fiction | Part of the journey is the end

Book 10 - Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness | 1. America Chavez

Defender Strange and America Chavez were running through the Gap Junction with a demon chasing after them. Defender Strange had a ponytail.

Kate's heart skipped a beat as she saw the teenage girl. She was very pretty.

"My variant," Stephen growled. He narrowed his eyes at Defender Strange. Was Defender Strange going to be better or worse than Strange Supreme? "And he has a ponytail," he said, disgusted.

Wong, Wanda, and Peter roared with laughter at seeing the ponytail while Clea hid a smile; it looked horrible.

"Oh look, Stephen is babysitting a teenager. What a familiar sight," Clint said.

"Even in the multiverse, he's a babysitter," Tony said, amused.

"And they've got a demon after them," Wong added. "He can't babysit a teenager without it being a dangerous situation."

"Is this teenager going to steal his sling ring and trap him in the Mirror Dimension for twelve hours too? Because I enjoyed seeing that last time," Loki said.

Stephen scowled and shot Peter a dirty look. "Look what you've done. I used to have a reputation before I met you."

Peter snickered.

America's jacket had a pride pin on it.

"I like her jacket," said Peter.

"Her pride pin's cool," said Kate.

Defender Strange shot a spell at the demon to turn it to ice. The demon had runes on it.

Wanda sucked in a breath. "Those are runes—witchcraft runes, not sorcerer runes. A witch sent the demon after Defender Strange and the girl."

Wanda, Stephen, and Wong shared an alarmed glance while Clea and Loki studied the runes.

"It's not Agatha. She's currently in Westview as Agnes," Wanda said.

"And you're currently getting corrupted by the Darkhold," Wong pointed out.

Wanda shifted uncomfortably. "Yes."

"The Darkhold?" Clea yelped, looking at Wanda in horror.

"Does everyone know about the Darkhold?" Bucky asked.

"Yes," Wong, Stephen, and Clea answered.

"I didn't, but I do now," Wanda said.

"You know we can't rule you out, right?" Stephen said, apologetically.

Wanda let out a sad smile. "I know."

Vision frowned. He didn't know much about magic compared to Stephen, Wanda, Clea, Loki, and Wong, but he didn't like the idea of Wanda sending the demon after Defender Strange and a teenage girl. "This is another universe so it doesn't mean it's someone we know. It can be any witch in the multiverse."

"That is a good point. The multiverse is...insane," T'Challa said for lack of better words.

"Did that kill it?" America asked in Spanish. "No. That's how we kill it," Defender Strange replied, pointing at a book.

"Defender Strange knows Spanish?" Stephen said, baffled. "I don't know Spanish."

"The multiverse is funny sometimes," said Loki.

"The Book of Vishanti!" America exclaimed.

Wanda, Wong, Clea, and Stephen's eyes widened.

"The Book of Vishanti?" Clea said, awed.

"The Darkhold's antithesis," Wanda whispered longingly. It was just what they needed to destroy the Darkhold.