Around this time, Le Fantome, under scarred Captain Nerezza, finds Mollusk Island after weeks of searching, accompanied by the vengeful Slank and the dark, menacing, mysterious entity known as Lord Ombra.

During a confrontation with Hook as Peter and the mermaids rescue a captured James, a posse from Le Famtome hold a nighttime standoff with the Mollusk tribe over the location of the large quantity of Starstuff that had briefly been on the island.

After Ombra deduces that the Starstuff was taken by Lord Aster and the Starcatchers, the group leaves the island and immediately set sail for England.

The Asters receive a tip from the dolphins warning them of the landing party on Mollusk Island and the presence of the inhuman Ombra, prompting Leonard Aster to leave London with the Starstuff and guard it in a hidden location until the Return (the starstuff would be sent back into the heavens), leaving new nightmen to guard Molly and her mother, Louise.

With directions from J. M. Barrie, Peter arrives and locates Molly, who realizes that Ombra possesses his victims by touching their shadows and blows out the candles.

They barely escape from Ombra and take shelter in the room of Molly's friend George Darling, and decide to locate Leonard Aster.

Aster expresses his disdain at their arrival but learns of the situation and an apparent ransom for Louise from Molly, but confines them to the house after revealing that the Return was to happen that night.

During the plot in London, Captain Hook and the pirates manage to locate and capture James, Thomas, Prentiss, and Tubby Ted in order to lure Peter back and get his revenge.

After some time, with the unknowing help of first mate Smee and various island monkeys, the boys manage to escape the cage that they were located in just as Peter arrives and opens the gates of the fort for them to get out, and afterwards promptly hits Hook in the face with a mango, ending the book.