"So... how much do you know about Mephisto?" Stephen asked, hand outstretched, ready to create a portal.

"Only that he's apparently the devil from the Midgardian hell and according to you he runs a flaming torture casino," Loki replied. "Is there anything else I should know?"

"Well, he used to steal souls and condemn them to eternal torture," Strange warned him. "So... we just have to make sure we stick together and don't get our souls stolen, I guess."

"OK. Awesome," Loki said, hurriedly, looking about 12% of how anxious Stephen felt, which was comparably very calm. "Suppose we ought to, er, go help the Avengers out then?"

"Yep," Stephen exhaled. He hesitated, then decided it was best to get it over and done with. He opened a portal, and they both stepped through.

And the Avengers weren't there.

Nothing was there. No life, unless you counted the plants that had been reduced to cinders on the sidewalk. It was only him and Loki there.

"Well that was... dramatic," Loki said. He looked up at the fiery monstrosity and the now black and red sky. "That wasn't there before."

Stephen was panicking. He'd been gone 5 minutes, so what could've happened to the Avengers in that time? Had Mephisto got them?

"Something's wrong," he said, which was kind of obvious, but Loki didn't say anything. "I was here 5 minutes ago. Where have they gone?"

Loki gulped. "Er, you wanna know my guess?"

Strange already knew what he was going to say, and deep down he knew he was right, even before Loki pointed at The Casino Mephisto.

"We've got to help them," Stephen decided, trying to sound more confident than he felt. "Wherever they are in there."

Loki made a click sound with his mouth. "That's not going to be easy, Strange. How do you save someone's soul after it's been stolen?"

Good point. "We'll figure it out. Come on."

And they walked towards The Casino Mephisto, Loki summoning his dagger for emergencies, or just, you know, so he could stab someone for fun.