[Earth-Sinister. The Ruined Sanctum.]
The air in the Sanctum was stale, smelling of old paper and rain.
Doctor Strange sat cross-legged on the floor, surrounded by candles he had lit with a snap of his fingers. The Darkhold—taken from the dead Sinister Strange—floated before him.
"This is a bad idea," Sebastian Michaelis said, leaning against a broken pillar. He watched Strange trace the runes on the page. "Dreamwalking into a living body is dangerous. Dreamwalking into a corpse? That is... necromancy with extra steps."
"It's the only way," Strange muttered, his eyes closed. "Wanda is at Mount Wundagore. She's going to take America's power. If she succeeds, the Multiverse dies."
"And your vessel?" Sebastian asked, looking at the book. "The corpse of... the other you? The one with the ponytail?"
"Defender Strange," Strange corrected. "I buried him in New York. He's... fresh enough."
Sebastian wrinkled his nose. "Define 'fresh'."
[The Ritual]
Strange began to chant.
"Dream... Sleep... Wake..."
His astral form shimmered. His consciousness projected outward, tearing through the barrier between universes.
[Earth-616. New York City. An Alleyway.]
Deep beneath the pavement, in a shallow grave covered by bricks, a body lay still.
Defender Strange. Pale. Cold. Rotting.
Suddenly, his eyes snapped open. They were milky white.
GASP.
The corpse clawed its way out of the earth. Dirt fell from its mouth. It dragged itself into the moonlight.
[Earth-Sinister. The Link.]
"Oh dear," Sebastian observed the projection in Strange's mind (via the psychic link established by the spell). "Sir, you look dreadful. Your skin is grey. And your posture is atrocious."
"Quiet," Strange gritted his teeth, his physical body on Earth-Sinister twitching. "It's... hard to move. Rigor mortis."
"It is unbecoming of a Sorcerer Supreme," Sebastian critiqued. "Fix your jaw, Doctor. It is unhinged."
On Earth-616, the Zombie Strange cracked his jaw back into place. CLICK.
[The Spirits of the Damned]
Suddenly, the shadows in the alleyway on Earth-616 began to writhe.
You trespass!
Skeletal ghosts—the Spirits of the Damned—erupted from the ground. They screamed, swarming the Zombie Strange. They were the guardians of the natural order, furious that a dead thing was walking.
"They're attacking me!" Strange yelled in the Sanctum. "I can't control them!"
Simultaneously, on Earth-Sinister, the shadows in the room darkened. The Spirits were attacking the source of the spell too.
Ghostly claws raked across Strange's physical back.
"They are eating my soul!" Strange screamed.
Sebastian stepped forward. He didn't draw a weapon. He didn't cast a spell.
He laughed.
"Spirits of the Damned?" Sebastian scoffed. "Do you know who I am?"
He grabbed Strange's physical shoulders.
"Doctor! Do not fight them! You are thinking like a human! You are trying to banish them!"
"What else can I do?!" Strange yelled, blood trickling from his nose.
"Use me!" Sebastian roared. "I am a demon! I am of the same darkness they are! Channel me!"
[The Battery]
Sebastian flared his aura.
Fuchsia energy exploded from his body. It wasn't magic; it was pure, concentrated demonic essence. He poured it directly into Strange.
"Take it!" Sebastian ordered. "Do not be the victim! Be the King of Hell!"
Strange gasped as the energy hit him. He felt cold. He felt hungry. He felt powerful.
[Earth-616. The Transformation.]
In the alleyway, the Zombie Strange stopped screaming.
The Spirits tried to tear him apart.
Suddenly, the Zombie's eyes changed. They stopped being milky white. They turned glowing fuchsia.
A blast of black energy erupted from the corpse.
The Spirits didn't scatter. They bowed.
Strange raised his rotting hands. The Spirits swirled around him, but they weren't attacking anymore. They were fusing with him.
They formed a cloak. A cape made of screaming souls.
And then, fed by Sebastian's energy, they expanded.
Two massive, tattered wings made of shadows and skulls erupted from the Zombie's back.
"Yes," Sebastian's voice echoed through the link. "That is much better. Now you look the part."
[The Flight]
Zombie Strange flexed his new wings. He looked at the sky.
"Wundagore," Strange growled, his voice a chorus of the dead and the demon.
He launched himself into the air. He didn't fly like a superhero. He flew like a nightmare, trailing black smoke and fuchsia lightning.
[Earth-Sinister. The Guard Duty.]
In the ruined Sanctum, Sebastian released Strange's shoulders. He staggered back, slightly drained.
Strange's body was floating in a trance, surrounded by a protective circle of Sebastian's energy.
"Go get her, Doctor," Sebastian whispered, wiping a trickle of black blood from his own lip.
He turned to the door.
More Spirits were gathering. The Guardians of the Darkhold in this universe were coming to stop the ritual.
Shadowy figures with burning eyes drifted through the walls.
Sebastian straightened his coat. He cracked his knuckles.
"You wish to interrupt the Master while he is working?"
Sebastian smiled, revealing teeth that were too sharp to be human.
"I am afraid I cannot allow that. The Doctor is... occupied."
He drew his silver knives.
"But I am free."
[End of Chapter 70]
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