House of Mystery vs Crypt of Shadows

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This is a DynaMic Network Podcast. Hi, welcome to
the Dynamic Duel Podcast, a weekly show where we

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review superhero films and debate the
superiority between Marvel and DC by comparing

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their characters in stat-based battle
simulations. I'm Johnny DC and I'm his twin

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brother Marvelous Joe. And welcome to our spooky
Halloween episode where we find out who is going to

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win between DC's House of Mystery and Marvel's
Crypt of Shadows. So we're gonna do things a little

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bit differently this time. Basically the House of
Mystery and the Crypt of Shadows were both comic

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book series that told anthological horror
stories, kind of like Tales from the Crypt, if you

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guys remember that. That was a television show
that was based off of a comic book series.

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Basically they all tell horror stories in comic
book format. Here we're gonna find out who can tell

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the better horror stories based off of characters
from Marvel and DC. Yeah, these are original

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stories that Joseph and I came up with. We're gonna
try and scare the shit out of each other and maybe

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the listeners Well I'm not easily scared so you're
gonna have a hard time with this one. Before we get

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into this matchup we're gonna break down the
latest comic book movie news of which there was

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none. Again probably because we're just fresh off
of New York Comic Con where the studios kind of

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revealed their hands and won't have much else to
show for a while. As always we list our segment

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times in our episode description so feel free to
check out the show notes if you want to skip ahead to

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a particular topic. Guys our artificially
intelligent dual simulator AJ9K has a quick

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message for our listeners so listen up. Why hello
there do you want even more from this podcast? Then

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become a part of the dynamic dual community on
Patreon where you can choose from three tiers. The

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dynamic 2.0 tier gives you access to our discord
chat server. The fantastic 4.0 tier gives you two

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bonus episodes each month and the X-Force tier
makes you an executive producer of this show.

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Lastly the Diner Mike podcast network tier lets
you create your own podcast using this Monte Carlo

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simulator. Johnny and Joe will help you develop
your show, provide graphic support and

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consultation and get you simulation results.
Pitch the twins your ideas via email at

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00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:38,000
dynamicduolpodcast at gmail.com. Check it out at
patreon.com slash dynamicduol. Pip pip cheerio.

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Thanks AJ9K and thanks to everyone who supports
the podcast. Be sure to tune into the other shows in

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the Diner Mike podcast network this week
including the console combat podcast where hosts

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John and Dean simulate battles between popular
video game characters. In yesterday's episode

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they did a comparison of the 2002 Resident Evil
film and 2021's reboot Resident Evil Welcome to

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00:03:02,540 --> 00:03:07,740
Raccoon City. Over on the Max Instruction podcast
hosts Scotty and Gilly pick your favorite action

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heroes from film and television against each
other. On Wednesday they're going to review

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Freddie versus Jason. And on the Send Your World
podcast hosts Zachary Hepburn speculates on

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fights between fan favorite anime and manga
characters. In his next episode Zach is revealing

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who would win between Shigeyo Kageyama aka Mob
from Mob Psycho 100 and Tatsumaki the tornado of

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terror from One Punch Man. Visit
dynamicpodcasts.com or click the link in our show

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notes to listen to all the shows in the Diner Mike
podcast network. But with that out of the way quick

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to the no prize. A no prize is an award that Marvel
used to give out to fans. Our version the dynamic

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dual no prize is a digital award we post on
Instagram for the person that we feel gave the best

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answer to our question of the week. Last week we
asked you guys where the fuck were you guys last

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week wrong answers only and that of course was
coming off of the previous week's question from

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which we got no answers mainly because it was a bad
question. You guys had a lot of fun with this one.

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This week we actually have five honorable
mentions which we'll go through all at once before

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naming the no prize winner. The honorable
mentions will be going to Lee Tapscott, Alex

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Albro, Matt from Texas, Daniel Alonzo and Travis
Herndon. Who said? Lee Tapscott here and another

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Marvel DC team up event. I was kidnapped and held
hostage because I had a better name for their

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movies than they did. But I was told it would be okay
for me to call in this week in an attempt to win the no

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prize as long as I didn't give you the names that I
came up with for their movies. This is where I was

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last week and was unable to call in. Sorry. Okay
look I'm so sorry I was having a really amazing

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conversation with some DC fans about how their
movies are great their acting is great the CGI is

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always amazing. Just telling them how great
they're like costume designs they're designed

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for just their characters their stories. So yeah I
just got so busy really telling these DC fans how

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how awesome DC is. Hey guys Matt from Texas here.
See what had happened was I was going to call in from

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this earth but then somehow ended up on an earth
where DC movies actually have consistent

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continuity. It was fucking wild man. 10-10 would
go back. If you don't like that excuse well

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flashpoint happened and somehow it became my own
grandpa and that's weird so I'm dealing with that

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right now. Thanks for looking out. What's up
dynamic dudes Travis here shout out to me in

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between. Well you see what happened was I was going
to answer your question but a portal opened up in my

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house and I got sucked into to this alternate
universe where I fought a giant monkey man and

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saved the ninth dimension. Then I went before I
went back to our universe I got sucked into another

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portal and fought a smaller monkey man and saved
the eighth dimension. So yeah I was fighting giant

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monkey man and I'm a hero in two dimensions. You're
welcome. Great excuses guys. Generally excuses

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are not a good thing but in this case I enjoyed
listening to them. So thank you for calling in this

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time. But the winner of this week's No Prize is CJ
Kraft who said hey guys CJ Kraft here just wanted to

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apologize for not calling in last week. Me and my
girlfriend drove up to a secluded cabin in

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Michigan and read from some book of the dead called
the Necronomicon. Anyway a long story short I got

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this nifty new chainsaw arm and I had to go back in
time and save the human race. Luckily I got back in

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time to at least hear the new episode though it was
amazing. I kind of feel like that was spoilers

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which is the most horrifying thing of all.
Spoilers for the Evil Dead franchise. Yeah

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congrats to CJ Kraft. You won this week's No Prize
because it was a scary movie reference and this is

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the Halloween episode. Speaking of Evil Dead I did
end up watching Evil Dead Rising a few weeks ago and

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it was pretty hardcore. I think I still like the
reboot the most though. Are the one directed by

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Fetty Alvarez? Yeah yeah I refused to watch that.
Congrats again to CJ Kraft for winning this week's

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No Prize. If you the listener want to shout out
winning your own No Prize stay tuned to later on

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this episode when we'll be asking another
question of the week. All right the House of

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Mystery opens along with the Crypt of Shadows.
Let's go out and find out who has the more

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terrifying tales and emerge as the winner. Okay
House of Mystery and the Crypt of Shadows of course

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as we mentioned earlier these were two horror
anthology series produced by DC and Marvel

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respectively. The House of Mystery was once the
home of the DC character of Kane but has since

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become the headquarters of the Justice League
Dark. So the House of Mystery was not only a comic

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book series it was actually like a location within
DC Comics. Yeah it's become one. Same thing with

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Crypt of Shadows actually so the Crypt of Shadows
was a horror anthology series by Marvel that

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turned out to be in the basement essentially of the
Sanctum Sanctorum where Dr. Strange lives. It's

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like a mausoleum underneath his house and the
stories have had like different narrators over

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the years kind of like how the tales from the crypt
had the crypt keeper and the creep show comics had

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the creep. Well living in the mausoleum was Dr.
Strange's brother Victor Strange and he would

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often narrate the stories but also like I think in
last year's Crypt of Shadows special it was Agatha

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Harkness who narrated the stories or she saw the
stories in her like crystal ball. For a while the

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narrator of House of Mystery was Elvira. For DC
really? Yeah I had no idea she was a DC character.

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She isn't really? I don't know how they pulled that
off but they did for a time. She replaced Kane.

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Interesting. Well for this particular matchup
the narrator of the Crypt of Shadows tales is going

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to be Nightmare who is a Dr. Strange villain. He's
basically the ruler of the dream dimension and a

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fear lord born from the collective subconscious
of all of Marvel's sentient beings. He feeds on

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fear by invading dreams and trapping souls within
his realm and he often plagues Marvel's mystic

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characters. In his realm the dream dimension he
has omnipotent power and in the mortal plane he

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still has considerable might I would say. He's
like super strong, can teleport, he can

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manipulate dark energy, cast illusions, he has
some like psychic abilities and he also has a wand

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that could warp reality. So he's a formidable
character but he's also going to tell you the

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scariest stories that you've ever heard
Jonathan. Which makes sense for a character like

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Nightmare. I feel like that's a really good choice
for your Crypt of Shadows narrator. For the House

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of Mystery narrator this round I'm going with the
Phantom Stranger who originated in a horror

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anthological series titled Phantom Stranger. Oh
interesting. Like Nightmare he's also basically

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omnipotent but he's also omniscient. He knows way
more than people realize. He's very mysterious.

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Like that's his main power. His true origins have
never definitively been revealed. He's possibly

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a fallen angel or the wandering Jew or Judas
Iscariot condemned to wander the earth. Over the

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ages he's appeared throughout history as this
unseen guide to those standing at moral

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crossroads and serves unseen powers in the
endless struggle between good and evil forever

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walking between them. That sounds pretty
interesting. Before we get into our duel matchup

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though let's go ahead and go to our sentient duel
simulator Alfred Jarvis 9000 who will tell our

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listeners how he goes about determining a winner
in our duel matchups. Yes of course sir. The way I

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determine a winner between the two teams is by
running 1,000 Monte Carlo simulations between

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every character on each team using their
statistics. A Monte Carlo simulation is a

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probabilistic model used to determine outcomes
through random sampling. In this case I randomize

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the statistics along a normal distribution as a
way to simulate the many variables that can occur

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during battle. The stat parameters are based on
the official Marvel power grid from which the DC

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characters statistics are extrapolated.
Additional stat categories are included such as

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range, damage potential, versatility and
perception in order to create a more detailed and

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accurate simulation. The results of the 49,000
simulations provide a percentage of wins for each

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character on both teams. The team with the higher
average win rate is declared the victor as they

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have a higher probability to win any given battle.
In an equitable pairing neither team should win

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100% of the matches. The comic book stories have
shown that there's even a way for Batman to defeat

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Superman so the confidence rate of my method falls
in line with the precedents that have been

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established in the source material. My
mathematical simulations are without

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subjectivity or bias. Feats are not the sole
consideration nor are fan votes tabulated for

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determination of the winner. Thanks HNAK. Before
we run the simulations though we're going to get

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into the spooky stories. So Nightmare emerges
from the crypt of shadows, Phantom Stranger steps

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out of the house of mystery, they meet at a campfire
between the two locations and let's say that

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Nightmare goes first with his three stories. The
first tale of terror being about a naughty night

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writer who's been axing all the wrong questions.
But don't worry her road trip will be cut short by

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Ghostwriter who has a real bone to pick. Buckle up
kids, it's time for a joy ride straight to hell in a

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story called The Heart of Black. Olivia Yand, she
had been driving for nearly 10 hours straight

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through the empty desert but even exhaustion
wasn't going to stop her from what she had to do. She

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looked at the axe resting on her passenger seat. A
glint of moonlight showed the deep red stains on

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the blade. Olivia smiled, her stepson had gotten
what he deserved and now it was her husband's turn

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to join him as pieces in the trunk. It wouldn't be
long now. The car was starting to stink, a little

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like rotten eggs. Suddenly the axe gleamed
catching the light from the car's rear view.

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Olivia peered through the mirror to see what was
behind her. On the road were two approaching

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headlights. Another car was on the road. It
flashed its brights again, illuminating her car

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interior. Just pass, Olivia murmured. The
headlights flashed her again as they grew closer.

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She rolled down her window and motioned the car
forward. Go on Jackass! She shouted. Suddenly the

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headlights turned off. Peering back into her rear
view mirror, Olivia saw nothing but endless

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black. What the hell was that? She grumbled to
herself. Maybe she imagined it or maybe the car

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broke down and died. Maybe the driver needed help
and would be stranded in the middle of the desert to

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die. Olivia preferred the latter option. It would
serve them right. Suddenly brightness flooded

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her car again as the headlights turned back on. The
car was right behind her. Olivia gasped as her

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throat went dry. What was this guy doing? The car
crashed into her back bumper. Her head rocked

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forward, slamming into the steering wheel. What
the fuck? She screamed. She stomped on the gas

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pedal, swerving as she regained control of the
wheel. Her heart raced. This guy must be trying to

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kill her. He must be a psycho. He must know what she
did. She thought about pulling over and grabbing

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her axe. Now on the car floor, she felt blood from
her head injury drop onto her brow. The car slammed

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into her again. No! Olivia cried out as she fought
to regain control of the wheel. Then the bright

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blue light flooding her car turned orange. And
warm. Olivia glanced in her rear view again. The

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car was on fire? The impact must have ruptured a
fuel line or maybe his engine overheated. Maybe

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now he'll leave. She fixed her eyes on the fiery car
as it slowly fell back. She peered behind her

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trying to make out the driver. It looked like he was
on fire inside his car. Yes, good. No. Wait. The

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driver was smiling. He was smiling and his face was
on fire. No, his face was gone. It had melted off

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from the flames. And he was still driving. Olivia
felt a cold chill run down her spine. This third

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slam caused Olivia to lose control. Her head
slammed into her side window as the car drifted

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into a spin before screeching to a halt. With blood
pouring over her eyes, she saw the fiery car parked

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in front of her. The driver was a flaming skeleton
clad in black. It stepped out and walked toward

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her, grinning and holding chains. Olivia tried to
gasp but her throat was closed in shock. Jesus

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Christ! She managed to squeak out. I'm close. Said
the voice in the back seat behind her. In her

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mirror, she saw a rose of glistening teeth and big
red eyes. The last thing she remembered was the

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smell of sulfur and the sound of her own ripping
flesh. The next morning, a highway patrolman took

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a statement from Robbie Reyes. The back seat of
Olivia's car was melted into black glass. So the

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limbs in the car are from a separate body than the
limbs in the trunk then, the officer said. He

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scratched his head. Just what the hell happened?
Robbie's eyes burned faintly as he turned back to

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his car. Black heart, he responded. Come again,
the officer asked. He turned her heart black, he

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said and shut the door. Poor Olivia thought she
could bury the hatchet in her husband, but instead

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she ended up getting burned. I guess you could say
Olivia suffered from unintended consequences at

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the hands of Blackheart, which Phantom Stranger
notes have also been faced by a character in his

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universe, Nightshade, in a tale he calls the Vale
of Fog. As the princess of the land of Nightshades,

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a twilight realm between reality and nightmare,
Eve Eden knew better than anyone that shadows are

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born of light. As the hero Nightshade, she used
shadows themselves to fight the forces of

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darkness within her adoptive realm alongside
Earth's most powerful magicians. It was her

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mystical attunement that drew her like a moth to
flame to the secluded coastal town of Greyhaven.

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Blanketed in a Vale of Fog, the town's landscape
and buildings appeared suddenly, as if conjured

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at the whim of its perpetual grey mist. The thick
fog seemed to weigh on Greyhaven citizenry, slow,

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quiet, and uninterested in the newcomer to their
town. Hunched adults shuffled down sidewalks,

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children sat in solitude. The silence was
deafening. At night, the faint glow of the dim

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streetlights illuminated nothing but the dense
fog around them. The streets were empty, and not a

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single light shined through a shop or house
window. Eve was able to see in the dark, but not past

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the heavy grey mist of Greyhaven. She summoned a
dozen homunculene shadow creatures under her

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control to scout the environment. A few of them
guided her to a towering lighthouse, atop a

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cliffside. It's beacon, dark. Eve stepped
through its shadowy doorway, using the darkness

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to portal straight to the top of the tower. A young
boy sat atop its ledge, gazing at the mist over the

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ocean. Starterled upon seeing Eve, he slipped
from the ledge and fell. Eve reacted instantly,

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her shadow lashing out like a whip and catching him
by the ankle. She drew him back to safety. I'm

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sorry, she said softly. I didn't mean to frighten
you. The boy laughed, breathless. It's alright.

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You're the first person I've seen up here, and I
don't know how long. As sunrise approached, the

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two of them conversed. She asked him about the
town, and the boy told her that Greyhaven had been

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covered in a fog for as long as he could remember.
The town used to be a port, but when the lighthouse

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beacon went out, the ship stopped coming. When Eve
asked why no one fixed it, the boy said the town

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didn't have the supplies to do so. Their secluded
village was dependent on the provisions from the

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ships, and without them, they had to manage by
their own means. Eve examined the beacon. There

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was something strange about it, beyond it being
physically broken, as if someone had placed a

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spell on it. She resolved to fix it. At sunrise, Eve
floated down from the top of the lighthouse into a

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shadow portal she created below. It took her about
a day to research how to repair the beacon and for

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her homunculi to find the necessary supplies,
which she portaled back to the Greyhaven

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lighthouse. The boy watched as she and her shadow
creatures repaired the light. It didn't take

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long, and Eve paused to admire her work before
flipping the switch. The beam of light swept

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across the town, piercing and dispelling the
blanketed fog within its path. To Eve's horror,

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the boy dissipated when the light struck him, as
though he were made from the same mist. His

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horrified expression lingered before
evaporating. She quickly looked down on the town

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below. With the fog vanishing, she could see the
people looking up at her, as they too disappeared

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once the light touched them. The elderly,
children, all gone. She shattered the beacon with

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a massive shadowy fist and teleported to the now
exposed town square below. A mere handful of

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people remained within the lingering bit of fog,
crying and confused as to what just happened to

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their friends and relatives. It wasn't long
before Eve learned that the people of Greyhaven

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were ghosts, protected from the light and the
truth for decades by whoever conjured the fog. As

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she apologetically ushered the remaining
Greyhaven ghosts through a portal into the land of

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nightshades to start a new life, she remembered
that shadows are born of light, and likewise, the

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purest intentions can have the darkest of
consequences. A ghost town is pretty scary, but

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uh, not scary enough, not like Nightmare's Next
Tale, which takes us deep in the Florida

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Everglades, where you'll meet Jennifer Kale, a
witchy woman with a swamping suspicion that

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something nasty is bubbling beneath the surface.
Here's a story of corpses, creeps, and carnage I

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call Crimson Lands. 10. This Way Jennifer Kale
shouted at Manthing. The swamp creature snapped

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out of his trance and slowly lumbered to her
location. For as important as Manthing was to the

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protection of this reality, he wasn't very
bright. That's why Jennifer knew that her

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presence alongside him was so important.
Guarding the Nexus of All Realities may have been

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Manthing's responsibility, but he was hers. A
portal of magic in the middle of the Florida

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Everglades, the Nexus connected the swamp to
infinite worlds and endless dimensions.

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Sometimes, things came through it that you
wouldn't want to, and all too often, people died in

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the swamp. Jennifer pointed down at the murky
water, not far from the Nexus. Manthing reached

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his monstrous hand down into the sludge, pulling
something back out. A corpse. Jennifer gagged.

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The body was half decayed, modeled and infested
with maggots crawling in and out of its rotted

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flesh. Black ooze seeped out of its riddled skin.
Its body was covered in vines, and its face

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distorted in a terrified, silent scream.
Jennifer flicked away a leech crawling out of its

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cheek. She looked closely at the body to get a hint
as to why it called to her. Her witchcraft was

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powerful, but it's not as if she could raise the
dead. The corpse lashed out and clamped its hand

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around her jaw, spewing black, putrid ooze over
her. She vomited as Manthing crushed the body in

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his grasp and threw it into the trees. He put his
hand on Jennifer's back as she wiped sludge from

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her eyes. Pfft. It moved! Jennifer sputtered. She
looked up and saw a dozen corpses slowly rise from

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the murky water all around them. What evil is this?
She whispered, and stuttered, jagged motions,

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the vine-riddled bodies crept toward them, their
decayed arms reaching out. Jennifer raised her

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hand, using witchcraft to engulf one of the
corpses and flames. Manthing lunged at another,

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using his claws to tear it to pieces. He lunged
again, grabbing one and squeezing it like jelly.

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The corpses started to pile on him as he tried to
pull them off. There were too many, and more were

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rising from the swamp by the second. Ted! Jennifer
called out at Manthing. Suddenly a wall of roots

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and wooden vines erupted from the ground,
separating them. No! She shouted, punching

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through the barrier with a magic blast. Behind it
was another wall. They rose up all around her like a

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hedge maze. She tried levitating above the maze,
but the vines reached up to pull her down into the

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mud below. She crawled out and trudged her way
through the corridors, looking for a way out, but

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the maze shifted and reformed, trapping her in its
passage. A horde of corpses rose and stumbled

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toward her, spewing ooze and fetid sludge, and the
passage itself narrowed, closing in on her.

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There's no use fighting, came a voice in an Irish
brogue. The swamp belongs to me, and it has no more

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need for the walking mulch heap. Jennifer froze,
realizing whom the voice was referring to. Ted!

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She screamed. She unleashed a magic wave of energy
that tore down the walls and corpses around her.

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Across the clearing, she saw Manthing's body
strewn across the swamp, decimated by a man

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holding a gnarled wooden staff. It was Black Tom
Cassidy, manipulator of wood and plant life. The

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corpses then awakened not from necromancy, but
from the vines, roots and mold threaded through

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their rotted flesh, his puppet strings. What are
you doing, Tom? Jennifer shrieked at him as she

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walked toward the swirling nexus. As I said to her,
the swamp is mine, Black Tom shouted. Therefore,

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the nexus is mine, and therefore, everything is
now his. He paused to smile and wave as he entered

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the portal, disappearing into the nexus. For a
moment, there was only silence. Jennifer

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wondered who Black Tom was referring to. Was it his
friend, the juggernaut? Was he enthralled to

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someone else? Suddenly, she felt the ground
shudder beneath her. The nexus convulsed, its

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light flickered and cracked like a wound
splitting open. Waves of blood gushed from the

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rift in a roaring flood pouring across the swamp.
The water churned red as if the land itself were

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bleeding. The corpses rose again, lurching
through the Crimson Mire, their jaws dripping.

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Jennifer looked out around her, waist deep in the
nightmare. The dead spoke in one voice. CITAROCK!

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The Crimson God, his bloody campaign had just
begun. Jennifer Kale got more than a little bogged

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down there, and Black Tom Cassidy working with
Citerock sounds like an alliance that will leaf

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the whole multiverse screaming. Yeah, evil
forces working behind the scenes are definitely

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terrifying, and it's a concept not unknown to a
particular character in DC known as the Ragman and

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his tale that the Phantom Stranger is calling A
Thief in the Night. They say you should never pray

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for patience, for God presents you with the
opportunities to practice the traits that you ask

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for. Rabbi Judah Lowe knew this in 16th century
Prague, so rather than patiently wait for the

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prophesied savior of his people, he took it upon
himself to craft his own, a Gollum from mud and

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mysticism. The grotesque monster initially
protected his people from attacks, pogroms, and

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genocide, but the Gollum fell out of the rabbi's
control and went on a murderous rampage that

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spilled the innocent blood of his people.
Realizing his quest for justice had led to a

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serious and equal measure to the one he sought to
stop. Rabbi Lowe destroyed his creation. He and

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other rabbis within Prague soon came together
seeking a solution to their plight, rooted not in

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justice, but in redemption. Thus they formed a rag
suit from the tattered clothing of those killed by

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the Gollum, a suit that bore their souls and could
offer their strength to a new savior, the Ragman.

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Throughout the centuries, those who wore the suit
of rags protected the Jewish people, absorbing

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the souls of men who would do their people harm,
using that soul's strength until it had paid the

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price for its sins. As the souls of evil doers
waited patiently for their redemption within the

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rags of the current ragman, Rory Reagan, the
impatience of another council of religious men,

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this time in the vaults of the Vatican, resulted in
the yet another abomination, made not from mud,

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but from sacred blood extracted from the shroud of
Turin, the burial cloth of Jesus Christ during

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their studies of the artifact. They used the DNA to
impregnate a young, naive Jewish virgin with a

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Christ clone in an effort to usher in the second
coming. For nine months, the woman named Miriam

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lay chained to a bed beneath the Vatican, until
suddenly, like a thief in the night, the clone tore

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its way into the world, its wrinkled red eyes
shining with an ancient malice too old for any

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newborn. Horrified at the realization of what
they had done, the Vatican scientists attempted

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to kill the clone, but not before Miriam.
Suffering as she was from the violent birth,

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managed to escape with her child, swaddled an
apportion of the very shroud that helped create

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her unholy offspring. From the time Miriam was her
son's age, she was told stories of the Jewish hero,

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the ragman, who protected her people from evil.
She barely made it to him before collapsing, her

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last words begging him to save her baby. Rory
barely heard her as his writhing rags emerged

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reactively, the souls trapped within whispering
confusedly in his head from the nearby presence of

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entities so holy and evil. Upon touching the
shroud, it adhered itself to a suit. Threads of

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holiness pierced the damned fabric like nails
through flesh, and Rory's senses were

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overwhelmed by the power that now coursed through
his body, his typical ragged green cape, now in the

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visage of an angel's white wings. The infant in his
arms shrieked, its shrill cry underlaced with a

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lion's roar that restored Rory to his senses and
the sobering realization that he was now staring

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down the barrels of dozens of armed Vatican
soldiers. Surrounded, he weighed surrender

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against a mother's last wish. With his surging new
power, he could easily survive the Vatican's

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attack, but to what purpose he was unclear.
Looking down into the infant's glowing eyes,

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Ragman foresaw the apocalypse and heard foul
promises from the babe inside his head. Rory,

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praying for the strength to do what had to be done,
cried in pain to the heavens as he absorbed the

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child's soul into his suit, transforming it from
white to gray. As he laid the lifeless baby upon its

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dead mother on the ground, he heard the child
whisper from within him, and Ragman wondered if

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what he had done was mercy or a sin greater than the
golem. Time would tell. Patience is a virtue, they

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say, as is a promise kept, but a patient promise is
prophecy itself, and prophecy is inevitable. I

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prophesize that Nightmare's final tale here is
going to make the Phantom Stranger shit his pants.

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This final lesson in horror takes us to the halls of
Strange Academy, where the young pupil Calvin

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00:32:03,560 --> 00:32:10,240
Morse worries about passing his tests when maybe
he should be worried about passing away. Classes

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00:32:10,240 --> 00:32:18,650
in session for a tale I call the Many-Angled One.
Calvin Morse Calvin Morse opened the door to

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Wong's office. As the instructor for the Mystical
Defense course at Strange Academy, Wong was known

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00:32:24,650 --> 00:32:30,010
for holding one-on-one sessions for students
seeking academic help. In Calvin's case,

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however, the meeting was more of a check-in. You
asked to see me, sir? Calvin asked. Wong closed the

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00:32:36,390 --> 00:32:42,290
book he was reading and set his glasses on his desk.
Calvin Morse, please have a seat. Calvin walked

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over to the wooden chair. Like the rest of the
office, the seat looked ancient. The room's

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00:32:47,890 --> 00:32:53,990
shelves were lined with magical artifacts and
tomes. From class, he recognized the lifeline

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00:32:53,990 --> 00:33:00,850
tablet and the Carnix war horn. Some of the scrolls
looked so old that they were practically dust, and

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00:33:00,850 --> 00:33:08,130
some of the books were bound in iron under lock and
key. Of all the rooms at Strange Academy, Wong's

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office was one of the more intimidating. Wong
pressed his palms together, resting his elbows on

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his desk. Calvin, over the past few weeks, I've
noticed a change in your attentiveness during

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class. You have appeared agitated and unfocused.
Your grades have begun to slip. Wong slid two

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00:33:26,830 --> 00:33:32,530
parchment across his desk for Calvin to see. One
was an exam on the eight principalities on which he

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00:33:32,530 --> 00:33:40,450
earned a B+. The other parchment was an essay on the
Hyborian Age, which was stamped with an F. What is

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00:33:40,450 --> 00:33:48,050
the story here? Wong asked, is everything okay?
Um, I guess. Calvin murmured. He looked up from the

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00:33:48,050 --> 00:33:53,710
parchment to Wong's concerned expression. I
don't really know. Wong stood from his seat and

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00:33:53,710 --> 00:33:59,550
walked around to the front of his desk, leaning on
it. Calvin, I'm concerned not just for your

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00:33:59,550 --> 00:34:05,510
studies, as important as mystical defenses. I'm
concerned for your mental well-being. As you

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00:34:05,510 --> 00:34:10,770
know, it is important for sorcerers to remain
clear and level-headed, lest their minds succumb

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to dark forces. I'm sorry, Mr. Wong, Calvin said.
It's just, I've been seeing, like, bad visions and

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hearing whispers. Wong's eyebrows raised. Bad
visions, whispers. Can you explain? He asked.

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Well, in Dr. Voodoo's class, we were learning
about the orb of Agamotto, and after looking into

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it, I saw... Calvin paused. Wong prompted him.
What did you see, Calvin? A giant eyeball? Calvin

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00:34:45,330 --> 00:34:53,690
said. And tentacles. Wong's concerned
expression turned grim. And what are the voices

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00:34:53,690 --> 00:35:00,570
saying? Calvin hung his head and quietly
whispered. Shumagorath. Wong walked back around

335
00:35:00,570 --> 00:35:06,390
his desk and sat down, his hands gripping the
armrests. I don't know what that means, Calvin

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00:35:06,390 --> 00:35:14,310
said, feeling tears begin to well in his eyes. But I
feel scared. I saw my friends dying. I saw Emily and

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00:35:14,310 --> 00:35:21,290
Irak and Zoe, their heads were gone. Wong took a
deep breath. Shumagorath is one of the elder gods

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known as the Many-Angled Ones, he explained. It
was responsible for the death of the ancient one.

339
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Dr. Strange was once forced to commit ritual
suicide to prevent it from coming through to him

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00:35:31,770 --> 00:35:37,870
into this dimension. You can shape-shift, you can
alter reality, it is the ruler of hundreds of

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00:35:37,870 --> 00:35:46,290
universes and can destroy galaxies. Well, is it
coming here? Calvin asked, wiping his eyes. Wong

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00:35:46,290 --> 00:35:54,510
paused. Of course not, he said. Calvin sighed,
relieved. So, maybe I've just been having

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nightmares. Perhaps, Wong said. But if it makes
you feel better, why don't you grab the talisman of

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Shurair from the classroom? It is on the red wooden
chest. It is said to ward off dark visions. Calvin

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nodded and walked to the mystical defense room.
Resting on the red wooden chest was the book of

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00:36:11,670 --> 00:36:17,170
Cogliostro and the Coral Crab, but there was no
talisman. Calvin scratched his head and walked

347
00:36:17,170 --> 00:36:23,050
out of the classroom, returning to Wong's office.
He opened the door. Mr. Wong, I couldn't find the

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talisman. Calvin stood, frozen. In front of him,
Wong hovered a foot off the ground. A large smile

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spread across his face and his eyes opened wide.
Calvin felt the blood drained from his face.

350
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What's the matter, Calvin? Wong said. As you said,
it's just a nightmare. Wong peeled off his face to

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reveal a big, round eyeball underneath. Calvin
gasped as a tentacle wrapped around his neck and

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00:36:51,510 --> 00:36:58,350
squeezed. His body fell over, limp. His head
rolled across the floor until it came to a stop. On

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his face, a frozen look of opened mouth horror.
Looks like Calvin flunked out in the worst way,

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going straight from the student body to just a dead
body. So Nightmare's prophecy proved incorrect

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because Phantom Stranger did in fact not shit his
pants. Come on, that was scary. It was scary. I'm

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not going to lie. And very mysterious, as is the
Phantom Stranger's final tale titled Manitou.

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Manitou, to the Algonquin people, the word meant
mystery and referred to the mystic life forces and

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spirits of the world. Many of these spirits were
named and revered, and some in the ancient need of

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wisdom were never named, never whispered about,
for they can never be tamed, and their wild hunger

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never satiated. The shaman, Manitou Raven, named
after the spirit of magic and a protector of the

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planet, bound one of these dark wild spirits 3,000
years ago on the land of his people. Upon traveling

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through time from the Obsidian Age to the modern
one, he knew it would be his responsibility to trap

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the spirit once again. But to do so, he would again
need the help of five youths. He sat atop a

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cliffside, waiting for them to enter the valley
below, as the dark clouds foretold. He heard their

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echoing voices as they approached. Looks like
rain's coming. Let's move, guys. Adam told the

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others as they reached the bottom of the valley.
Are we lost? Virginia asked nervously. I swear if

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we are, I will strangle Skyler for leaving our
phones, said Cherry. I told you I needed them for my

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telescope. Skyler snapped back. Yeah, you'll get
a great view of the stars tonight through these

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clouds, muttered Jesse. We're not going to make it
to the campsite before dark, Adam said. We'll have

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to find shelter soon and wait out the rain. Maybe
spend the night. Cherry whispered into his ear,

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and he blushed. Look, there's a cave, Jesse said,
pointing ahead as the rain began pouring. They

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entered the cave soaked, nervously peering into
the blackness. Adam cautiously explored the cave

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with his flashlight, while Skyler and Jesse
argued over how to start a fire. Cherry and

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Virginia huddled together near the entrance,
wondering the loud if maybe the cave belonged to a

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bear or mountain lion. Adam found no sign of an
animal, and were it not for the illumination from

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the fire the others managed to get started, he
wouldn't have seen the black skull amidst the

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rocks. It was human. Guys, let's get out of here.
Adam said as he rushed back to the others. He

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tripped suddenly, a thorny vine wrapped around
his leg. Are you okay? Virginia asked. In the light

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of the fire, they watched as more vines sprouted
beneath Adam, wrapping around him like dark

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tendrils, binding tight against his body and
pulling downward, effortlessly sawing through

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his neck and limbs like razor wire. Screams filled
the cave, lava belched from the fire, landing on

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Cherry. Her jacket and haircut fire as her skin
blackened beneath the blistering bright orange.

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Skyler emptied his canteen on Cherry, dousing the
flames too late. Steam rose and swirled around

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Skyler, plunging into his mouth and nose. He fell
to his knees, black sludge pouring from his mouth,

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tears and eyes as his skin turned gray. A howling,
piercing wind suddenly came rushing from deep

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within the cave. Jesse rushed to shield Virginia
from a blast of butchered air that knocked them

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both to the ground. Jesse, Virginia shrieked,
Jesse's body lay still. She rolled him off of her,

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only to look in horror at his now deformed figure as
if the wind had blown his facial features and limbs

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to places they shouldn't be. A teary eye atop his
patchy-haired head blinked at her. Virginia? He

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struggled to say from the mouth now on his neck.
Virginia screamed and ran out of the cave into

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thick rain and the arms of Manitou Raven. He
embraced her as she looked up at him, pleading for

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help. He didn't respond. His gaze locked within
the cave. Virginia turned in his arms and her

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00:41:18,690 --> 00:41:24,630
horror saw the corpses and body parts of her
friends roll toward each other at the cave's

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opening, merging into one another and forming a
grotesque serpent with Adam's face. Virginia

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tried to flee, but Manitou Raven held her firmly in
his arms. She looked up at him, confused. He looked

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down at her with regret in his ancient eyes.
Forgive me, he whispered as the serpent lashed its

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shadowy tail around her neck, yanking her toward
its gaping maw. It chewed loudly, then sprouted

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bat wings and wore Manitou Raven, whose sacred
tattoos and angry eyes now glowed blue as he

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unsheathed tomahawks blazing with fiery magic.
History repeated itself. Five innocent youths

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were sacrificed to give the dark spirit a physical
form that could be destroyed and trapped for

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00:42:13,150 --> 00:42:19,990
another 3,000 years. As Manitou Raven finished
chanting his binding ritual, he pondered the

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mystery as to what was darker, the Manitou that
hungers or the one that feeds it. I'm gonna say it's

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00:42:28,630 --> 00:42:34,310
the Manitou that feeds it. Manitou Raven is one
cold-hearted son of a bitch in that story. I'm not

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gonna lie, that was a pretty good one. I really like
the moral dilemma that Manitou had in that story.

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And Nightmare does not appreciate how scary that
story was. You're not trying to one-up him, so in

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00:42:45,210 --> 00:42:50,910
order to teach Phantom Stranger a lesson, he's
going to summon a whole team of supernatural and

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00:42:50,910 --> 00:42:55,870
mystic characters from Marvel to basically beat
the shit out of Phantom Stranger. And Phantom

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00:42:55,870 --> 00:43:02,370
Stranger is not frightened by that, because he
will do the same. From the House of Mystery, he's

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00:43:02,370 --> 00:43:08,410
going to summon Madame Zanadu, an immortal
sorceress and seer who commands powerful magic

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00:43:08,410 --> 00:43:14,610
drawn from ancient sources most often channeled
through tarot and ritual. She could foresee

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00:43:14,610 --> 00:43:20,990
destiny summon spirits and manipulate the unseen
threads of fortune. She could also levitate,

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00:43:20,990 --> 00:43:27,110
teleport, heal, and manipulate mystic energies
across time and space. From one of the stories he

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told, he'll also be summoning Manitou Raven, who
was born among an ancient tribe in the time before

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recorded history. He serves as a shaman who
communes with the spirits of Earth and Sky, who

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00:43:38,050 --> 00:43:43,030
joined a circle of ancient champions to defend the
world against the darkness that threatened to

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consume it. When he was transported forward in
time, he carried with him the wisdom and burdens of

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the obsidian age into the modern world. He
commands elemental and spiritual forces, can

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00:43:54,170 --> 00:44:00,990
summon animal spirits, travel the astral plane,
alter his size, and even bend time itself. Also

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00:44:00,990 --> 00:44:07,510
being summoned is Lori Zecklin, aka Black Alice,
who grew up in a fractured home. Her mother's death

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00:44:07,510 --> 00:44:12,910
and her father's decline pushed her toward
isolation and despair. In her grief, she turned to

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00:44:12,910 --> 00:44:18,370
the occult, discovering a dark connection
between her emotions and the arcane forces

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00:44:18,370 --> 00:44:24,590
surrounding her. In her pursuit of meaning, she
was drawn to the world of magic, allowing her to

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00:44:24,590 --> 00:44:30,970
siphon and wield the magical powers of others,
drawing their arcane essence and memories as her

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own. Nightshade emerges next, who as I mentioned
earlier is Eve Eden, born to the Queen of the Shadow

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Realm known as the Land of Nightshades. As a child,
she witnessed her mother be abducted by the

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00:44:43,550 --> 00:44:50,270
demonic Incubus, who sought dominion over both
her realm and Earth. Eve vowed to master the

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00:44:50,270 --> 00:44:56,010
mysteries of darkness to one day return to her
mother's world and free it from corruption. She

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00:44:56,010 --> 00:45:01,450
can open portals through darkness, conjure
creatures of shadow, phase through matter, and

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00:45:01,450 --> 00:45:07,150
vanish into her two-dimensional form. Ragman
will also be joining the fray. You just heard a

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00:45:07,150 --> 00:45:13,670
story about him. He is Rory Reagan and was raised in
the slums by his father, a junk dealer, who was

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00:45:13,670 --> 00:45:18,910
killed along with his friends by criminals,
allowing Rory to discover the mystic legacy they

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00:45:18,910 --> 00:45:25,230
had protected, a garment woven from the souls of
the guilty. Bering its burden, he became the

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00:45:25,230 --> 00:45:31,730
latest in a long line of reluctant saviors who
atone for other sins through their own suffering.

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His mystical suit of souls grants him the
strength, speed, and skill of the wicked spirits

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00:45:36,750 --> 00:45:42,950
it absorbs. Each soul becomes a living thread
within the rags, which can guide and teleport him

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00:45:42,950 --> 00:45:50,210
toward evil actions. Finally, Phantom Stranger
summons Blue Devil, aka Daniel Cassidy, who is a

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00:45:50,210 --> 00:45:55,550
Hollywood stuntman whose ambition led him to
dabble in supernatural forces beyond his

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00:45:55,550 --> 00:46:00,890
understanding. When a demonic encounter bound
him permanently to the monstrous suit he had

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00:46:00,890 --> 00:46:06,270
created for entertainment, his life of illusion
became one of grim reality. Struggling to

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00:46:06,270 --> 00:46:12,730
reconcile fame and faith, he sought redemption by
turning his curse into a calling. He possesses

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00:46:12,730 --> 00:46:18,910
immense strength, durability, and resistance to
sorcery. His enchanted trident, known as the

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Trident of Lucifer, can channel hellfire and
banish demons. So to reiterate, Phantom

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Stranger's team consists of Madame Zanadu,
Manitou Raven, Black Alice, Nightshade, Ragnan,

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00:46:31,490 --> 00:46:37,170
and Blue Devil. I'd like to see who Nightmare
summons to go against that team. Well, coming out

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00:46:37,170 --> 00:46:42,850
of the crypt of shadows, first is Jennifer Kale,
Ghostwriter's cousin who hails from a long line of

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00:46:42,850 --> 00:46:48,370
mystics in Florida's Kale family who are
descendants of Atlantis' ancient cult of

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00:46:48,370 --> 00:46:53,230
Jeredna. Her latent magical abilities emerged
while studying ancient tomes beneath their

448
00:46:53,230 --> 00:46:58,410
family cemetery, honing her skills in
witchcraft. Guided by the man thing, and later

449
00:46:58,410 --> 00:47:04,450
trained by Dr. Strange, she became one of Earth's
prominent sorceresses. As a battle mage, she can

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00:47:04,450 --> 00:47:10,050
don witch armor, manipulate magic energy,
mesmerize minds, cast teleportation portals,

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00:47:10,050 --> 00:47:16,090
along with a myriad of other spells. Also emerging
from the crypt is Wong, a descendant of a family

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00:47:16,090 --> 00:47:21,130
sworn for generations to serve the ancient one.
Wong was trained from youth in martial arts

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00:47:21,130 --> 00:47:26,930
disciplines, and when he was sent to Car Martage,
she became the personal attendant and ally of Dr.

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00:47:26,930 --> 00:47:32,530
Strange. Though bound by duty, Wong's wisdom and
combat skill made him a protector of Earth against

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00:47:32,530 --> 00:47:38,310
supernatural threats. In addition to being a
master martial artist, Wong is a skilled sorcerer

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00:47:38,310 --> 00:47:43,810
able to manipulate magic energy for portals,
shields, and various other effects. Klai is the

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00:47:43,810 --> 00:47:49,750
next one out of the crypt. She is the daughter of
Umar and the niece of Dormammu, born in the Dark

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00:47:49,750 --> 00:47:55,790
Dimension. She first encountered Dr. Strange
while he battled Dormammu and aided him against

459
00:47:55,790 --> 00:48:01,030
her tyrannical uncle. After years of tutelage
under Dr. Strange, Klai grew into a powerful

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00:48:01,030 --> 00:48:06,650
sorceress and ultimately became the sorceress
supreme of the Dark Dimension. Due to her half

461
00:48:06,650 --> 00:48:11,870
mortal, half faulting heritage, she has enhanced
physiology including durability and magical

462
00:48:11,870 --> 00:48:18,190
resistance. She calls on more elder magics for
powerful spells including energy manipulation,

463
00:48:18,190 --> 00:48:23,830
elemental control, teleportation, psychic
manipulation, telekinesis, scrying,

464
00:48:23,830 --> 00:48:31,230
necromancy, transmutation, and more. Next out of
the crypt is Pixie. Megan Gwyn grew up in Wales as

465
00:48:31,230 --> 00:48:37,150
the daughter of Mastermind and a descendant of
Fairy Lineage. She joined the Xavier Institute

466
00:48:37,150 --> 00:48:44,270
where during an adventure in Limbo, the new magic
tainted a portion of Megan's innocent soul to

467
00:48:44,270 --> 00:48:51,670
manifest a soul dagger, similar to magic's own
soul sword. Pixie can fly with her insect wings and

468
00:48:51,670 --> 00:48:57,830
can produce hallucinogenic dust. She can also
cast spells for teleportation, sleep, and she can

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00:48:57,830 --> 00:49:04,470
summon her soul dagger at will, which can harm
magic entities and stun non-magic entities.

470
00:49:04,470 --> 00:49:10,830
Second to last out of the crypt is the Scarlet
Scarab whose real name is Leila L. Fowley. She was

471
00:49:10,830 --> 00:49:16,690
an Egyptian mercenary who once worked with Mark
Spector before he became Moon Knight. Killed

472
00:49:16,690 --> 00:49:22,310
during a mission, her soul entered the Duot, which
is the Egyptian realm of death, where the goddess

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00:49:22,310 --> 00:49:27,950
Tawadet transformed her into the realm's
guardian, the Scarlet Scarab. Revived to the

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00:49:27,950 --> 00:49:33,450
mortal world by Osiris, she now serves as a
protector of both the living and the dead. She can

475
00:49:33,450 --> 00:49:40,150
fly at high speeds with her wings and summon swords
and chakram discs. Her ruby scarab grants her

476
00:49:40,150 --> 00:49:46,430
enhanced strength and durability, the ability to
fire concussive mystical energy, and can drain

477
00:49:46,430 --> 00:49:52,910
the power of anyone who touches the scarab.
Finally out of the portal is Ghost Rider, aka

478
00:49:52,910 --> 00:49:59,290
Robbie Reyes, who was a teen mechanic that was
murdered by a gang members while he was racing in

479
00:49:59,290 --> 00:50:05,910
his possessed Dodge Charger. Resurrected by the
spirit of his Satanic uncle, Eli Morrow, Robbie

480
00:50:05,910 --> 00:50:11,690
became the Ghost Rider, a fiery Avenger bound to
hellish power. Torn between protecting his

481
00:50:11,690 --> 00:50:17,310
brother, Gabe, and resisting Eli's bloodlust,
Robbie tries to punish the guilty across Los

482
00:50:17,310 --> 00:50:23,530
Angeles. As Ghost Rider, he possesses enhanced
strength and full regenerability, pyrokinesis,

483
00:50:23,530 --> 00:50:28,950
mystic chain manipulation, and he wields the Pen
and Stare, which can inflict an opponent's the

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00:50:28,950 --> 00:50:34,090
pain and suffering they have caused in others. He
can also summon and remotely control his

485
00:50:34,090 --> 00:50:40,610
possessed Dodge Charger, which contains a portal
to hell in its trunk. So that's Nightmare's team.

486
00:50:40,610 --> 00:50:54,730
Again, it's Jennifer Kale, Wong, Klaia, Pixie,
Scarlet Scarab, and Ghost Rider. In a world where

487
00:50:54,730 --> 00:51:00,730
fantasies collide and heroes clash, one podcast
network rises above the rest. Prepare yourself

488
00:51:00,730 --> 00:51:06,970
for the ultimate showdowns in comic books, video
games, movies, and anime. The Dynamite Podcast

489
00:51:06,970 --> 00:51:13,670
Network presents Console Combat, where video
game legends brawl every Monday. Dynamic Duel,

490
00:51:13,670 --> 00:51:19,650
where comic book titans smash every Tuesday. Max
Destruction, where TV and action heroes battle

491
00:51:19,650 --> 00:51:26,430
every Wednesday. And Cendro World, where anime
champions clash every Thursday. Join us as we

492
00:51:26,430 --> 00:51:31,610
speculate on the matches and armed with the power
of mathematical simulations, discover who will

493
00:51:31,610 --> 00:51:41,610
emerge victorious. Visit dynamicpodcast.com
where we settle the debate and settle the score.

494
00:51:41,610 --> 00:51:46,590
But now that we've got their rosters out of the way,
let's speculate on how one of the thousands of

495
00:51:46,590 --> 00:51:52,090
simulated matches will go. The winner is
determined by simulations, not the speculation,

496
00:51:52,090 --> 00:51:58,830
but it's fun to imagine how a fight could play out.
Ajin Enkei, what are the rules of our speculation?

497
00:51:58,830 --> 00:52:03,510
Well, I should say there are no rules, other than
the teams have no prior knowledge of the other

498
00:52:03,510 --> 00:52:08,610
going into the fight. All they are aware of
starting out is that the other side is a threat that

499
00:52:08,610 --> 00:52:14,090
needs to be eliminated. For the speculation, the
groups will begin approximately 50 meters apart

500
00:52:14,090 --> 00:52:19,050
in a nondescript environment that will have no
bearing on the match itself, as no environmental

501
00:52:19,050 --> 00:52:24,810
statistics are considered in my simulations. The
teams must earn victory on their own merit. All

502
00:52:24,810 --> 00:52:29,710
right, with both of our horror narrators teams
assembled, they're going to chronicle how this

503
00:52:29,710 --> 00:52:37,650
terrifying battle will play out. The mystery is,
who goes first? Nightmare says that Ghost Rider is

504
00:52:37,650 --> 00:52:43,870
going to go first, and he starts by summoning his
Hell Charger, which comes out of the ground, and he

505
00:52:43,870 --> 00:52:49,230
controls it remotely to crash into the Phantom
Strangers group, just running them all over.

506
00:52:49,230 --> 00:52:54,710
Except Blue Devil's Trident helps him sense
demons, which he could banish to hell. So once he

507
00:52:54,710 --> 00:52:59,290
recognizes that the car is possessed, that's
exactly what he's going to do. He's going to slam

508
00:52:59,290 --> 00:53:05,210
his Trident into the ground, open up this fissure
that's spewing Hellfire, and the car's going to

509
00:53:05,210 --> 00:53:10,010
fall straight into it, and that fissure is just
going to seal back up. Okay then, I guess that move

510
00:53:10,010 --> 00:53:17,850
didn't work. Pixie, she's going to fly into the air
and release her hallucinogenic Pixie Dust. So

511
00:53:17,850 --> 00:53:22,110
Phantom Strangers group just starts tripping
balls, start freaking out, and that's going to

512
00:53:22,110 --> 00:53:28,850
cause Manitou Raven to set Ragnan on fire, because
he like sees him as like birthday candles that he

513
00:53:28,850 --> 00:53:35,150
needs to light or something. Birthday candles for
a 3000 year old shaman? All right, it's a choice.

514
00:53:35,150 --> 00:53:41,310
Yeah. Well as Ragnan is stopped dropping and
rolling, Black Alice, who has done some trippy

515
00:53:41,310 --> 00:53:48,790
magic drugs before, is less affected, and she's
going to steal Cleia's magic from her. So Cleia's

516
00:53:48,790 --> 00:53:56,510
powerless now, and Black Alice is going to summon a
magic wind that blows all of Pixie's dust off of her

517
00:53:56,510 --> 00:54:02,710
team, and also it's going to put out Ragnan's fire.
Okay, I have to warn you, this is going to sound like

518
00:54:02,710 --> 00:54:07,890
bullshit, but I swear that this was a thing from the
comic books. Cleia has been depowered or like had

519
00:54:07,890 --> 00:54:14,890
her magic negated before, but the thing is,
because she's half mortal, half faulteen, she's

520
00:54:14,890 --> 00:54:19,910
special in that she pulls from different realms of
magic, such as like Earth's magical field, or like

521
00:54:19,910 --> 00:54:26,410
the Dark Dimension, or the very ancient Faltine
magic. So Black Alice may be able to drain Cleia's

522
00:54:26,410 --> 00:54:33,010
power, like say her Earth magic or whatever, but
Cleia then calls upon her Faltine magic, and then

523
00:54:33,010 --> 00:54:38,710
she casts a spell called the Talons of Tarkus, and
that's going to manifest this magic hawk that

524
00:54:38,710 --> 00:54:45,190
grabs Black Alice and just pulls her into another
dimension, this magic-less dimension. So Black

525
00:54:45,190 --> 00:54:56,650
Alice is out of the match, Cleia still has her
magic, she's kind of I'm gonna say that Madame

526
00:54:56,650 --> 00:55:04,610
Zenadu foresaw that Cleia was going to do that to
Black Alice, so she cast a counterspell so that

527
00:55:04,610 --> 00:55:12,870
whoever used magic against Black Alice would also
forget all magic forever. So Cleia is powerless

528
00:55:12,870 --> 00:55:21,650
when Manitou Raven summons a massive swarm of
Ravens, a fuck ton that are gonna blacken the sky

529
00:55:21,650 --> 00:55:28,490
and devour Nightmare's team. I guess you did find a
way to depour Cleia, okay she gets devoured by the

530
00:55:28,490 --> 00:55:35,430
Ravens, but Jennifer Kale and Wong throw up magic
shields that protect the rest of the team, and the

531
00:55:35,430 --> 00:55:41,430
Ravens just crash into the shields like birds into
a window. And then Scarlet Scarab, she hurls a

532
00:55:41,430 --> 00:55:47,030
chakra disk that she manifests, and the blade just
slices right through Manitou Raven's neck,

533
00:55:47,030 --> 00:55:53,610
decapitating him, and causes the Ravens to
vanish. Okay, well suddenly Ragman teleports

534
00:55:53,610 --> 00:56:00,350
behind Scarlet Scarab due to his danger-sensing
rags, and his cloak is gonna wrap around her,

535
00:56:00,350 --> 00:56:05,390
stealing her soul for the murder she just
committed, and her body's gonna fall to the floor

536
00:56:05,390 --> 00:56:11,770
lifeless. Okay, Ghostrider is gonna hold his
chains over to Ragman then pulls him over to him and

537
00:56:11,770 --> 00:56:18,050
then does the pen and stare, which causes Ragman to
feel all the pain that all those souls in his cloak

538
00:56:18,050 --> 00:56:24,730
have inflicted on innocent victims. Oh no. So like
Ragman is fucking dead dead, like he was just

539
00:56:24,730 --> 00:56:30,890
killed like a thousand times over from this
incalculable level of pain, like no one has ever

540
00:56:30,890 --> 00:56:37,370
died just as much as Ragman just died. Dude stop,
he's already dead! But you know who else is gone?

541
00:56:37,370 --> 00:56:43,630
Pixie, because she's gonna get slammed out of the
air by this 10 story tall shadow figure created by

542
00:56:43,630 --> 00:56:49,610
Nightshade, straight into the ground. Well that
probably would take her out of the match, but Wong

543
00:56:49,610 --> 00:56:57,270
meanwhile, he conjures a magical bow staff, and he
uses it to vault into a flying kick at Madame Zanadu

544
00:56:57,270 --> 00:57:03,030
and kicks her Deku Tarot cards right out of her
hands, and she's like, ah shit! And then Wong

545
00:57:03,030 --> 00:57:09,450
roundhouse kicks her in the face, followed up by a
leaping scissor kick to the face, like WAP WAP! And

546
00:57:09,450 --> 00:57:15,070
then he wax her in the head with his magic bow staff,
and then he summons a portal beneath her where she

547
00:57:15,070 --> 00:57:21,670
falls through it into an icy mountain crevasse,
like up in the Himalayas, and she dies. I feel like

548
00:57:21,670 --> 00:57:26,890
she would have seen all of this coming. First of
all, it takes way too much time to read those cards.

549
00:57:26,890 --> 00:57:31,150
Second of all, even if she did see it coming, she
would have been way too mesmerized by the beating

550
00:57:31,150 --> 00:57:36,250
that she just took. What? Why would you be
mesmerized by a beating? Because it was like

551
00:57:36,250 --> 00:57:43,370
martial arts mastery awesomeness. That's so
dumb. Alright well, Blue Devil saw this, so he and

552
00:57:43,370 --> 00:57:50,590
Wong go toe to toe with their staff weapons, and
while Wong may be a better fighter, Blue Devil is

553
00:57:50,590 --> 00:57:56,770
super durable and strong like Hellboy, so all it
takes is one punch for Wong to go night night. And

554
00:57:56,770 --> 00:58:03,090
even if Wong tries some kind of like sorcery in his
attacks, Blue Devil is magic resistant, so Wong's

555
00:58:03,090 --> 00:58:08,370
out. He's magical resistant. You know, Jennifer
Kale's gonna test that resistance with a

556
00:58:08,370 --> 00:58:15,630
mesmerizing spell. She's gonna capture Blue
Devil's gaze and convince him to, as a demon

557
00:58:15,630 --> 00:58:21,290
himself, banish himself to Hell. So now Blue
Devil's out. Except that Blue Devil can't be

558
00:58:21,290 --> 00:58:25,810
mesmerized by what he can't see, because
Nightshade, just envelops the entire

559
00:58:25,810 --> 00:58:32,210
environment in darkness, and that's gonna negate
Jennifer Kale's spell. So both Jennifer and Ghost

560
00:58:32,210 --> 00:58:39,430
Rider are going to be torn to shreds in the dark by
dozens of homunculi shadow creatures she

561
00:58:39,430 --> 00:58:46,550
created. No, because Jennifer Kale would cast a
Lumo spell, where like her fist shines like a

562
00:58:46,550 --> 00:58:52,450
beacon, and it's so bright that it tears and burns
through the darkness around them, including

563
00:58:52,450 --> 00:58:58,710
tearing and burning through Nightshade herself
into nothing. Lumos? Isn't that a Harry Potter

564
00:58:58,710 --> 00:59:06,570
spell? I said luminos. Luminos. Whatever. She
could do it. Regardless. Okay, well, I mean, it's a

565
00:59:06,570 --> 00:59:11,730
good thing that Blue Devil is burnproof then, and
thanks to his heightened senses, he was able to

566
00:59:11,730 --> 00:59:17,010
maneuver behind Jennifer in the dark, so she
doesn't see it coming when he pierces her through a

567
00:59:17,010 --> 00:59:22,590
gap in her witch armor, and pailing her on the
trident of Lucifer. She doesn't have any gaps in

568
00:59:22,590 --> 00:59:30,210
her witch armor? Dude, I've seen scans of what she
looks like. She has so many gaps. Well, Ghost Rider

569
00:59:30,210 --> 00:59:37,750
does not appreciate Blue Devil messing with his
fellow spirit of vengeance's mother's brother's

570
00:59:37,750 --> 00:59:44,430
daughter. Okay, so he's just gonna flame breath
him with this like giant blast of Hellfire so

571
00:59:44,430 --> 00:59:50,730
powerful, it actually melts Blue Devil and burns
his soul. I literally just said the guy was

572
00:59:50,730 --> 00:59:58,050
burnproof. Blue Devil deals with Hellfire all the
time, but I doubt Ghost Rider deals with Hellfire

573
00:59:58,050 --> 01:00:04,330
straight from Lucifer's trident. That's like the
hottest of the hot. Motherfucker, DC's Hellfire

574
01:00:04,330 --> 01:00:10,510
is like a lukewarm bath. It's not doing shit, okay?
Marvel's Hellfire is way hotter, plus Ghost Rider

575
01:00:10,510 --> 01:00:16,330
grabs Blue Devil by his horns and just tosses him in
the trunk of his car, which he resummoned from

576
01:00:16,330 --> 01:00:24,950
Hell, and inside Robbie Race's trunk is a portal to
Hell, so Blue Devil gets banished and Ghost Rider

577
01:00:24,950 --> 01:00:31,350
wins. No, I already said the car was banished to the
deepest pit of Hell, so no, it's not coming back. If

578
01:00:31,350 --> 01:00:37,890
anything, Blue Devil banishes Ghost Rider. It's
what he does. It's what Ghost Rider does. Yeah, but

579
01:00:37,890 --> 01:00:43,370
Blue Devil just doesn't better. According to who?
Phantom Stranger, duh. Well, I say that Ghost

580
01:00:43,370 --> 01:00:49,190
Rider not only banishes Blue Devil to Hell,
Nightmare banishes Phantom Stranger to the crypt

581
01:00:49,190 --> 01:00:54,370
of shadows for all of eternity for being a dumbass.
That's fine, Phantom Stranger would probably

582
01:00:54,370 --> 01:00:59,950
love it there. He loves that mysterious shit. I
doubt Nightmare is going to love it in the House of

583
01:00:59,950 --> 01:01:05,650
Mystery, where Phantom Stranger traps him for
eternity because the Nightmare is there would be

584
01:01:05,650 --> 01:01:11,670
out of his control. Why? Again, because the
Phantom Stranger says so. Well, let's find out who

585
01:01:11,670 --> 01:01:16,330
gets trapped where. Let's go ahead and run the
simulations on this cast of characters after we

586
01:01:16,330 --> 01:01:22,890
input their stats. We'll be right back, folks,
with a winner. A.J .9K, hit it! Inputting data,

587
01:01:22,890 --> 01:01:29,270
running calculations, processing results,
simulations complete. Okay, Nightmare and

588
01:01:29,270 --> 01:01:33,810
Phantom Stranger both summoned this team of
warriors to fight against each other, but we also

589
01:01:33,810 --> 01:01:40,370
incorporated their stats as well into this team
duel. Right, so we had seven characters each. And I

590
01:01:40,370 --> 01:01:44,950
have to say, it's kind of a good thing that Phantom
Stranger and Nightmare did not include

591
01:01:44,950 --> 01:01:49,490
themselves in their speculation because they are
hella powerful. Yeah, they're basically

592
01:01:49,490 --> 01:01:55,970
omnipotent, basically omniscient. They won a
majority of their battles. Nightmare won 90.6% of

593
01:01:55,970 --> 01:02:02,950
all his matches and Phantom Stranger won 91.8%. So
we had these very lopsided characters stat-wise

594
01:02:02,950 --> 01:02:07,970
compared to the rest of the supernatural and
mystic characters on the teams. Another heavy

595
01:02:07,970 --> 01:02:13,990
hitter was Clea. She won about 70% of all of her
matches. Yeah, besides Nightmare, she was your

596
01:02:13,990 --> 01:02:19,150
most powerful character. My most powerful
character outside of Phantom Stranger was

597
01:02:19,150 --> 01:02:24,710
surprisingly Nightshade. She is super powerful.
My weakest character on my team was Pixie. I don't

598
01:02:24,710 --> 01:02:31,270
think that's any surprise. She only won 14.5% of
her matches. Surprisingly, my weakest character

599
01:02:31,270 --> 01:02:38,970
was Black Alice, but I think it has to do with the way
we had to determine her stats. Because her power is

600
01:02:38,970 --> 01:02:46,130
so variable in the fact that she steals power from
others, we had to average all of the Marvel

601
01:02:46,130 --> 01:02:52,670
character stats to determine hers. And with that,
she still emerged as my weakest character,

602
01:02:52,670 --> 01:02:58,710
although Ragman was not too far behind that.
Looking at the team battles overall, it looks like

603
01:02:58,710 --> 01:03:03,950
the DC team's biggest advantage was in strength.
Your characters were more strong, whether it was

604
01:03:03,950 --> 01:03:08,430
through physical strength or telekinetic
strength. Characters like Pixie, Wong, and

605
01:03:08,430 --> 01:03:13,690
Jennifer Kale really brought me down there. But
Marvel kicked the shit out of DC when it came to the

606
01:03:13,690 --> 01:03:19,870
category of versatility. Like, all of my guys are
highly versatile, whereas Phantom Stranger's

607
01:03:19,870 --> 01:03:25,390
team had a few less versatile characters like
Ragman and Blue Devil. Considering all that,

608
01:03:25,390 --> 01:03:29,930
Jonathan, do you have a guess as to who's going to
win this? There's no way I could ever vote against

609
01:03:29,930 --> 01:03:36,730
these badass DC characters, many of whom I'm kind
of sad did not get their own individual duels like

610
01:03:36,730 --> 01:03:43,910
Ragman, like Blue Devil, like Manitou Raven. So
yeah, I gotta go with DC's House of Mystery team.

611
01:03:43,910 --> 01:03:52,390
And Instagram agrees with me, 79% of them also
voted for the House of Mystery. 79%? What the hell

612
01:03:52,390 --> 01:03:58,390
is wrong with our Instagram followers? No one
knows what the Crypt of Shadows even is. Like,

613
01:03:58,390 --> 01:04:04,470
House of Mystery had its own movie. Well, it was
like a part of a collection of animated DC shorts,

614
01:04:04,470 --> 01:04:10,650
though. That's on par for what the House of Mystery
is, a series of short stories. Yeah, we'll

615
01:04:10,650 --> 01:04:15,270
probably chalk it up to that, I think. Really,
people didn't know who they were voting for,

616
01:04:15,270 --> 01:04:21,010
because we kept the roster of this team duel a
surprise within that Instagram poll. I'd like to

617
01:04:21,010 --> 01:04:25,030
think that if they knew who was on the Marvel team,
they would have voted for Marvel. Really, you

618
01:04:25,030 --> 01:04:30,650
think they would have voted for Pixie? Yeah. Let's
find out if they're right, though. AJ9K, the

619
01:04:30,650 --> 01:04:37,170
results, please. Hey, you are, sir. All right, the
winner between the Phantom Stranger's House of

620
01:04:37,170 --> 01:04:46,590
Mystery and Nightmare's Crypt of Shadows is the
House of Mystery. Yes! It was pretty close. Out of

621
01:04:46,590 --> 01:04:52,970
the thousands of simulated matches, the House of
Mystery won 52.3% of the time compared to the Crypt

622
01:04:52,970 --> 01:04:59,590
of Shadow team's 47.7%. In the end, you know who was
the tipping point? Which character? No, which

623
01:04:59,590 --> 01:05:06,490
one? It was actually Black Alice, whose variable
power set actually ended up averaging into a win

624
01:05:06,490 --> 01:05:11,810
for you guys. Despite the fact that she was your
weakest character. Oh, dude, I did not see that

625
01:05:11,810 --> 01:05:17,190
coming. I thought she was going to bring me down for
sure. But, you know, it makes sense. Like, all she

626
01:05:17,190 --> 01:05:23,810
has to do is steal Nightmare's power and your whole
team is done for. I don't think you can actually

627
01:05:23,810 --> 01:05:28,810
drain Nightmare's powers, or if you did, I feel
like you would just remanifest with his power in

628
01:05:28,810 --> 01:05:33,750
the Nightmare dimension. Not if he's powerless.
Like, she's absorbed the power of the Spectre

629
01:05:33,750 --> 01:05:42,270
before. It doesn't care if Phantom Stranger's
team won. Nightmare still told the more scary

630
01:05:42,270 --> 01:05:52,690
stories. You think so, huh? I say we let the people
decide. That brings us to our question of the week.

631
01:05:52,690 --> 01:05:59,570
Which scary story this episode was your favorite?
And why? Record your answer at dynamicduld.com by

632
01:05:59,570 --> 01:06:03,270
clicking on the red microphone button in the
bottom right hand corner of the screen, which will

633
01:06:03,270 --> 01:06:07,670
prompt you to leave us a voicemail. Your message
could be up to 30 seconds long, and don't forget to

634
01:06:07,670 --> 01:06:11,990
leave your name in case we include you on the
podcast. We'll pick our favorite answer and award

635
01:06:11,990 --> 01:06:16,990
that person a Dynamic Dual No Prize that we'll post
to Instagram. Be sure to answer before November

636
01:06:16,990 --> 01:06:21,510
1st. I think the results of that question of the
week will determine the real winner of this

637
01:06:21,510 --> 01:06:28,470
particular team duel. No, you can't get out of your
loss. You own that. But that does it for this duel.

638
01:06:28,470 --> 01:06:35,550
AJ9K helped close us out. Thanks for listening to
Dynamic Dual. Visit the show's website at

639
01:06:35,550 --> 01:06:41,290
dynamicduld.com and follow us on Instagram at
Dynamic Dual Podcast. You can support the show on

640
01:06:41,290 --> 01:06:47,050
Patreon at patreon.com slash dynamicduld and
joining a tier that works for you, or by rating and

641
01:06:47,050 --> 01:06:52,770
reviewing Dynamic Dual on Apple Podcasts,
Spotify, Podchaser, or on our website. Don't

642
01:06:52,770 --> 01:06:57,210
forget to listen to the other shows in the Dynamite
Podcast Network, including Max Destruction,

643
01:06:57,210 --> 01:07:04,970
Senjo World, and Console Combat. In our next
episode, we will be reviewing Season 2 of

644
01:07:04,970 --> 01:07:12,110
Peacemaker, a review that we delayed in order to
make room for October's spooky duels. But that

645
01:07:12,110 --> 01:07:16,230
does it for this episode. We want to give a big
thanks to our executive producers, John

646
01:07:16,230 --> 01:07:21,170
Starosky, Zachary Hepburn, Destin Belcom, Miggi
Mothagean, Nathaniel Wagoner, Levi Yatten,

647
01:07:21,170 --> 01:07:26,450
Austin Wieselowski, AJ Dunkerley, Nick Ibonto,
Scott Camacho, Gil Camacho, Adam Spees, Dean

648
01:07:26,450 --> 01:07:31,730
Molesky, Devin Davis, Joseph Kirsting, Mike
Williams, and Paul Graves for helping make this

649
01:07:31,730 --> 01:07:38,190
podcast possible. We'll talk to you guys next
week. Up, up, and away, true believers. I soiled my

650
01:07:38,190 --> 01:07:38,830
armor. I was so scared.