Chapter 601 - Strange

All ghosts weren't as 'sensible' as Casper and Nik had often thought what would become of him should he become a ghost one day. The answer came to be a regal, selfless, and prideful peeping tom. But what about the two women who had the same hairstyle as Gwen, turned out to be palm-sized humanely proportionate gals who called themselves Spider-Gwen and Gwenpool for the sake of having their own calling. "There are two more Gwens?" Anna tilted her head, clearly happy to pursue the particular oddity instead of her assignment as she looked towards Gwen for validation. The blonde sighed deeply as she saw Gwenpool swimming in the bowl of Cola, "Don't drink from this bowl... she's swimming in it." Anna freaked out a little, "Why would someone swim in a bowl full of soft drink? She should try lemonade!"

"I believe that isn't the problem," Nik sighed. "But instead of lemonade, try iced tea," his words met with a smirk from Anna and an equally frustrated grunt of annoyance from Spider-Gwen as well as the 'regular' Gwen. "That isn't the point," Gwen glared at Nik, "How can you see them?" She inquired. Now that Nik understood that the two thumberellas might not be ghosts, after all, they claimed themselves to be consciousnesses from the other universe, which Nik found more believable, Nik sighed and picked up the swimming Gwenpool, "not just see them," Nik explained and placed the giggling Gwenpool on the table, "I can touch them, too."

"Oh, my," Gwenpool exclaimed, "it just got hot in here!" Chuckling at Gwenpool's words, Nik looked back at Gwen and stated plainly, "I am what you may call a genuine spiritualist so I can do as much. While Anna refrained from rolling her eyes, Nik continued with a ponderous tone, "So you are saying that this happened when Kiara was trying to put a 'curse' on Nik."

"That bitch is crazy," Anna promptly hissed. "Sorry," Gwen looked apologetic, "Kiara doesn't handle breakups well."

"Kudos to Brandon, though. The guy had a long-standing crush on Kiara and he broke things off within a month..." Nik mumbled before shaking his head, "So, are you sure that nothing happened to Kiara?"

"No, she just stabbed the teddy bear in the face with practiced ease and left my room with a delighted expression... and the next day, she heard that Brandon hooked up with someone else so she came crying back to me again," Gwen explained as everybody cringed.

"Here, I'll let you see them, too," Nik whispered to Anna and connected their consciousness. Since Nik's mind itself had grown past the limits of humanity, he could easily bear the burdens of sharing one's consciousness through the spiritual connection he is capable of developing and finally, when Anna blinked for the umpteenth time, she saw two curious figures, extremely tiny, staring back at her. "Amazing!" Anna's hands moved on their own but they phased through Gwenpool and Spider-Gwen, making the duo sigh collectively. "Huh, I really can't touch them..." Anna murmured while Gwenpool shrugged and walked back to the bowl of cola she had filled only for Gwen to pick it up, making Gwenpool whine, "Hey, don't be like that. I would have invited you to the cola party but you are just too... I would say big."

Snorting at Gwenpool's words, Gwen looked at Anna and Nik, "We need to do something. I'll go crazy if they stay with me."

"Ouch," Gwenpool held her hands over her bosom followed by a crestfallen expression. "That's hurtful, my other serious, daddy issue self," Gwenpool exclaimed, "How I wonder you'll fall. My awareness senses a really large pole in our future!" She grinned, "Heck, Wade would squeal for this!" Her words not bringing any sense to the onlookers but Gwenpool seemed satisfied by her outburst, "Anyway, instead of spoiling Reed Richards for you guys, may I suggest Doctor Strange? As his name states, he deals with strange things."

"Doctor Strange?" Nik furrowed as the group looked at each other. By now, Gwenpool's credibility had fallen quite a bit short but the woman now diving into Cola without even a single patch of splash swam up and grinned, "Yeah. Supreme Sorcerer. Every universe has one. I am sure the s.e.xy, bearded guy would love to help us solve the issue." Thinking for a moment, Gwenpool looked back and winked at Gwen, "Oh, and he's totally your type!"

"That's enough embarrassing your other self," A sling of the web completely sealed off Gwenpool's mouth as she glared at Spider-Gwen. "Umhgnodhataikanbrakihapae!" Gwenpool squealed while waving her hand angrily. "What?" Spider-Gwen leaned the side of her face towards Gwenpool's direction, "Couldn't get ya!"

With the web crumbling apart, Gwenpool shrieked, "I said! I can totally break it apart! We're not material existence."

Meanwhile, Gwen looked at Anna and Nik, "I think we should find this Doctor Strange."

"We?" Nik looked at Anna, "She has to complete—"

"Lemme wear my magic skirt!" Anna grinned, scampering off to their room, making Nik roll his eyes.

---

177A Bleecker Street, New York City.

Standing in front of a three-storied Victorian style old brown house with the added gargoyles sculpted on the edges of the stairs leading to the door, everyone held the same thought which Gwenpool cleared up. "I know," she spoke with an understanding expression, "This place is still as creepy as ever." She jumped on the head of the left gargoyle, stomping her foot and shouting loudly. "You big weirdo! You tried to erase me, remember? You owe me this time!" Her words did imply the fact that the person whom the group came to help for tried to 'erase' one of Gwen's versions and that made the 'og' Gwen flinch. However, the door swung open and that's when everyone realized that the streets were eerily silent. Not a single soul stumbled about while only a patch of darkness greeted the group from the other side of the door.

"Damn, I really hate mystic shit like that," Nik mumbled to himself while Spider-Gwen pointed out, "I have known about this person and aside from occasional errors, this guy can be trusted to a certain level."

"W-what kind of errors?" Gwen inquired while Spider-Gwen jumped on top of Gwen's head and crossed her legs, "Letting out world-ending eldritch horrors type of errors."

"Please come in," A voice called out leading to a chubby asian man in a traditional oriental robe. "Wong!" Gwenpool jumped down from the stone structure as the bald man looked at the girl and smiled, "Visitors from other worlds are rare no matter how many times this happens. Yes, it happens a lot." The man named Wong stated with a peaceful expression, trying his level best to hide the smirk that Nik could detect from miles away. Gwenpool took the charge in a manner that conveyed that she owned the manor instead of being a guest. She really took the saying— Make oneself at home. The interior of the house was anything that the exterior pointed out to be. The halls were massive with spaciousness competing against the most lavish of manors. The flooring layered with red hardwood alongside the furniture indicating their lavish origins. This was just the first floor and it had already surpassed many well-known dwellings.

"Holy..." Anna mumbled, "Shiet," Gwen concluded while Spider-Gwen and Gwenpool couldn't even be bothered by the apparent change in the dimensions of the interior. Nik couldn't either. He couldn't even bring himself to feel awed. It was just some sort of spatial enchantment. Even he could do it. What truly surprised him was a source of a dense and unknown form of energy. It wasn't anything like Nik had encountered before and that's considering Hamon, Qi, Ki, Elemental Energy, Life Energy, and Spirit Energy. The attributes of the power seemed tilted towards frivolous mysticism but Nik couldn't truly comment upon the fact and not feel like a pauper so he kept his quiet.

Wong continued to lead the group towards the more 'casual' region of the house that did not reek of extreme sense of expenditure and once the group settled on the couch surrounded by whimsical decorations that truly did not make much sense, Anna mumbled, "So that Wong guy could see and hear the both of you... is he a spiritualist, too?" She looked towards Nik. When it came to oddities of the world, Nik represented the major attraction to Anna and became the source of her confirmations. Thinking for a minute, Nik shook his head, "He felt a little more. Maybe it's his face." He uttered, making Gwenpool laugh, "He's a sorcerer," poking at Spider-Gwen idly, she continued, "One of the best but he is too cute. Like a plush toy. Strange... he's—" Before Gwenpool could complete, her expression turned strange while her lips continued to move without any sound echoing.

"For a consciousness, it is already amazing to convey thoughts and interact with another universe but to use that ability and let your tongue dirty the atmosphere of the Sanctum is something I find unacceptable," Accompanied by echoing footsteps, a well-groomed man with graying sideburns, trimmed beard and with blue robes covering his body walked out from the shadows. "It is a delight to see a group of supernatural accidents collected in a single location." While the man gazed at the still 'silently' shouting Gwenpool, the man raised his eyebrow, "My cape?" he inquired, "It's in the dry cleaning. It loves to remain clean," he explained before taking a seat on one of the single-seaters. "Please, call me Doctor Strange. I am well aware of your troubles but as we speak, my real body is still engaged with matters of extraordinary importance and left me to fill his place for a little while. While I may not have the similar potency, I do retain the methods and I can assure you that sending back these astral projections is quite an easy matter."

"Yep, he can see them, too," Anna nudged Nik's shoulder while Gwen spoke up, "Then help us."

"Yes, our bodies may be in danger," Spider-Gwen chimed while Gwenpool silently crossed her arms and huffed out. Furrowing his brows, Strange shook his head, "I still do not understand by— The readers are already hating you... " Strange sighed, "In fact, it is I, who is annoyed by characters like you who speak with non-existence." As Gwenpool began shouting once again, her voice still kept shut, Nik grunted, "Just give Gwen her voice, will you? It's more annoying this way," Nik looked at the man with an abhorrent sense of fashion, relatively speaking. Turning to look at Nik, the man flinched momentarily and so did Nik as the apostle instantly erupted, "What did you do?" Nik shouted, standing up suddenly and giving everyone a scare as Strange continued to ponder while keeping his seat, "I tried to understand your existence. It is astounding, really. But there is no need to take offense." Strange's words held merit since he never tried to pry too deeply but there were somethings Nik could never accept and it was—

"You just 'touched' me mentally!" Space around Nik shook violently, "You don't do that!" He growled as even Pickle felt agitated as tendrils of white leaked from Nik in a fashion that Spider-Gwen seemed all too familiar with, making her jump back and Gwenpool clapped her hands in excitement.

"Nik," Sky's words echoed, "Before you actually engage in a battle to keep your pride intact, keep note that the person in front of you is a rank 6 being. Now, let the battle begin."

"You said that Ranks are a measure of existence and not strength," Nik's expression turned fiercer as he directed his words towards Strange, "You really have the knack of being hateful," his words making Gwenpool nod as Strange furrowed his brows. Patiently, he explained, "Really, there's no need to feel wronged. I merely divined your existence so who actually 'touched' you wasn't me but my patrons. The Gods."

"Great," Nik muttered, "I'll have them f.u.c.k.i.e.d," the moment Nik felt his throat shutting down strangely, he controlled his body and instantly repulsed the strange force with the bodily forms of energy roiling within him including his Spiritual Energy and glared at Strange, "Oh, I am sorry. You surely seem strange enough to not be able to handle words that regard s.e.x.u.a.l intimacy. Did someone touch your special place and left you the next moment?"

"Enough," A strange force emanated from Strange that seemed to calm down everybody. It was the form of energy itself that acted in the matter but Nik let it do its work. The man had shoved right up to one of the most disliked people in Nik's book but he was accompanying Gwen...s. There was no point in making it difficult for them. "Yeah," Gwenpool shouted suddenly, "You're an asshole in this world, too. Let's go!" Snorting, Gwenpool held her mouth with a surprised expression, "Hey, I can speak again!" Strange instantly looked at Nik with a blaming expression. Well, as it turns out, Nik wasn't going to wait after all.

"Just... stop," Strange sighed, "As I said, I am well capable of helping you but that's the real me. This body has enough energy to protect the planet but not squander on the return travels of the accidental guests of this universe. However, I can direct you towards the method in your favor."

All of them stopped in their tracks as Gwenpool instantly jumped back and smiled widely, "You would do that? I knew you still had good in your beard! I meant heart!"