A young woman named Marci travels America with a group of hippy friends, hoping to find truth. The hippy group take her to meet their guru, Seth, who they promise will help her. As they leave, the Phantom Stranger warns the audience that while not all who wander are lost, many are... and some get lost for good.
Marci and her friends then arrive at Seth's place, an ominous mansion formerly owned by a famous actor. Marci waits outside for a bit and meets the Phantom Stranger, who in his usual cryptic manner warns her away from Seth. Marci is already on edge and tells him to go away, which he does when she's not looking. Marci then enters the mansion and parties with the other hippies.
Seth then shows up, fashionably late. He's attractive, charismatic, and sympathetic to Marci. He also wears his shirt completely unbuttoned, showing off his ouroboros pendant and nice abs. He charms her immediately, but while she's happily dancing the night away, he shows his true, sinister colors by draining the life out of his hippy followers using the magic of his amulet. He's about to do the same thing to Marci when the Phantom Stranger intervenes, using his own magic to pull Marci away from Seth.
Seth and the Stranger then have a swordfight. The Phantom Stranger holds the advantage and eventually has Seth at his mercy... only to be interrupted by Marci hitting him on the head with a vase, which distracts him enough for Seth to bind him. Seth is excited at having captured the Stranger, since his unusually strong life force will keep Seth young for centuries. He tries to convince Marci that the Phantom Stranger represents "The Man", but Marci realizes that the Stranger really was trying to help her when she notices the corpses of her friends. She then pretends to go along to get close enough to snatch his amulet and destroy it, causing No Ontological Inertia to kick in.
Marci then goes to free the Phantom Stranger. He had already managed that himself, but the thought was nice. He then congratulates her on a job well done, and asks her what she's planning on doing from then on. She responds that she'll continue her travels... hopefully somewhere with fewer warlock cults.
