Chapter Summaries

Chen Mo abandoned plans for an immediate alien raid and watched Thor struggle to survive in Brooklyn after losing his divine power. When corrupt cops confronted Thor, he knocked their chief unconscious, showing that he remained a warrior.

• Tony and Fury refused to join Chen Mo on an immediate trip to the aliens’ home base, citing Earth’s lack of military preparation.
• Chen Mo made two more trips to The Boys and Mutant worlds but found no meaningful progress toward the crucial thing the Ancient One had warned him about.
• A week later, Chen Mo browsed Fury’s list of dangerous people before showing Tony a live feed of Thor in Brooklyn.
• Thor, now living without his divine power, faced three corrupt cops who accused him of robbing two thugs.
• When the police chief swung his baton, Thor punched him into a trash can and knocked him out.

Thor escaped corrupt cops in Brooklyn after Erin, a reporter, rescued him in her car, while Chen Mo secretly protected him from their bullets. During the drive, Thor introduced himself to Erin and felt an unfamiliar stirring in his chest.

• Two corrupt cops fired at Thor, but Chen Mo's telekinetic protection diverted every bullet while Tony watched from Stark Tower.
• Thor hid in an alley, failed to summon Mjolnir, and prepared to fight the cops with his mortal strength.
• Erin drove her Ford into the alley entrance, pulled Thor into the car, and sped away from the cops.
• Erin said she planned to expose the corrupt police, and Thor told her he had gotten into trouble because of a hot dog.
• Erin introduced herself as a New York Chronicle reporter, Thor named himself the Son of Odin, and he felt his heart beat faster beside her.

Thor thanked Erin after she rescued him and helped him reconsider courage and his responsibility toward weaker people. Chen Mo and Tony falsely claimed they had planned Thor’s lesson, while the Ancient One watched an unseen fissure open in the void.

• Erin explained to Thor why she risked her life to expose crime, prompting him to rethink his understanding of courage and power.
• Thor thanked Erin, who teased him for acting less like a lunatic.
• Chen Mo and Tony told Pepper Potts they had deliberately arranged Thor’s trial, but admitted Erin was only a passerby.
• Pepper Potts ordered Chen Mo and Tony to finish their food, while they joked about her anger.
• The Ancient One watched a black fissure slowly open in the distant void and said it had finally come.

The Ancient One saw that Chen Mo had thrown the future into chaos, leaving Strange and Thanos on wildly different paths, and decided Earth could not wait to strengthen its defenses. She urged Odin to accelerate Thor’s growth and use the Space Stone to provoke Thanos, but Odin revealed that Chen Mo had already stolen the Stone.

• The Ancient One watched futures in which Strange died in a car crash or was repeatedly killed by Dormammu, then saw Thanos either destroy the universe or serve the Goddess of Death.
• The Ancient One saw Chen Mo’s shadow appear across countless contradictory futures and was struck by a green light that shattered the visions.
• The Ancient One concluded that Earth’s defenses could not wait and sent her astral form to contact Odin in Asgard.
• The Ancient One urged Odin to speed up Thor’s growth and use the Space Stone as bait to determine Thanos’s plans.
• Odin told the Ancient One that Chen Mo had already taken the Space Stone and was playing with it like a marble.

The Ancient One warned Chen Mo that his actions had destabilized the future and proposed using the Space Stone to lure Loki and draw out Thanos. Chen Mo agreed, but insisted on joining the plan as its director and reserving the right to change the events as they unfolded.

• Odin raged to the Ancient One about Chen Mo taking the Space Stone, but swallowed his grievance after she ended their conversation.
• The Ancient One visited Chen Mo and explained that countless possible futures had emerged, with Chen Mo as their greatest variable.
• The Ancient One proposed using the Space Stone as bait to bring Loki to Earth and test how Thanos would respond while Thor changed.
• Chen Mo agreed to the plan but declared that he would join the game and change its plot whenever he wanted.
• The Ancient One warned Chen Mo not to act recklessly or take the Space Stone into space, and he joked that he could bring enemies back instead.

After the Ancient One took the Space Stone from Stark Tower, Tony decided to develop magic-detecting technology. Odin sent Loki to Midgard to retrieve the stone and observe Thor, while the Ancient One assigned Mordo an important task after finding him secretly using dark magic.

• The Ancient One took the Space Stone from Stark Tower without Tony or JARVIS noticing, and Chen Mo teased Tony about his inability to detect the theft.
• Tony began redesigning Stark Tower's sensors and security to detect magic, while Chen Mo continued watching Thor struggle to understand a coupon.
• Odin ordered Loki to go to Midgard, help Thor if necessary, and retrieve the Space Stone from Chen Mo before Odin entered his sleep.
• Loki left the Golden Palace, privately planning to claim the throne while Odin slept and Thor remained banished.
• Mordo secretly practiced dark magic in Kamar-Taj, but the Ancient One appeared and assigned him an important task.

Chen Mo planned to add drama to the coming alien invasion while Tony and S.H.I.E.L.D. expanded their armaments. As Odin fell into the All-Father Sleep, Loki departed for Earth intending to kill Thor, and Heimdall secretly resolved to warn Thor’s friends.

• Chen Mo decided to add special acts to the coming invasion, while Tony’s work with Chen Mo’s materials rapidly improved Stark and S.H.I.E.L.D. equipment.
• Odin fell into the All-Father Sleep after worrying about Loki and Chen Mo.
• Loki took concealed weapons from Asgard’s vault and used the Bifrost to travel to Earth, planning to claim the Space Stone and kill Thor.
• Heimdall sent word of Loki’s plot to the Warriors Three and Sif.
• The Ancient One sent Mordo away on a distant mission and wondered how she could blame Odin if Chen Mo lost control.
• Thor sneezed in Erin’s car, startling her as they drove through Brooklyn.

Loki arrived on Earth, but Chen Mo diverted him to the Arctic, where Tony Stark and Nick Fury mobilized Earth's defenses. Loki destroyed the first unmanned armor, and a larger force of suits descended on him.

• The Ancient One saw the barrier around Earth vanish as Loki arrived earlier than expected.
• Chen Mo sent Loki to an Arctic ice field instead of New York and showed Tony and Nick Fury the live feed.
• Tony activated his global armor response, while Fury sent Romanoff, Barton, Captain Rogers, and Dr. Banner toward the Arctic.
• Thor felt a brief killing intent while riding with Erin, then dismissed it as exhaustion.
• Loki destroyed an unmanned suit and watched a dense formation of armored suits descend through the clouds.

Loki destroyed Tony Stark’s unmanned armor on the Arctic ice while the suits covertly gathered data on his attacks. After Loki turned invisible to escape, Tony’s upgraded anti-magic sensors tracked him, and Tony raced toward the battlefield excited by the data he had collected.

• Loki blasted apart wave after wave of unmanned suits while boasting about his power.
• Tony Stark told Chen Mo that the first suits were decoys meant to make Loki confident and collect combat data.
• New suits dodged Loki’s attacks, recorded the effects of his magic, and deliberately provoked him with harmless laser shots.
• Loki grew angry, turned invisible, and began leaving the battlefield without realizing special suits could still detect him.
• Tony’s anti-magic frequency sensors tracked Loki through his invisibility and locked targeting systems onto him.
• Tony Stark flew toward the Arctic, celebrating that he could analyze magic through physical measurements.

Tony confronted Loki on the ice field, mocked his failed invisibility, and used JARVIS's analysis to evade his attacks before blasting him into a crevasse. Loki survived and revealed a hidden treasure, unleashing a powerful energy surge as he prepared to strike back.

• Tony found Loki by detecting his green energy signature and taunted him until Loki dropped his invisibility spell.
• Loki attacked with ice spikes and energy beams, but Tony dodged them using JARVIS's analysis of Loki's movements.
• Tony fired a full-power energy cannon that sent Loki crashing into a glacial crevasse, though Loki's vital signs remained stable.
• Loki took a treasure wrapped in golden cloth from his robes, triggering a powerful energy surge that distorted JARVIS's warnings.
• Loki rose from the crevasse clutching the treasure and demanded that Tony kneel before him.

Loki awakened the Casket of Ancient Winters and unleashed a world-threatening cold wave, but Chen Mo contained it around the polar region. Tony deployed a massive Anti-Chen Mo Armor against Loki, and it began tearing through the frost barrier.

• Loki awakened the Casket of Ancient Winters and mistook its response to his frost-giant bloodline as proof of his royal heritage.
• Loki unleashed a powerful cold wave that began freezing the seas and spreading across the Northern Hemisphere.
• Chen Mo used telekinetic force to seal off the polar region and stop the cold wave from spreading farther.
• Tony's attacks failed to penetrate Loki's magical ice wall, while Loki's frost attacks could not break Tony's Vibranium armor.
• Tony released the Anti-Chen Mo Armor from an orbital satellite and linked his Iron Man armor to it.
• The mech tore a fissure through Loki's supposedly indestructible frost barrier.

Tony fought Loki across the polar ice in the Anti-Chen Mo Armor, overpowering him despite the Casket of Ancient Winters. As Steve and Natasha struggled to approach, Loki awakened the Casket’s full power, freezing the storm and disabling the armor’s systems while Tony charged again.

• Tony smashed Loki through ice and glacier, then drove him back with missiles and repeated attacks from the Anti-Chen Mo Armor.
• Loki used the Casket of Ancient Winters to freeze the armor, raise ice spikes, and counterattack, but Tony pressed forward and struck him repeatedly.
• Tony and Loki clashed the armor’s full-power energy cannon against the Casket’s frost, unleashing a shockwave across the ice field.
• Steve and Natasha left the S.H.I.E.L.D. aircraft and tried to reach the battle, but the storm and shockwave threw them back.
• Tony struck Loki into a crater, but Loki awakened the Casket’s ancient power, stopped the polar wind, and caused Tony’s armor systems to fail as Tony charged again.

Tony and Steve fought Loki on the Arctic ice, but the Casket of Ancient Winters rapidly strengthened Loki after he recovered from Tony’s attack. The chapter left Steve pinned beneath Loki’s scepter as Fury asked Banner if he was ready.

• Tony’s Anti-Chen Mo Armor froze after striking Loki, leaving Tony trapped while Fury ordered a rescue team to prepare.
• Tony called the Iron Legion for backup as Loki emerged from the ice, healed by the Casket of Ancient Winters, and attacked the frozen armor.
• Steve arrived and fought Loki, but Loki’s growing strength let him shatter Steve’s exoskeleton and pin him beneath the scepter.
• Fury watched Steve struggle and asked Banner if he was ready.

Banner transformed into Hulk and overwhelmed Loki, but Loki’s power surged as the Casket of Ancient Winters awakened his bloodline. The Ancient One intervened to stop Loki’s summons, and Fury was left suspecting another powerful figure had acted from the battlefield.

• Banner admitted he was not ready, transformed into Hulk, and attacked Loki while Steve and Natasha focused on rescuing Tony.
• Chen Mo and the Ancient One watched the battle and discussed the Avengers’ lack of teamwork and readiness.
• Loki’s power grew, allowing him to freeze Hulk and summon the Eye of the Sorcerer while the Destroyer Armor began to awaken.
• The Ancient One shattered Loki’s shield, crushed him into the ice, and sealed his magic, causing both summons to collapse.
• Hulk broke free, grabbed Loki, and resumed smashing him while Fury noticed Loki’s energy had abruptly fallen to zero.
• Fury examined the footage and wondered whether someone besides Chen Mo was hidden on Earth.

The Ancient One decided to abandon the original plan and let Thor regain his divine power, while arranging for Loki to be sent to Thanos. On the Arctic battlefield, Steve captured Loki as S.H.I.E.L.D. prepared to free Tony from his frozen armor, and Fury suspected Chen Mo had erased the source of a vanished energy signal.

• The Ancient One told Chen Mo she would help Thor rediscover his power and send Loki to Thanos, dismissing Odin’s sleeping state as irrelevant.
• Steve stopped Hulk from striking Loki, then subdued Loki with a restraint ring and accused him of attacking Earth.
• Tony reconnected with Steve and asked S.H.I.E.L.D. to deice his frozen armor, while Loki mocked the heroes and claimed the real war had only begun.
• Chen Mo told Loki that he had arranged for him to meet an old friend, and Loki asked where he was being sent.
• Fury’s team found that an energy source had vanished without a trace, and Fury suspected Chen Mo and added his name to a more dangerous list.

Loki remained imprisoned as S.H.I.E.L.D. struggled to interrogate him, while Steve volunteered for an experimental enhancement program. As Thor grew comfortable with Erin, the Ancient One tried to force a crisis to awaken his powers, but Chen Mo and Tony interrupted Thor’s planned confession.

• Fury confronted Loki after twenty-seven failed interrogations, while Loki concealed his anxiety and continued to taunt him.
• Steve asked Fury to restart the extreme physical enhancement program, and Fury showed him a serum with a sixty-two percent success rate.
• Thor and Erin shared a meal as Thor adjusted to life on Earth, and the Ancient One decided to put Erin in danger to spur him into action.
• Chen Mo stopped the Ancient One from manipulating the timeline and later dragged Tony away from his laboratory to intervene in Thor’s romance.
• Chen Mo and Tony sat beside Thor just as he began confessing his feelings to Erin, who turned her attention to interviewing Tony Stark.

Chen Mo exposed Thor’s rehearsed confession to Erin, but Thor accidentally smashed the restaurant table and hit Tony with a plate of pasta. After Tony left, Chen Mo told Thor that Loki had arrived on Earth, been injured, and was imprisoned by S.H.I.E.L.D., leaving Thor torn over whether to try to save him.

• Erin interviewed Tony until Thor tried to interrupt, and Chen Mo stopped him by stuffing a burger into his mouth.
• Chen Mo told Erin that Thor had practiced confessing to her more than eighty times, making her feel touched and happy.
• Thor stood up nervously and broke the table, sending Tony’s pasta flying into his face and ruining the romantic moment.
• Tony left after paying for the damage and meal, while Thor apologized for the mess.
• Chen Mo told Thor that Loki was imprisoned in S.H.I.E.L.D.’s highest-security prison after being injured in the Arctic.
• Thor worried that he lacked his powers to save Loki, and Chen Mo left the decision to him.

Erin pushed Thor to stop blaming his lost powers and make a plan to rescue Loki, while Chen Mo and the Ancient One watched from nearby and discussed their own arrangements. Thor left determined to act, unaware that Chen Mo had prepared a training plan and a professional to help with the prison break.

• Thor admitted to Erin that he feared failing to rescue Loki because he had lost his powers and Mjolnir.
• Erin reminded Thor that he could still fight and make decisions without his divine power, and Thor resolved to rescue Loki himself.
• Thor and Erin began planning to locate S.H.I.E.L.D.'s prison, study its guards and defenses, and ask Tony for help.
• Chen Mo and the Ancient One watched Thor and Erin from an alley as Chen Mo explained that he planned to let Thor try before arranging training for him.
• Chen Mo looked toward a distant tower and said that a prison break needed a professional.

Chen Mo orchestrated a staged S.H.I.E.L.D. prison break so Thor could feel like he had heroically rescued Loki. Thor entered the base believing his clumsy infiltration was succeeding, while the agents prepared to stage a convincing fight.

• Thor used Erin's crude map to approach a S.H.I.E.L.D. base where Loki was supposedly held, while Chen Mo, Tony, Fury, and Steve watched him on surveillance.
• Thor tried to pick the electronic side-door lock with a pin and a mechanical-lock tutorial, so Tony remotely opened the door and let him believe he had succeeded.
• Chen Mo told Steve, Natasha, and Clint to stage a fight that would make Thor feel threatened without revealing the plan.
• S.H.I.E.L.D. agents prepared fake injuries, memorized lines, and watched Thor's progress across screens throughout the base.
• Thor reached a corridor near the core area, clenched his fists, and declared that he had come to save Loki before Chen Mo ordered the operation to begin.

Thor fought his way through a staged S.H.I.E.L.D. security operation to reach Loki’s detention area. He found Steve, Natasha, and Clint guarding the cell and charged at Steve to free his brother.

• Thor followed Erin’s instructions to sneak through the base, but an alarm sounded and armed agents confronted him.
• Thor used a gun and a shield to fight through the agents, while Tony, Fury, and Chen Mo watched and commented on the staged operation.
• Thor broke through the final interception and reached the core detention area, where Loki waited in his cell.
• Steve, Natasha, and Clint stood guard outside Loki’s cell, and Thor looked at Loki through the transparent wall.
• Thor demanded that they release Loki, then lunged at Steve.