Strange Whine

With the undead walking the streets of Mexico City, Spider-Man has teamed up with Strange, the Sorcerer Supreme, to face Nando Morgez, the man responsible. They find Nando standing over the corpse of his sister, and he sadly tells them that he wishes to help her. He explains that he attempted to use a mystical amulet to bring Nita back to life. When Strange asks to look at it, the artifact burns to the touch, causing her pain. When Spider-Man rushes to her side, the demon that possesses Strange comes into complete control, causing her to take on a demonic appearance.

Meanwhile, as the undead walk among the people celebrating the Day of the Dead celebration unnoticed, Kasey Nash, Xina Kwan, and Gabriel O'Hara try to enjoy the festivities. Xina is worried about leaving Miguel in the hospital while they all are out having fun, but Gabriel assures her that his brother is in good hands. Back at Nando's apartment, Spider-Man tries to talk sense into Strange, learning that her demonic other intends to get revenge against Morgez for harming its host body, and intends to harness the power of the amulet he possesses. As the two fight in the hallway of Nando's apartment building, Xina and the others discover that there are walking corpses among the celebrations. Once people start panicking over the walking dead, the creatures begin attacking the living. While elsewhere, Strange's teacher observes the proceedings through the Orb of Agamotto. Noting that Strange has lost control to the demon possessing her body, this ancient old man places his hand on the Orb, lending his own mystical power to assist his student.[1] By this point, Spider-Man has restrained Strange with his webbing and attempts to talk sense to the woman. Suddenly, light shines from the Eye of Agamotto pinned to Strange's leather jacket, causing her to regain control and revert back to human form. After a quick explanation of her dual nature, Strange and Spider-Man resume their search for Nando. As they do so, they discover that Morgez's spell woke all the dead in Mexico City, except for his sister.

While down below, the streets are in chaos as people flee from the living dead. Kasey, thinking that Gabriel is really Spider-Man, tells him to go find someplace to change into his costume so he can help bring things under control.[2] Running for cover, Gabriell realizes that not telling Kasey the truth has made him utterly helpless to do anything to save them. Back in the apartment building, Strange believes that the key to breaking this spell is connected to Nando's sister Nina. When Spider-Man turns around, he discovers Nina's reanimated corpse standing before them. Although Strange is ready to strike down the abomination with a bolt of mystical energy, Spider-Man stops her, having come up with an idea. While in the streets below, Nando hides in an alley to think about everything that has gone wrong. He feels awful as all he wanted to do was bring his sister back to life. He blames himself for her death, thinking back to their childhood when the two found their father's rifle. Nando wanted to play with it and accidentally shot his sister, killing her instantly. While not far away, Kasey Nash is almost trampled to death by the horde of zombies when she is rescued by Spider-Man. Seeing his army of the dead, the increasingly unhinged Nando comes to think that his sister was sacrificed so that the dead could rule overall.

While Spider-Man is busy fighting off the zombie horde, Strange brings Nina to her brother. She is confused and doesn't understand why she has been brought back, having grown accustomed to death's warm embrace. Realizing the errors of his ways, Nando hands the amulet to his sister so she can return to the afterlife. He then embraces her as she lights on fire, immolating himself in the process, despite the protests from Strange. With Nando and Nina reduced to ash the rest of the zombies begin walking back to their grave. When Spider-Man catches up with Strange, he learns that she used a psychic suggestion to make Nando think his sister was talking to him, in the hopes that he would drop the amulet, not expecting that he would kill himself instead. When deciding what to do with the amulet, Strange decides to take the simplest solution and crushes it under her boot heel. After all of the craziness of the past few days, Spider-Man decides to return to the United States, looking forward to some sort of normalcy. Unfortunately for Spider-Man, things back home have undergone some massive changes in his absence, as in Washington, D.C. the Latverian flag flies atop the White House.[3]

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Strange, Gabriel O’Hara, Xina Kwan, Nando Morgez, Nita Morgez

Continuity Notes

1. The identity of this teacher is not revealed. It is certainly not Stephen Strange, the Sorcerer Supreme of the Heroic Age, who had disappeared during the end of the heroic age to travel forward in time. He ultimately surfaces in Fantastic Four 2099 #5.

2. Kasey began thinking that Gabriel was Spider-Man in Spider-Man 2099 #26.

3. Doctor Doom took over as president of the United States during the events of Doom 2099 #28.

J'Accuse

Young Miguel O'Hara is answering the questions of a council of teachers and administrators at Alchemax's School For Gifted Youngsters. He is the key witness of Kron Stone's attack on his fellow student, Xina Kwan.[1] Kron's father, Alchemax CEO Tyler Stone, tries to brush off Kron's activities, suggesting that they are not worth expelling the boy. That's when Miguel speaks up and mentions Kron's pattern behavior toward attempted murder, citing the time that Kron tried to drown him.[2]

Tyler tries to spin this by suggesting that Miguel is a pathological liar. Miguel admits that he lied because he was afraid to stand up for himself and others. He was also afraid of what Kron might do to him had he ratted the psychopath out. That's when Kron Stone speaks up in an attempt to intimidate Miguel. He gets Kron to admit that he wasn't wearing his skull-faced ring on the night he attempted to drown Miguel. Caught in his lie, Kron then tries to attack Miguel but is pulled away by his father. After hearing this startling admission, Angela Daskalakis says that they will decide Kron Stone's fate shortly.

Recurring Characters

Miguel O’Hara, Angela Daskalakis, Tyler Stone, Kron Stone

Continuity Notes

1. Kron's attack on Xina was chronicled in Spider-Man 2099 #27-30.

2. Kron attempted to drown Miguel in Spider-Man 2099 #20-21.