𝐈𝐍𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐓𝐄, doctor strange.

Desolation

                    Steven walked through the portal closely behind the stoic sorcerer, Steven's expression one of warning and authority as he clenched his fists, the knuckles white among his scars. Looking up from the ground, his eyes widened, and he gasped. A pile of rubble stood between two buildings, smoke rising ominously from the grey cinder blocks and splintered wood that stretched onto the streets. Sirens could be heard a few streets down, signaling help that wasn't coming fast enough.

                     " We haven't started looking for casualties yet, but there seems to be many. The one reason I called you here, though, is the magic around this place. The first sorcerers who spotted this said they felt a strong mystic pull, like something with the dark forces happened here." The sorcerer was spouting out information, pointing his hands in random places, but Steven's mind was adrift. Why would sorcerers attack here? At a coffee shop? The one time he had come in there had been late at night, and the night shift had been tearing him apart from an eleven-hour surgery. The memory of telling the family their child would live highlighted that day for him, though.

                   Brushing past the sorcerer, his eyes trained on the rubble in front of him, the sorcerer stopping abruptly and grunting, Steven came to the edge of the decimated cafe and felt the heat radiate onto him. His Amulet burned against his chest, glowing brightly with an emerald green. Clutching it in his fist, he stepped over a cracked cinder block, deftly avoiding the smoking wood and debris as he coughed, the smoke thick in the air, scorching his lungs. His eyes searched sharply for survivors, turning at every settle or sound in the mess. 

Then there was a cough.

                  Flipping around abruptly, he squinted his eyes at the search of the sound, and saw a small shaking hand rise from the grey, pale and covered in soot. Darting over to it, he grunted, sweat beading on his head as he pushed blocks out of the way, light spreading into a little hole beneath the rubble. There, a whole group of men, women, and children huddled frightenedly in a hole, their eyes wide and scared, faces smeared with dirt. Breathing hard, Strange waved to the sorcerer, who ran over and started pulling people out, who coughed and leaned on each other for support, their faces weary. 

                  As the last child was hefted out of the hole, Strange set his jaw tensely and kneeled down next to her, his smile soft as his eyes shined bright. The girl looked at him with a suspicious glance, holding a stuffed animal close to her chest. " Are there any more of you?" he said quietly, cocking his head at the girl. The girl quickly nodded, wrinkling her nose. " There was the really nice waitress lady," she said, pointing somewhere towards the back of the lot. " She was in the kitchens when the weirdly dressed men came in with their lines in the air and stuff," she said, her voice light and on the void of cracking. Steven nodded, flashing his teeth at the girl. He looked down and noticed a small tear on the stuffed giraffe the girl held close, and he smirked. 

                " Let me fix that for you," he said, raising his hands, the palms wide and facing the tear. Suddenly, green lines and spirals wound up his arm, glowing brightly as he twisted his hand backwards, the tear seaming itself up magically. The girl stared with her mouth agape, astonishment plastered in her eyes. When seeing the fix, she smiled widely, and gave a crooked tooth grin, before walking over to her mother, who embraced her tightly. The sorcerer came up to Steven, a smirk on his face. " You're good with children," he said, chuckling softly. Steven couldn't  help but snort. " The girl said there was one more person; the waitress. She was by the kitchens when whatever happened, well, happened." He motioned to the mess with his finger, and the sorcerer nodded. " Then let's find her."