Wham Episode / Child of the Storm

Nimbus Llewelyn is very fond of keeping his readers on the edge of their seats with Serial Escalation. Spoilers for Child of the Storm are unmarked.

Book 1 - Child of the Storm

• Chapter 11: Lucius Malfoy's alliance with Baron Von Strucker and Gravemoss is formed, and HYDRA are revealed to possess the Winter Soldier.
• Chapter 16: Lucius has the Winter Soldier acquire the Darkhold for Gravemoss, and Draco tips off SHIELD.
• Chapter 21: Gravemoss uses the Darkhold to create the veidrdraugar, slaughtering MI6 and most of MI13.
• Chapter 32: The origin of Hela is revealed - she was Loki's daughter by Sigyn, and was stillborn. Loki used necromancy to bring her back, and she remained half-dead, passively draining the life of those around her.
• Chapter 33: Harry is kidnapped by the Disir with Diana and Uhtred at Gravemoss' behest from the heart of Asgard.
• Chapter 42: Von Strucker attacks Malfoy Mansion and Narcissa in revenge for Draco's betrayal and Narcissa negotiating with SHIELD behind his back, while the Shadow King and Metallo are introduced.
• Chapter 43: SHIELD unleashes Operation Overlord, which leads to the destruction of every HYDRA cell, except for the faction within SHIELD under Alexander Pierce's command, and the extra-dimensional London base. As HYDRA's counter-stroke, Gravemoss unleashes an army of monsters and undead on London, including undead dragons.
• Chapter 44: The Battle of the M4 takes place, Excalibur first take the field, Wanda comes out of retirement, and Harry demonstrates his Psychic Powers through accidental Astral Projection. Harry Dresden and Sif duel Gravemoss under Paris and Sif has her heart ripped out, while Dresden uses his Death Curse to get rid of Gravemoss. Both die and are resurrected by Doctor Strange.
• Chapter 45: Peter Wisdom is revealed to be Regulus Black.
• Chapter 50: Lucius kills Baron Von Strucker and takes command of the Winter Soldier and HYDRA.
• Chapter 57: Harry first demonstrates his affinity for the Phoenix. It is revealed that Huginn and Muninn were once Bran and Bard, Avalonian gods, and that Asgard and Krypton shared a history.
• Chapter 58: Harry is willingly possessed by Lily/the Phoenix to protect him from Hera.
• Chapter 60: The culmination of the Winter Soldier's Heel–Face Turn is completed after he's ordered to shoot Carol (a child), with this Wham Line in his internal monologue: Well. Fuck the Mission, then.
• Chapters 70-71: HYDRA launches assaults on magical and Muggle intelligence agencies and governments across the world, Hogwarts, the SHIELD Helicarrier, and Wakanda. Most of those intelligence agencies are crippled, the Ministry is decimated, the Helicarrier starts to fall into the Hudson, T'Challa receives a Curb-Stomp Battle from Zemo, and T'Chaka, Luna Lovegood, Arthur Weasley, and Harry are all killed. The resurrected Harry utterly destroys HYDRA's strike team, channeling the Phoenix in doing so, and Namor saves the Helicarrier. It is revealed that he and Steve fought together in the War. When the Soldier goes after President Ellis, he is forced to fight Wolverine, and then the President helps him break through the last layers of his conditioning. Luna Lovegood becomes the new Delirium of the Endless.
• Chapter 72: Lucius and Zemo discover the Winter Soldier's Heel–Face Turn and re-brainwash him.
• Chapter 74: HYDRA launches an attack on the Avengers, resulting in Thor being rendered comatose by an enchanted bullet, Loki reduced to an Oracular Head, and Steve, Tony and Bruce being taken prisoner while Avengers Tower is destroyed.
• Chapter 75: Fury gathers a backup team of heroes known as the Shadow Initiative in order to counterstrike at HYDRA, while Strange recruits Jean Grey to wake Thor from his coma and Harry and his friends to free the captive Avengers. During the latter, they face off with Gravemoss, who almost kills Carol. She's saved only by the Green Lantern ring Strange gave her, which is fuelled by her will not to die; Death of the Endless then introduces her spirit to the ghost of Alan Scott to learn how to use the ring.
• Chapter 77-78: Strange frees the Winter Soldier and restores his original persona as Bucky, while causing Lucius to flee. Lucius' attempt to call Pierce for help fails, and SHIELD's intercept of the call exposes Pierce as a mole. Magneto finally makes an appearance, effortlessly destroying HYDRA's Dreadnaught helicarrier. Gravemoss becomes so desperate to defeat Strange that he becomes possessed by Chthon, whom Odin arrives to fight personally. While Odin keeps Chthon busy, Jean-Paul starts running around the world to build up to light speed, so that he can ram Chthon. This destroys Gravemoss's body, but allows Chthon's spirit to possess Harry. Strange reveals his ultimate trump card — Lily Potter, who has merged with the Phoenix to become the White Phoenix of the Crown. Together with Thor, she gives Harry the emotional strength to cast Chthon out of his body and reality, then undoes the damage to reality.
• Chapter 80: Strange explains why he does what he does in just three words: Thanos is coming.

Book 2 - Ghosts of the Past

• Chapter 7: Harry, accompanied by Carol, visits his old neighbourhood, and meets his old paediatrician, Doctor Milbury, who is really Essex/Sinister, who abducts Harry and Carol with the help of the mysterious Blue Eyed Girl.
• Chapter 8: Harry and Carol are taken to the Red Room, where Harry is made to fight "the Beast", who is in fact a mutated Dudley. He wins and tries to help Carol and other captives escape, but are intercepted by the Blue Eyed Girl, Maddie, who is revealed to look just like Jean.
• Chapter 9: The Avengers learn that Maddie is Jean's long-lost twin sister, whom Essex stole as an infant after faking her death. Harry and Maddie engage in a Psi-War, which warps reality and leads everyone to their location.
• Chapter 10: The Avengers and allies attack the Red Room, with Wanda confronting Essex and killing him, though he reappears unharmed later. During the fighting, Jono is seemingly killed by Dudley. Harry and Maddie's fight ends with Harry being so determined to save her from the Red Room that he follows them as they flee, being recaptured in the process.
• Chapter 11: Maddie starts to turn on the Red Room, only for Essex to restrain her and wipe her recent memories with a Trigger Phrase. Harry is brainwashed into becoming the super soldier known as the Red Son.
• Chapter 12: Maddie's memories are restored by touching Mjolnir, and she has a Heel–Face Turn; however, her plan to save Harry is apparently derailed by Essex taking Harry's Phoenix feather and sending her to another base. Asgard unleashes The Scourge of God on Russia in revenge for what's been done to Harry, causing President Volodya to try and arrest General Lukin for his actions. Instead, using the Red Son, Lukin kills Volodya and takes over Russia.
• Chapter 13: The Red Son and Magneto clash. It's revealed that Maddie transferred Harry's mind into his feather in order to protect it from the brainwashing. She discovers that Jono is still alive (albeit as an astral form separate from his body), and they try to return to the Red Room's base to save Harry, only to be brought before the Endless, who offer aid in the form of Dresden, Fix, and a guide who is revealed to be Doctor Strange.
• Chapter 14: The Red Son is infected with the Transmode Virus, which converts parts of his body to metal, which Magneto has to tear off to stop him. Maddie's group infiltrates the Red Room and Strange kills Essex, but reveals that Essex is actually a hive mind among numerous clones. During the subsequent fight to escape the Red Room, Maddie proves herself Worthy to wield Mjolnir.
• Chapter 15: Harry's mind is restored to his body, but the trauma he's suffered causes him to snap, becoming the Dark Phoenix. He restores his body's damage, then goes on a rampage against the Red Room, almost killing them all before his loved ones talk him down.
• Chapter 16-17: The Council Elite is called to discuss Harry's Dark Phoenix rampage, and Odin goes knowing that he may not come back. Meanwhile, another being comes by to give Harry some counseling. When Harry recognizes their identity, he shouts: Jesus fucking Christ! Stephen Strange somehow combines a Stealth Hi/Bye with Big Damn Heroes, and brings the Council to the Rock of Eternity, where he gives them a scathing "The Reason You Suck" Speech and reveals that it's his will that Harry possesses some of the Phoenix's power. The Council very wisely decide to take a "live and let live" attitude towards Harry.
• Chapter 20: Wanda reveals that the reason she dumped Constantine was that the Zataras had found a way to unify wandless and wanded magic. Afraid of Voldemort torturing this information out of them, he enchanted their bodies to turn them into living bombs, then after Sindella was killed, manipulated Wanda into sending Giovanni to his death. Strange reveals that he's around roughly half a million years old, and that he was born and raised in Camelot, trained in magic by and alongside Merlin himself. He and Odin reveal that the previous Dark Phoenix was Surtur, who raised an empire that devastated a galaxy. An Alliance of Realms formed to stop him, eventually managing to create Yggdrasil as the ultimate prison. They created Ván, a sword which would empower its wielder and allow them to fight Surtur evenly. It chose for its wielder a young man named Frey, recently married to the Crown Princess of Asgard (who, at the time, were mortals). Frey engaged Surtur in combat, and sealed him in the prison. Odin then reveals that the Seal of Muspelheim is cracked thanks to Chthon, and Surtur will be breaking free. Strange announces his intention to take Harry as an apprentice. Meanwhile, Carol informs Alison of her father asking Harry to rewrite her mind, and Alison and Marie ensure that he's Put on a Bus. Harry returns to Hogwarts, with Bucky as a bodyguard/mentor.
• Chapter 27: Harry's name comes out of the Goblet of Fire.
• Chapter 29: Dresden is recruited to be a Warden, both to replenish the Council's ranks after the Red Court's offensive and to protect him from his own Hero with Bad Publicity status. Wanda Maximoff becomes the new Sorceress Supreme, and Strange appears to be dead. In New York, Carol and Stevie are kidnapped by Grey Court vampires. At midnight on the other side of the Atlantic, Harry wakes up and briefly goes Dark Phoenix.
• Chapter 30: Harry shows the ability to perform conscious Astral Projection, which he uses to rescue Carol and Stevie.
• Chapter 32: It's revealed that Dudley got away from the Red Room, only to be captured by Voldemort, given to Dracula, and turned into a vampire, who attacks Harry and Uhtred. Harry kills him. Dracula then engages Harry, and despite the best efforts of Harry, Bucky, and Xavier, hands him a brutal Curb-Stomp Battle.
• Chapter 33: Harry Dresden unleashes a polka-powered zombie T-Rex against the necromancers. Voldemort survives Magneto starting to rip the blood out of his body, then three headshots from Dresden. Harry realizes that Dracula is after Carol in order to break the Seal of the Dawn and make the Grey Court immune to sunlight, and further deduces that his own blood has supernatural properties, due to the Phoenix and all. Dresden duels Voldemort, and holds his own until Voldemort gets serious, before teaming with Wanda and Magneto to slay Selene. Harry fakes being the Dark Phoenix in order to lure out Dracula, who flees when the Avengers arrive. When he wakes up a few days later, Carol gives him a kiss on the cheek.
• Chapter 34: Harry and his friends discover that Gambit was engineered to be a Living Weapon from the DNA of Scott Summers.
• Chapter 35: Harry names his sword (which has been reforged thanks to a mixture of Dracula's lightning, his own blood, and a couple enchantments from Doctor Strange) Curtana, representing both Justice and Mercy.
• Chapter 36: Jean-Paul tells Harry about Clark, who in turn learns from Alison Carter the truth of where he came from.
• Chapter 37: Harry and Carol (kind of) admit their love for each other, and agree that they would be willing to do a Relationship Upgrade sometime in the near future. Strange turns out to be alive after all, to absolutely no one's surprise, and gets Wanda to teach her daughter Hermione chaos magic. Strange also confirms that he will be stepping down as Sorcerer Supreme, to act from the shadows.
• Chapter 39: Strange's mentor Gorakhnath is introduced, and agrees to tutor Harry in the usage and control of his Phoenix powers.
• Chapter 43: Harry gains a suit of armour to complement Curtana, which he uses in battle against the Elder Wyrm.
• Chapter 45: Strange reveals that he has turned the Elder Wyrm's volcano into a place for magic, both wanded and wandless, to be studied and explored, and naturally has already figured out how to fund and populate it.
• Chapter 46: Harry and Carol finally share their First Kiss as he asks her to the Yule Ball.
• Chapter 52: Doctor Strange wipes out the entire Red Court and introduces Harry Dresden to his daughter, who will now be raised by her mother, Susan.
• Chapter 54: Harry Thorson meets Clark Kent.
• Chapter 58: Clark embraces his heritage as Kal-El, Last Son of Krypton.
• Chapter 59: Clark discovers that Thanos was behind the destruction of Krypton from Doctor Strange.
• Chapter 66: Following the manifestation of her mutation, Hermione works out that she's the daughter of Wanda Maximoff.
• Chapter 74: Dumbledore announces that Umbridge will be keeping an eye on Hogwarts on behalf of the Ministry, Carol takes on the mantle of Spitfire, Wanda sits down to talk to Hermione, Strange sends Harry on a "sabbatical," it's revealed that Malekith is working with Surtur, and it's implied that Doomsday is on his way.

Book 3: The Phoenix and the Serpent

• Chapter 6: Sunniva and Harry confront Galactus.
• Chapter 7: Harry winds up on Sakaar, runs into Hal Jordan, and fights a 'Beetle', a Thanagarian (which bears a mysterious resemblance to Warren in Archangel mode), and a Kree warrior with a symbiote, among others. Sunniva meets Lobo and smacks him into orbit with his own bike.
• Chapter 8: Harry meets the Lady Knight, restores Hal Jordan's faith by recharging his jury-rigged Lantern-Gauntlet, and discovers that the Fantastic Four are alive and on Sakaar, while Sunniva meets the gladiators, including Ben Grimm, Beta Ray Bill, Korg, Miek, and Kilowog.
• Chapter 10: The identity of the barman at Maupin's/Julie's chauffeur is revealed to be Buri, God of Time, who reveals that Bor's nature as a terrible person was due to Malekith's meddling with the Reality Stone. Harry enters the arena in the guise of Obi-Wan Kenobi.