Between the Worlds (I Run)

Untitled Part 1

            In the end it all starts pretty much the same as it always does.

A young girl, burdened by the trauma of her past and harboring a gift she doesn't know how to use yet.

A teacher, guide, and protector intent on helping until a moment of desperation.

A monster, hellbent on taking from the girl what they believe is rightfully theirs.

In the end, it's everything you already know.

Until it isn't.

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America screamed, reaching out desperately as she fell from one platform to another. Steven landed beside her in a moment, urging her forward.

In front of them they could see the book of Ishanti. It was surrounded by a pale blue light, the goodness written within shone so bright you could actually see it.

The doctor gripped her arm and yanked her back up to her feet. America tried not to yelp as she was dragged along, a bruise would be there later, she knew. A tentacle swiped dangerously close to her head, and she gasped, her heartbeat thudding in her ears. He tightened his grip and continued to drag her, trying to move faster with each long stride.

It was strange, she hadn't thought it possible but the closer they got to reaching the book, the more afraid America became. It was as if this tentacled creature understood it wouldn't be able to catch her once they reached the powerful book and that made it more and more violent, more and more unpredictable, more and more frantic.

He almost threw her as he leapt to the next platform, the book almost within reach. She landed hard and her breath was knocked out of her lungs from the impact of it. America scrambled to try and regain her footing as she rocked backwards in terror at the monster's sudden appearance in between them and their destination, her saving grace.

The fear that had been like rocks in her stomach felt even more heavy as she felt like ice flooded her veins. Strange had never looked at her like this, and there was only one thing it could mean. He had given up on her too. "Please!" she begged, her tongue feeling heavy in her mouth, knowing in the back of her mind that it would do no good. "Please Doctor Strange, please!"

"Sorry America." he looked solemn and not at all sorry to the teenager's eyes, "It's either you, or the multiverse. You understand, don't you? Your sacrifice is for the greater good." Pain engulfed her as his magic tore at her very being and she couldn't stop the screams that were ripped from her throat, guttural and horrific sounds that, if she could even think straight through the pain, she never would have thought she was capable of making.

Just as quickly as the pain attacked her, it stopped, and she crashed back down. Her eyes were wide as she gulped for air and once more was scrambling backwards to get away. Her face was wet and looking in front of her she knew it wasn't only her own tears that trickled their way down her skin. Hanging in front of her with something sharp and jagged sticking out of his stomach was Doctor Strange. The strange alien monster held him along with a triumphant look in its singular veiny eye.

It reached for her. She screamed and they were all engulfed in that beautiful blue and white lighting she had spent so long trying to understand and find a way to control. In an instant she was free falling through the air, screaming and flailing as though she could reach out and grab something to save her from her body splattering on the pavement quickly approaching, something that would save her from the slimy tentacles inches behind her.

A flash of red engulfed her, saving her from the terrible demise. Gasping she gripped her savior and stared wide eyed as she saw it was just a bright cloak and nothing else that came to her rescue. She gripped it tightly, as though her entire life depended on it. The feeling was plush and velvety in her hands. It tugged gently and pried itself from her grasp before plunging itself down off the ledge and landing around a mans shoulders.

Her body felt like it had been doused with ice water and she was frozen to her precarious little ledge. The man the cape had gone to was none other than Doctor Strange, though he looked different than the one that had sworn to help her, sworn to defend her only to go back on his word when it became too much to handle for him. Something about this Doctor Strange seemed... better than the last, but even as he got her to the ground safely, his friend firmly defeated the disgusting monster that had tried so desperately to kill her, she couldn't afford to take any chances with a Doctor Strange again, even if he was a different Doctor Strange. Everyone was the same at their core, right? It sure seemed like it to the girl who had found herself falling through universe after universe. The basics were the same, and most people seemed the same, but she wasn't so sure she wanted to stick around this particular person to find out the validity of her current assumptions.

One pilfered sling ring in her pocket, the other on her fingers, she focused on what she was taught and slipped away through the portal, her heartbeat thudding in her ears as she heard the shouts of "Hey!" behind her. She let out of breath she didn't realize she'd been holding when it closed just in time, just shy of the duo reaching through for her.

Alright America, she told herself, first things first. A, find food, preferably some variant of pizza. B, find out where you are. C, figure out a way to keep the psycho who was trying to kill her off her tail. And D, finally figured out how her weird powers worked. Determined, the teen turned and started down the sidewalk. She had a good feeling about this world. A very good feeling.