001 // @strange.magic: video

[suckstobestrange]

Consider this a little public service announcement, and my good deed for the day.

[At first it’s just Stephen Strange, looking even more like a magic hobo than he usually does, before he moves the feed to focus on a mini-fridge sitting in the corner of the communal kitchens and wouldn’t be anything to comment on if not for the heavy chains wrapped around it keeping the door shut, or the padlock that really looked like overkill.]

If you see this fridge here, missing its padlock or even worse open and I’m not already there dealing with it? I recommend either finding me, or a flamethrower immediately.

[The mini-fridge, which had been sitting quietly until this point started to shake, the sound of something inside smacking against the door making the chains around it rattle. Stephen came into view just long enough to smack the top of the fridge with the handle of a broom which seemed to startle whatever was inside into silence again.]

It should be in the floor 5 kitchen so if it’s not, even if it’s still locked, you’re going to want to come get me and I’ll deal with it.

And if you value your continued good health don’t eat anything that comes out of this thing.

Comments

[suckstobestrange]

[Oh if only Steve knew that this was an improvement over what he looked like when he first showed up.

Pretending not to notice that examination, nope he's putting some water on to boil nothing to see here just a guy making tea.]

Do you want the long or short version?

Long version means I'm definitely going to need something stronger than tea, fair warning.

[livingsymbol]

[Another time, Steve might look stern, but Stephen looks so worn that he relents with a nod. If that is what he needs, then there's apparently a good reason.]

Tell me what you can. Is this something we're going to need to watch out for?

[If there's a possibility that the threat followed Stephen to Quarantine, he needs to know what it looks like.]

[suckstobestrange]

[Honestly, the possibility that his being here would draw the threat in had occurred to him. A haunted look flitting over his face before he disguised it with a small frown and turning his attention to watching the kettle.]

If the Empirikul do follow me here, then whatever magical community is here will be in grave danger. Non-magical sorts can't even see them and they seem content to ignore them.

[livingsymbol]

[That look, even though it is fleeting, catches Steve's attention. He frowns as Stephen turns back to his tea.]

The Empirikul?

[It's not a name he's heard before, but that doesn't mean Steve is content to do anything like ignoring a possible threat. He gives the back of Stephen's head a hard look. Does the sorcerer really think that Steve won't help?]

Who exactly are they? What do they want?

[suckstobestrange]

They're... a group from somewhere else. Another dimension, though I'm not certain which. I didn't... have a lot of time to investigate when they made themselves known in earnest.

[Of course Steve would help. But Stephen had already drawn enough people into danger at this point, and he's fairly certain that he's led them all to their horrific deaths on top of it. Pay no mind to the tension settling back into his stance because this is all a Really Bad Subject.]

Genocide. Anything and everything magic they want burned of all mystical energies or dead.

[livingsymbol]

[Steve takes what the sorcerer tells him very seriously. He has clearly missed a lot since he last talked to Stephen. The answer makes his muscles tense where he stands, hands closing into fists against the threat of the situation Stephen describes. He's already decided he has to help.]

How do you recognize them? If they come through the portal, how will we know?

[Because at the first sign? He's going to be there.]

[suckstobestrange]

Unless somehow this place is different than Earth, they operate on the astral plane.

[He grimaced at the thought, trying to think of something that would help.]

They work subtly at first. Send out scouts to destroy magical artifacts and landmarks. It destroys whatever spells rely on those things, can cripple mystics entirely depending on where they draw power from. First we'd hear of them is spells that don't work as they should, things that stop working entirely. Some of the population will be entirely without their magic depending how knowledgeable they were to begin with.

If we somehow have a small bit of luck and can see them... they're all monochromatic, and aside from the leader are some form of robotic clone. White with black markings, skinny with round heads, and they'll be all about 'hail the Inquisitor', and have a nasty obsession with burning me and mine at the stake.

[livingsymbol]

[The description of the robotic threats that apparently want to burn his friend at the stake makes Steve bristle on his end. If he registers the part where Stephen tells him he can't see them, Steve doesn't accept it. He will find a way somehow to defend his people. If that means challenging reality itself, then so be it.]

We won't let them do that. Even if they do find a way here, Stephen. We will stop them.

[There is no question in Steve's mind that they can make that happen.]

Are you all right?

[He's clearly been through Hell, and Steve worries about how bad Stephen is doing after facing these strange magic threats.]

How can I help?