The Darkhold Temple loomed atop the distant mountain peak.
Unfortunately, in his current state, Stephen Strange—now a zombie—didn't have his Cloak of Levitation. He couldn't simply fly over and had to stand on a nearby summit, gazing toward it from afar.
Just then, a sudden change occurred.
Shadows appeared out of thin air, swirling like smoke and mist before solidifying into terrifying, ghastly spirits—hideous, nightmarish creatures that began circling zombie Stephen Strange. In raspy, grating voices, they cried out:
"Stephen, possessing the dead is forbidden!"
Without warning, the wraiths lunged forward and overwhelmed him in an instant.
The horrifying scene made some timid viewers scream aloud, and even Peter, watching from outside the screen, jolted in fright. Shivering, he stammered,
"Th-There are actually evil spirits like that in the world? Oh man… I don't think I can sleep with the lights off anymore!"
Stephen, seeing the poor kid so spooked, felt strangely satisfied. With a dead-serious expression, he leaned in and said ominously,
"You think leaving the lights on will help? Those filthy, terrifying creatures love hiding in dark places… under your bed, inside your closet, maybe even behind you when you're looking in the mirror…"
With his grave tone and solemn face, Peter nearly burst into tears. Pietro rolled his eyes and chimed in,
"Hey, don't listen to this jerk. We don't usually run into freaky stuff like this. Just stay away from creepy magic types and you'll be fine."
Stephen chuckled and teased,
"Peter, with a timid heart like that, how are you gonna be the 'friendly neighborhood Spider-Man'?"
Peter was only eleven or twelve at the time—at that age, kids were most afraid of ghosts. Face pale, he mumbled,
"I… I don't even know how to deal with evil spirits. Would webbing even work on them?"
Stephen shrugged and decided not to scare him anymore.
"Those wraiths in the video are rare. They only appeared because a future version of me broke some major taboos. As long as you stay away from sorcery and dark magic, odds are you'll never encounter anything like that. No need to spook yourself."
He wasn't wrong. Magic and witchcraft had always existed in the Marvel universe, but they were extremely well hidden. Most ordinary people never came across anything remotely supernatural in their lives—unless something like this Quiz game revealed it to them.
Peter took a deep breath and nodded, muttering to himself,
"It's all fake. Just special effects… it's all fake…"
But in his heart, he made a decision: stay far away from any sorcerer or magician in the future!
Mustering some courage, he looked back at the screen. There, zombie Stephen Strange was under siege by the swarm of wraiths and finally collapsed, unable to hold on.
At the same time, Stephen's physical body—still in the middle of the ritual—began to spasm violently and collapsed to the floor.
Christine, who had been keeping watch beside him, rushed over, deeply worried. She carefully pried open his eyelids—
And in the next instant, monstrous wraiths shot out from his blank pupils, slamming into Christine and knocking her back. The spirits dove at her again, jaws wide, trying to bite her face off!
One after another, the wraiths poured out of Stephen's eyes, all lunging toward Christine, clawing and howling.
Outside the screen, many viewers—including a few superheroes—were visibly shaken. It was like something straight out of a horror film.
But Christine held her ground. Even while fending off the spirits, kicking them away, she kept searching for something to fight back with.
She spotted a strange magical artifact—something like a wide-mouthed goblet. Grabbing it, she stuck a candle into its opening. The cup morphed into a hand cannon, blasting magical energy that vaporized the wraiths on contact!
With that "hand cannon," Christine managed to destroy three of the evil spirits, turning the classic "damsel in distress" trope on its head. It was clear now why Stephen had fallen for her—she wasn't your average woman. Brave, composed, and resourceful under pressure.
This time, she had played a vital role in helping Stephen pull off the dreamwalking spell.
Even with the spirits gone, Stephen remained unconscious and trembling violently.
Christine gently took his hand and whispered encouragingly,
"Stephen, I'm right here with you… You're the Sorcerer Supreme. Those spirits are nothing. You should be the one controlling them!"
Her words jolted Stephen awake. Inspired by Christine's suggestion, he tried a new approach—harnessing the spirits instead of resisting them. zombie Stephen Strange began chanting a new spell. One by one, the evil spirits that had attacked him now fell under his control.
They hovered behind him like a shadowy swarm, black mist swirling all around. The cluster of spirits gathered behind him, spreading out like a pair of demonic bat wings.
His zombie form was already terrifying enough. Now, with an army of spirits swirling at his back, Stephen looked more like a dark sorcerer than ever before.
At that moment, if he and Wanda stood side by side, most people would probably side with Wanda—believing she was the good guy.
But clearly, Stephen no longer cared about appearances. If it meant stopping Wanda, he was all in—no matter how terrifying he looked.
The spirits now gave him the ability to fly. Without hesitation, he soared toward the Darkhold Temple on the mountain peak.
Inside the temple, Wanda—who was in the middle of draining America's powers—seemed to sense something. She turned slightly and motioned for the four demons at her side to investigate.
The demons approached the cliff and spotted zombie Stephen Strange flying toward them. One of them raised its hands and formed a scarlet energy orb, much like Wanda's.
Just as it was about to launch an attack, a golden dagger suddenly flew up from below, tethered to a glowing whip of magic. It pierced the demon's jaw and exited through the top of its head.
The strike not only interrupted its spell, but also yanked the demon off the cliff.
No doubt about it—the one who launched that sneak attack was Wong, who'd been clinging to the cliff face for a long time. This was his shining moment: one move to instantly kill a terrifying demon.
But Wong didn't have long to celebrate. The other three demons had already spotted him and were picking up boulders to smash him with!
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