offered to discuss a deal.

• Deathstroke explained to Daisy that he had lied to Heimdall and wanted to learn whether Laufey was involved in Odin’s disappearance or might threaten Asgard.
• Deathstroke and Daisy arrived at Ice Fortress, where Frost Giants raised the alarm and gathered to confront them.
• Deathstroke introduced himself as the Sorcerer Supreme and demanded that the Frost Giants bring him to Laufey.
• Laufey arrived and asked whether Deathstroke had come to wage war against the Frost Giants.
• Deathstroke offered Laufey a deal and held out a piece of fried chicken.

Su Ming offered Laufey fried chicken in exchange for seeing the Frost Giants’ newly discovered way to make fire. Laufey welcomed him into the settlement, where Daisy was identified as the God of Mjolnir and the promised demonstration awaited.

• Su Ming presented Laufey with fried chicken and asked to see how the Frost Giants made fire.
• Laufey ate the chicken, enjoyed it, and agreed to exchange food for a demonstration.
• Laufey invited Su Ming into the settlement and said he would show him the fire.
• Su Ming warned Laufey to keep his people from attacking Daisy and identified her as the God of Mjolnir.
• Laufey said Thor’s lost weapon no longer mattered and asked Su Ming for more fried chicken.

Su Ming negotiated with Laufey for information about the person who had taught the Frost Giants how to burn Jotunheim’s vegetation. Laufey agreed to reveal everything he knew in exchange for two thousand pieces of fried chicken, leaving Su Ming to arrange delivery and prepare to collect the intelligence.

• Su Ming inspected the bonfire and asked Laufey who had taught the Frost Giants to burn Jotunheim’s trees.
• Laufey demanded a price before describing his former Trader and offered to reveal the person’s identity, purpose, and motives.
• Su Ming bargained with fried chicken, and Laufey agreed to sell his information for two thousand pieces.
• Su Ming tossed the remaining chicken to the giants and left with Daisy, promising to have the food delivered and warning Laufey not to lie.

Su Ming traded fried chicken to Laufey for information about the mysterious visitor who taught the Frost Giants to use fire. Laufey identified the visitor as Freyr, leaving Su Ming with a lead in his search for Odin.

• Su Ming explained that the cold of the Frost Giants’ plane came from a higher-level influence and gave Daisy liquor to warm herself.
• Mordo delivered 112 sets of fried chicken, and Su Ming brought them into Laufey’s fortress.
• Laufey inspected the food and asked whether Su Ming would trade him magical containers, but Su Ming offered only a possible deal far in the future.
• Laufey accepted the fried chicken and promised to reveal who had taught the Frost Giants to use fire.
• Laufey said the visitor had returned from the dead and named him as Freyr.

Su Ming questioned Laufey about the supposedly resurrected Freyr and learned that Freyr had asked for protection from Yggdrasil’s flames and left behind a signal-receiving device. Laufey agreed to help Su Ming kill him, though neither knew whether Freyr had truly returned from the dead.

• Su Ming recalled Freyr’s death in the Second God War, and Laufey confirmed that he had died and explained how Odin destroyed the coalition’s forces.
• Laufey said the person who visited him remembered a secret pact sworn before demon gods, convincing him that the visitor was Freyr despite the impossibility of his return.
• Laufey revealed that Freyr had asked for a way to withstand Yggdrasil’s energy flames so he could enter Odin’s Slumber through its chimney.
• Laufey gave Su Ming a black box Freyr had left in his care, and Su Ming recognized it as the receiving end of the signal equipment they had found earlier.
• Laufey offered to help Su Ming kill Freyr, and Su Ming accepted his offer of future cooperation.

Deathstroke explained resurrection and soul impersonation to Daisy as they returned to Asgard. Before they could investigate further, explosions broke out near the Golden Palace, and they flew toward the attack.

• Deathstroke told Daisy that Freyr was Frigga’s father and explained how souls and resurrection generally worked.
• Deathstroke argued that Freyr might be an impersonator and demonstrated how he could change his appearance, but Daisy pointed out that he lacked the professor’s memories.
• Daisy said she would follow Deathstroke to learn how to become a superhero.
• Explosions sounded near the Golden Palace, and Thor urged the group to investigate.
• Deathstroke accelerated the Flying Boat to the ruined corridor, where Golden Palace Guards were already clearing the streets.

Su Ming investigated strange black mud that had damaged the Golden Palace and found it was neither a Symbiote nor an ordinary living organism. He moved the regenerating mass to an empty ravine and attacked it with Melta Bombs, leaving its fate unresolved.

• Su Ming examined the black mud in the Golden Palace and found that it could shrink and regenerate despite lacking cells or any known signs of life.
• Frigga slowed the mud briefly with frost magic, but it recovered and began forming an upright cylinder.
• Su Ming ordered the group to evacuate the Golden Palace and carried the mud away on Godslayer while Thor used lightning to keep it in place.
• Su Ming brought the mud to a ravine near Heimdall's fief and dropped Artificer Melta Bombs on it.
• Su Ming watched the bombs' white flames burn the churning mud while Daisy and the others stood by.

Su Ming tested the mysterious regenerating black substance with a thermite bomb but learned little about it. He taught Daisy that the most important superhero lesson was to call for backup, then summoned a mystic to investigate the creature.

• Su Ming watched the black substance survive the thermite flames and told Daisy it might be a monster resembling a beast.
• Daisy asked how they could understand it, and Su Ming explained that people had to learn by trying when no textbook existed.
• Su Ming summoned his Flying Boat and taught Daisy to call for backup instead of facing dangerous enemies alone.
• Su Ming contacted a wizard skilled in mysticism to investigate the creature, planning to consult the gods if the wizard could not solve the mystery.

Su Ming summoned Monark to appraise something in Asgard and introduced him to Daisy, the new God of Thunder. The chapter revealed that Odin had planned Thor’s future marriage to Sif, leaving Thor’s love for Jane Foster poised to cause another family crisis.

• Hamill woke Monark and brought him through a portal to Su Ming.
• Su Ming introduced Monark to Daisy and explained that they were in Heimdall’s neglected fief.
• Su Ming reflected that Odin had arranged Sif to become Thor’s future wife and Asgard’s Queen.
• Su Ming noted that Odin disapproved of Thor loving Jane Foster because she lacked Vanir blood.
• Su Ming imagined Thor’s relationship with Jane triggering a new conflict with Odin, possibly stirred up by Loki.

Su Ming and Monark tested a mysterious black sludge that resisted fire, ice, and outside magic, then summoned the Lords of Glyphs to identify it. Larloch concluded it was a locally born, aborted soul resembling a godspawn, and Su Ming began considering what could have created it.

• Monark attacked the black sludge with fire, ice, and outside magic, but it quickly healed after each assault.
• Su Ming told Monark the sludge was a clue from a mysterious benefactor and declined to use Cosmic Energy in case it destroyed the evidence.
• Su Ming asked Monark to summon the available members of the Council of the Sky to investigate the sludge.
• Sif questioned Frigga about the undead figures teleporting into Asgard, and Frigga reassured her that they were likely intelligent friends of Deathstroke.
• Larloch and the Lords of Glyphs identified the sludge as an aborted soul formed from inanimate matter, observable energy, and pure hatred, likely born locally as a weak godspawn.
• Su Ming concluded that someone or something had given a soul to inanimate matter and began considering its origin.

Su Ming set out to investigate the creator of the shape-shifting black mud, suspecting the Gods in the Shadows had planted the clue to push Odin back toward Asgard. He sent Monark to check on Wanda and investigate the Dimensional Demon Gods while he continued pursuing the monster’s trail.

• Su Ming and Monark discussed the black mud’s unknown nature and the possibility that the Gods in the Shadows had arranged its discovery to advance Ragnarök.
• Su Ming explained that the Gods in the Shadows had survived past Ragnaröks by hiding until Yggdrasil was reborn, and that he expected another conflict with them.
• Su Ming decided not to follow the clue personally, since the black mud could split, regenerate, and assume other forms.
• Su Ming sent Monark to Earth to check whether Wanda had created the black mud and to contact suspicious Dimensional Demon Gods without confronting them.
• Monark said Wanda was occupied with the conflict between the Brotherhood of Mutants and Canada's Agency Z, and mentioned rumors of Canada making a deal with the High Evolutionary before departing through a Teleportation Portal.

Su Ming took Daisy and Thor to Knowhere to seek information about Odin’s disappearance from the Collector, ruler of the universe’s largest black market. After arriving, he led Daisy into a shop to buy her a Cosmic Translator.

• Su Ming activated the Flying Boat and said he would seek out the Elders Of The Universe Council for information about Odin.
• Daisy recognized that Su Ming planned to approach the Council, and the Flying Boat jumped to Knowhere.
• Su Ming guided the Flying Boat through Knowhere’s asteroid field and landed amid its crowded traffic.
• Su Ming led Daisy through Knowhere’s filthy streets and entered a shop to buy her a Cosmic Translator.

Su Ming bought Daisy a new Universal Translator on Knowhere and then brought her to Taneleer Tivan’s shop to discuss a deal. Tivan welcomed him as the Sorcerer Supreme, and Su Ming declined a drink to get down to business.

• Su Ming intimidated a shopkeeper into selling Daisy a new Universal Translator for fifty Credit Points and installing it.
• Daisy tested the translator and thanked Su Ming for the gift as they walked toward Taneleer Tivan’s shop.
• Su Ming and Daisy crossed Knowhere’s town without trouble, and the locals made way for them because they mistook Daisy for an Asgardian.
• Su Ming entered Taneleer Tivan’s shop, exchanged formal greetings with the Collector, and said he had come to discuss a deal.

Su Ming and Daisy visited Taneleer Tivan's collection, where Su Ming recognized the Soviet space dog Cosmo and revealed his extraordinary intelligence and Psionic Power. Cosmo joined Su Ming in singing a Soviet anthem, while Su Ming recounted how the dog had once fueled American outrage during the Cold War.

• Daisy noticed a dog in a spacesuit imprisoned in Taneleer Tivan's collection, and Su Ming identified him as Cosmo, launched by the Soviet Union in 1957.
• Su Ming asked Taneleer Tivan for permission to examine Cosmo, and the Collector agreed.
• Su Ming sang the Soviet anthem to Cosmo, who sat upright, wept, and howled along.
• Taneleer Tivan explained that Cosmo had powerful Psionic Power, exceptional physical abilities, and intelligence close to a human's.
• Su Ming told Daisy and Thor how American politicians and citizens had condemned the Soviet Union over Cosmo while overlooking the deaths of space monkeys.