Reinforcements

On the streets of New York, countless Aberrant Monsters wandered like an army. Their bizarre, grotesque appearances could drive anyone who saw them insane.

Perhaps Doctor Strange had been right: these aberrations had been created by some entity. They followed the most basic settings and rules, and anyone who touched upon a forbidden rule would be attacked indiscriminately.

However, they had been designed to target Doctor Strange. Once their target disappeared, the monsters had clearly spiraled out of control, blindly attacking the surrounding buildings in an attempt to find the hidden Doctor Strange.

Their assaults had originally followed a certain pattern. They attacked relentlessly, not to kill Doctor Strange as quickly as possible. Rather, they seemed to be stalling for time, trying to trap Doctor Strange here and leave him no time to escape.

But once their target vanished, these out-of-control monsters became even more dangerous. Or rather, more frenzied.

"To be honest, I’m about to puke!"

Speeding through the streets of New York, Pietro suddenly slammed on the brakes. As he spoke, he raised the Zeus Scepter and summoned a massive bolt of lightning that blasted an aberration into chunks of flesh.

Beside him, Moon Knight did not look much better. Even with his hood on, the savage expression beneath his mask was obvious.

Forcing down his physical and mental discomfort, Moon Knight did not respond to Pietro’s remark. Instead, he asked, "Have you found them? The card says they should be nearby."

In Moon Knight’s hand, a Joker card glowed with an eerie red light.

"No. Doctor Strange is a sorcerer, isn’t he? They might be invisible, or maybe they used some powerful magic to hide. These monsters are just too hard to deal with." Pietro punched and snapped the arm of an aberration that had ambushed him, but it still had seven more arms.

Just then, rainbow-colored lasers swept in. They helped Pietro kill the aberration and briefly cleared out some of the weaker Aberrant Monsters nearby.

The newcomer was Carolina, with Blood Baron John behind her.

"Seriously, even if I get dementia when I’m old, I’ll never forget these things. I swear they’ll be carved into my brain forever. Blegh!" John had practically vomited his way here.

As a vampire, John was one of the dark creatures. Drinking human blood was practically routine for him, but at this moment, the sight of these monsters stitched together from countless twisted human organs made him feel violently nauseated.

It was like how no human would ever eat a native chicken with eight wings. This was ten thousand times more disgusting than putting strawberries in mapo tofu or chocolate sauce in braised ribs.

"Compared to what I went through before, this place is actually not that bad. Don’t stare at them too much. Just keep killing." Carolina’s voice was cold.

Perhaps because all her comrades had died, Carolina was no longer the naive little rookie from the Runaways. After watching her team be wiped out and enduring torment in the mental world, she had become a god of slaughter, radiating a murderous aura that made others instinctively recoil.

"Don’t forget our mission. Our target is Doctor Strange and the Punisher," Moon Knight shouted.

"But we don’t know where they are, do we? Besides, we still don’t know why we came looking for them," Carolina said.

"I don’t know what plan Zhang has, but I trust him. If anyone can help us resolve this crisis, it’s him. Since he told us to come here, he must have his reasons," John said from the side.

"I trust him too, but there’s no denying that he’s hidden a lot from us. He never even intended to reveal his plan to us," Carolina said helplessly.

"That’s because you’ve been contaminated." Pietro spoke as he sped through the aberrations. The others saw only a flash of silver, and then the road was left covered in severed limbs. "That thing contaminated you, so naturally it would keep its eyes on you as well."

"Quicksilver is right—I mean, Pietro. Sorry, I mistook you for someone else." Moon Knight opened his mouth. "You reminded me of the days when I fought alongside the Avengers."

"Haha, it’s fine. We’re the same person, after all. We just took the wrong paths in different worlds. Call me that if you want, Moon Knight." Pietro patted Moon Knight’s shoulder with his Vibranium arm.

Moon Knight nodded heavily. Perhaps among everyone present, only he could understand that strange feeling. But he quickly composed himself. As the Captain, he could not allow himself to be distracted in battle.

"Quicksilver is right. We’ve all been contaminated to one degree or another, especially Carolina and me. Deadpool influenced us many times, and we nearly fell into it. Fortunately, Zhang Ye helped us through that crisis, but now, we still can’t be sure whether that thing is affecting us."

Moon Knight’s words answered some of the doubts in their hearts, though they were mainly meant for Carolina. Pietro and John trusted Zhang Ye almost completely. They needed no explanation.

"Then how do we find Doctor Strange and the Punisher? If they’ve hidden themselves, they won’t be easy to locate," Carolina asked.

"We don’t need to find them." Pietro raised the Zeus Scepter high.

"That’s right." Seeing Pietro’s movement, Moon Knight immediately understood what he intended to do. He continued, "We only need to make them come find us!"

With the Zeus Scepter fully activated, the capacitor core inside instantly erupted with tremendous energy. Thin bolts of lightning burst out like little snakes, slithering over Pietro’s Vibranium arm.

It was only because Pietro’s suit was insulated that he was safe. Otherwise, in his current state, the first person electrocuted by the Zeus Scepter’s discharge would have been himself.

"John, give me a hand. I’m going big!" Pietro stood atop a bus and shouted.

"There isn’t enough magical energy here… Fine, wait a moment." John raised both hands and loudly chanted an obscure incantation.

This was not merely the Black Magic he had learned. It was Blood Magic that belonged to the vampire race’s origin.

After reality had diverged from its original course and the many dimensions had fallen apart, John could no longer draw energy from any other Magic Dimension apart from vampire magic.

But at this moment, Blood Magic was enough.

Dense magical energy erupted like a geyser. Combined with the beams of electricity constantly bursting from the Zeus Scepter, anyone could sense the terrifying power gathering above it.

"It’s about to blow! Quicksilver, do it!"