[The Alexander Hamilton Bridge. The Smoke.]
The pumpkin bomb clattered onto the asphalt. Click. Click. Click.
Sebastian didn't hesitate. He kicked it like a soccer ball.
It sailed over the edge of the bridge, detonating mid-air in a burst of green fire and concussive force.
BOOM.
Through the smoke, a cackling figure on a glider tore past them. The Green Goblin.
"OUT, AM I?!" The Goblin shrieked, banking for another pass.
Sebastian's nostrils flared. He smelled it instantly—not magic, but a chemical rot. A soul twisted by serum and insanity. It was a stench that reminded him of the worst desperation of mankind.
"Peter!" Sebastian yelled, balancing on the hood of a crushed sedan. "Incoming! Above you!"
Peter looked up, but he was pinned by Doc Ock's remaining functional tentacles.
"I'm a little busy!" Peter grunted, struggling against the claw.
Just as the Goblin prepared to fire missiles, the air shattered.
A ring of sparking orange energy opened directly under Doc Ock and Peter.
"What the—?" Ock yelled.
They fell.
Sebastian jumped, catching the edge of the portal just before it closed. He tumbled through the dimensional gateway, leaving the Goblin screaming at empty air on the bridge.
[The Sanctum Sanctorum. The Undercroft.]
They landed hard on the stone floor of the Sanctum's basement.
Doc Ock scrambled up, his tentacles thrashing. "Where is this?! What have you done?!"
"Be quiet," Doctor Strange floated down from the shadows. He flicked his wrist.
Magical bands of energy wrapped around Ock's tentacles, slamming them into the floor. A transparent, mystical barrier rose up around him, forming a cell.
"Welcome to the torture chamber," Strange deadpanned. "Or as I call it, the basement."
"You!" Ock pointed at Strange. "You're the wizard!"
"Sorcerer," Strange corrected. He looked at Peter. "You're lucky I have good timing. Who was the flying elf?"
"I don't know," Peter dusted himself off. "But he seemed... angry."
"He smelled like madness," Sebastian added, stepping out of the shadows and straightening his tie. "And cheap hair gel."
Strange walked past them. "Well, he's not our problem yet. This one is."
He pointed to the other cells. They were already occupied.
The Lizard (Curt Connors) hissed from the dark. Electro (Max Dillon) paced in a containment field, glowing with angry yellow energy. Sandman (Flint Marko) was a shifting pile of sand in the corner.
"I've been busy while you were playing on the bridge," Strange said. "I caught the rest of the strays."
[The Inspection]
The dungeon was getting crowded.
Sebastian Michaelis walked down the row of cells, hands clasped behind his back, inspecting the catch.
"Fascinating," Sebastian murmured. "You all smell the same."
"And what's that?" Electro crackled, zapping the barrier. "Ozone? Axe body spray?"
"Grave dirt," Sebastian stopped in front of Max. "You smell like expired milk. Like a story that has already ended."
"Hey, watch it, butler!" Max glared. "I'm alive! I'm energy!"
"Are you?" Sebastian tilted his head. "Energy cannot be created or destroyed, merely transferred. It seems you were transferred here right before your... expiration."
[The Debate]
Strange walked to a pedestal and picked up a cubic relic. The Box of Kadavus. The spell was trapped inside, swirling with chaotic purple light.
"It's time," Strange said. "We have them all. Well, almost all. I'm sending them back."
"Back to what?" Peter asked, walking over. "What happens to them?"
"They die, Peter," Strange said bluntly. "They all die fighting Spider-Man. It's their fate. It's the cosmic order."
The silence in the dungeon was heavy.
Peter looked at the prisoners. He looked at Doc Ock, who had stopped struggling and now looked terrified. He looked at Sandman, who just wanted to go home to his daughter.
"No," Peter shook his head. "I can't do that. I can't just send them to their deaths."
"It's not up to you," Strange's hand hovered over the button on the box. "In the grand calculus of the multiverse, their sacrifice means infinite others live."
Strange looked at Sebastian. "Back me up here, Demon. You know about death. Tell the kid."
Sebastian looked at Peter. The boy was bleeding heart and wide eyes. He was so young.
"The Wizard is correct, Master Parker," Sebastian said coldly. "Death is the natural conclusion of life. To deny it is to invite chaos. These men are ghosts. Sending them back is merely... correcting a filing error."
"See?" Strange nodded. "Even the butler gets it."
Peter looked betrayed. He looked at Sebastian with the same hurt expression he used to give Tony when he messed up.
"Tony wouldn't do it," Peter whispered.
Sebastian froze. The name hung in the air like a guillotine blade.
"What?" Sebastian asked, his voice dangerously low.
"Mr. Stark," Peter stepped closer to the demon. "He wouldn't send them to die. He'd find a way. He solved time travel in a night! He'd fix them!"
"Mr. Stark is dead," Sebastian said, his voice dropping an octave, "because he tried to save everyone."
"Exactly!" Peter yelled. "That's what heroes do! And if you really served him... if you really knew him... you wouldn't be standing there helping the Grim Reaper press a button!"
The room went silent. Even the villains stopped arguing, watching the drama unfold.
Sebastian stared at Peter. He saw the fire in the boy's eyes. It was the same fire he had seen in the cave in Afghanistan. The refusal to accept the inevitable. The arrogance to think he could outsmart death.
Tony Stark, Sebastian thought. You have left a very noisy legacy.
"You play a dangerous card, Master Parker," Sebastian whispered.
[The Turn]
"Give me the box, Peter," Strange ordered, sensing the shift.
Peter looked at the box. He looked at Strange.
Thwip.
Peter webbed the box. He snatched it from Strange's hand.
"I'm sorry, Sir," Peter said. "I have to try."
Peter turned to run. Strange summoned a mandala shield to block the exit.
"Don't!" Strange yelled.
Sebastian moved.
He didn't attack Strange directly. He simply... cleaned.
He picked up a mop bucket he had been using earlier to clear the snow melt. With perfect, calculated clumsiness, he "tripped."
The bucket of soapy magical water flew through the air.
SPLASH.
It hit Strange square in the face. The water disrupted the mandala shield, causing it to fizzle out for a split second as Strange sputtered.
"Oops," Sebastian deadpanned, standing perfectly still. "Clumsy me."
"Go!" Peter yelled. He sprinted through the gap, diving out the Sanctum door.
Strange wiped the water from his eyes, furious. He spun on Sebastian.
"You did that on purpose!"
"I am merely a demon, Doctor," Sebastian bowed, though his eyes were dancing with amusement. "I am prone to... mischief."
Strange roared and flew after Peter, dragging them both into the Mirror Dimension.
[The Goblin]
Sebastian was left alone in the Undercroft with the villains.
"Well," Electro laughed. "That was a show. So, you on our side, Jeeves?"
"I am on no one's side," Sebastian turned to the cells. "I am simply curious."
"Curious about what?" Doc Ock asked.
"About whether a ghost can change its sheets," Sebastian replied.
A noise from the shadows. A shuffling sound near the back entrance.
Sebastian turned.
Walking out of the dark corner of the dungeon—having sneaked in while the magical shields were down—was a man in a tattered purple hoodie. He looked confused, broken.
Norman Osborn.
"Where am I?" Norman whispered, clutching his head. "The voice... it stopped."
Sebastian walked over to him. He sniffed the air.
He smelled the man: terrified, weak, brilliant. And underneath... he smelled the Other.
It wasn't a demon. It was a chemical madness. A split personality so strong it had its own soul-scent. Green. Violent. Laughing.
"Mr. Osborn," Sebastian greeted him.
"You..." Norman looked up. "You have... red eyes."
"I do," Sebastian smiled thinly. "And you have a very loud passenger."
Norman grabbed Sebastian's lapels. "Don't let him out. Please. He wants... he wants to hurt them."
"We are going to cure you, Mr. Osborn," Sebastian gently removed the man's hands. "Or at least, the Spider is going to try."
Sebastian looked at the open door where Peter had fled.
"And if he fails," Sebastian's claws extended slightly, hidden by his gloves. "Then I will provide the alternative cure."
"What's that?" Norman asked trembling.
"Exorcism," Sebastian said pleasantly. "By blade."
[End of Chapter 60]
_________________________________________________________________________
🔥 Hey legends! Quick updates! 🔥
💥 Can't wait for the next chapter? Good news—ALL advance chapters are available on Patreon for just $5! No more waiting, just pure binge-reading goodness! 🚀
👉 patreon.com/cyci07
✨ Power Stone Challenge! ✨
If we hit 100 power stones, I'll drop 2 bonus chapters! Let's see if you guys can make me suffer! 😂
💬 Enjoying the story? Leave a review and let me know your favorite moment so far! It helps the novel grow and reach more readers!
Thanks for all your support—you guys are awesome! ❤️