Chapter Text
"On my way down to coordinate search and rescue." Steve said. Loki transformed into Steve Rogers. "On my way down to coordinate search and rescue." He mocked. He turned back into himself. "I mean, honestly, how do you keep your food down?" He asked. Thor put a gag on Loki. "Shut up." He snapped. Everyone gets into the elevator, Tony carrying the Tesseract in a case, and Hulk followed. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hey, hey. Buddy! What do you think? Maximum occupancy has been reached." Tony said. Hulk growled. Loki waved at him. "Take the stairs." Thor said. "Yeah. Stop, stop." Tony said. Hulk growled as the elevator doors closed.
Mini time Skip
"Hand over the case, Stark. Hand it over." A hydra agent said. The Agents and Stark struggle for the case. It falls to the ground. 2023 Ant-Man kicked it so it slid away. "Stark?" An agent asked. "Stark?" Thor repeated. "Breathe, breathe." Thor said. Tony Stark from 2023 picked up the case and began walking to the stairs. "Good job. Meet me in the alley. I'm gonna grab a quick slice." Hulk slammed out of the stairs, knocking down 2023 Tony, the case fell and opened, the Tesseract slid across the floor to Loki's foot. "No stairs!" People ran away and screamed. Loki picked up the Tesseract and transported away. "Where's Loki? Loki! Loki!" Thor asked. "Wait. Where's (Y/n)?" Tony asked. Thor quickly looked around, but didn't see you either. "(Y/n)?" He called. "(Y/n)!" He shouted. "Did Loki take her?" Tony asked.
Gobi Desert, Mongolia 2012
You slowly looked up and realized you are in a desert. You turned and see Loki get up and the two of you turned to the people approaching. Loki looked around awkwardly and stood up. "I am Loki of Asgard. And I am burdened with glorious purpose." "Who are you? Why have you come to our home?" One of them asked. You scoffed and he quickly turned to see you. "Is that how you great everyone?" You asked. "What the...? (Y/n)? What are-" he then saw people come out of a portal and walk toward the infinity stone. "Never mind." He quickly ran over. "Don't touch that." Loki warned. A woman stepped out of the portal last. "Appears to be a standard sequence violation. Branch is growing at a stable rate and slope. Variants identified." She said as she held a scanner. "I'm sorry?" You asked in confusion. "On behalf of the Time Variance Authority, I hereby arrest you for crimes against the Sacred Timeline. Hands up." She said. Your eyes widened as they pointed guns toward you and Loki, "You're both coming with us." She said.
"I'm sorry. Who's "us"? Loki asked. "Last chance, Variant." She said. You began to put your hands up in surrender and Loki just chuckled. "It's been a very long day, and I think I've had my fill of idiots in armored suits telling me what to do, so, if you don't mind, this is actually your last chance. Now get out of my way." He said. He walked toward her threateningly until she punched him in the face, which then caused him to fall in slow motion, making you cringe a little. The woman put some kind of collar on his neck and you let her put one on yours without trying to fight back. "You are now moving at 1/16th speed, but feeling all that pain in real time." She informed. Two of the people roughly grab him and you followed them. "Reset the timeline." She said. You looked back and saw her pick up the infinity stone, before putting a device on the sand.
You then walked through a portal into a building. You followed Loki and the woman into another room. "What is this place?" You asked curiously. "My dad is on the board of Goldman Sachs. One little call and your whole job is privatized. Your little job." Martin said. "All right." Someone answered. "Your little job, how'd you like that?" Martin asked. "Hello, sir." Someone else greeted. Loki then tried to run away but was teleported back twice. She then roughly grabbed him and pulled him along. "Come on." She said. You silently followed. "You're making a terrible mistake." Loki said. "You're making a big mistake. Whoa whoa whoa!" Martin said. The women walked up to a desk. "Hello, ma'am, uh..." Casey said. She gave him the stone. "Log this as evidence." She ordered. "Oh... Can you at least tell me what it is?" He asked. "It's the Tesseract. One of the six infinity stones." You informed. "Be very careful with it." Loki added. You rolled your eyes. "It sounds dumb." Casey said.
"Know this. You cross me, there are deadly consequences." Loki said. "We'll see." She then pushed you and Loki into a room. The door closed behind. A machine began to pluck at yours and Loki's clothes. "Hey, hey! Absolutely not. This is fine Asgardian leather." Loki said. "Hold very still." The machine said. "What?" You asked. The machine zapped you and Loki. "Oh god!" You quickly turned away from him. "Now, hang on just a minute." Loki stuttered. A door opened beneath yours and Loki's feet and you both fall through. You both screamed as you fall into an office room, newly dressed in TVA processing clothes. A cat purred in the corner. You sighed in relief. You were still blushing slightly and hoped that Loki didn't see anything, but one look at his face said otherwise. You turned and blinked in surprise at the person in front of you. He had two sets of paper. "Please sign to verify this is everything you've ever said." He said.
"What?" Loki asked. Your jaw dropped. EVERYTHING? How could anyone possibly keep up with that? The printer whirled as it printed another page. The Paperwork Clerk added it to the pile. "Sign this, too." He said. "Oh, this is absurd." Loki said. The printer whirled as it prints another page. The Paperwork Clerk added it to the pile too. "And this." He said. You snickered and Loki turned to glare at you. Loki sighed and signed his name. You signed your name on your stack of paper. Again a door opened beneath you both and you fall into the next room. "Please confirm to your knowledge that you are not fully robotic beings, were born an organic creature, and do in fact possess what many cultures would call a soul." The scanner clerk said. "What? "To our knowledge"? Do a lot of people not know if they're robots?" You asked. "Thank you for your confirmation. Please move through." He said. "What if I was a robot and I didn't know it?" Loki asked. "The machine would melt you from the inside out. Please move along, you two." He said. "Oh. How lovely." You said sarcastically.
"Okay, I'm not a robot, so I'll be fine." Loki said. "Same here." You said. Loki went in first, and a bright light went off. Then you walked in. You saw him take out two cards with each one having different colors. "Oh, what's that?" You asked. "Your temporal aura." He said. "What's that?" Loki asked. "Please, through the door." He said. You and Loki walk into the next room. "Take a ticket." The minuteman said. "What is this, a deli? No." Martin said. "Take a ticket." The minuteman repeated. "There's only three of us in here." Loki said. "Take a ticket." He said. "Just do it Loki." You said. You took one, and Loki took one after. "This is a mistake! I shouldn't be here!" Loki shouted. "Hey there!" You flinched at the voice. "You're probably saying, "This is a mistake. I shouldn't even be here." A female voice said. You snickered. "Yup. Those were his words exactly." You said. He turned and glared at you. "Shut up, (Y/n)." He snapped. You both then turn to see a small screen.
"Welcome to the Time Variance Authority. I'm Miss Minutes, and it's my job to catch you up before you stand trial for your crimes. So let's not waste another minute. Settle in, sharpen your pencils, and check this out. Long ago, there was a vast multiversal war. Countless unique timelines battled each other for supremacy, nearly resulting in the total destruction of... well, everything. But then, the all-knowing Time-Keepers emerged, bringing peace by reorganizing the multiverse into a single timeline, the Sacred Timeline. Now, the Time-Keepers protect and preserve the proper flow of time for everyone and everything. But sometimes, people like you veer off the path the Time-Keepers created. We call those Variants. Maybe you started an uprising, or were just late for work. Whatever it was, stepping off your path created a nexus event, which, left unchecked, could branch off into madness, leading to another multiversal war. But, don't worry, to make sure that doesn't happen, the Time-Keepers created the TVA and all its incredible workers. The TVA has stepped in to fix your mistake and set time back on its predetermined path. Now that your actions have left you without a place on the timeline, you must stand trial for your offenses. So sit tight, and we'll get you in front of a judge in no time. Just make sure you have your ticket, and you'll be seen by the next available attendant. For all time. Always."
You and Loki exchanged looks. "Time-Keepers? The Sacred Timeline?" You asked. "Who actually believes this bunkum?" Loki asked. "Ticket, sir?" The minuteman asked. "The guy didn't give me a ticket. I tried to ask for one." Martin said. "Ticket, sir!" The minuteman said. "I tried to ask that guy for a ticket!" Martin said. "Sir..." "What, you're raising your voice at me, bucket head?" Martin asked. Martin screamed as he's pruned. Your eyes widened. You and Loki both frantically start looking for your tickets. You sighed in relief as you felt yours in your pocket. You then saw Loki yank his out and hold it up, and you couldn't help but chuckle a little.
Aix-En-Provence, France 1549
"The hunter and his Minutemen responded to a routine nexus event. It appears that when they arrived, somebody got the jump on 'em." Minutemen said. "You think?" Mobius asked. "It's him." The hunter said. "Yeah, stab wounds look consistent with the others. Positioning of the bodies indicates they didn't know what the hell hit 'em. And reset charge is gone." Mobius said. "That's the sixth attack in the last week." Hunter U-92 said. "That we know of." Mobius said. A young boy entered. "Hey!" Hunter U-92 said. "Wait, stand down! Stand down. It's just a kid." He then said the rest in French. "I'm sorry... my friend is an imbecile." "Hey, yo! I speak every language on the timeline too. Jackass." Hunter U-92 said. Mobius pulled out a device, drew s a stick figure on it, and handed it to the boy. "Tap it." He said in English. The boy did. The stick figure animated, and the boy smiled. "Do you know who did this?" Mobius asked in french. The boy pointed to a stained glass window depicting the devil. "Don't worry, that devil's afraid of us. We're gonna take care of him. And we're gonna put you back where you belong." Mobius said in English.
Mobius tabbed the boy on the chest, and he smiled, revealing blue around his lips and teeth. "That blue... What is that?" Mobius asked. The boy handed him a stick of "Blooberrie"-flavored Kablooie gum. "Devil bearing gifts." He handed it to Hunter U-92. "Go ahead and run this for sequence period and any hints of temporal aura." He said. "You know we won't get anything." He said. "Yeah, just give it a shot." Mobius said. "The branch is nearing red line. We need to go." He informed. "Okay. Go wait outside.It's okay." Mobius said. "Set a reset charge." Hunter U-92 said. Another door appeared and a man stepped through. "Sir, there's something you'll wanna see." The man said. He handed Mobius the files on you and Loki.
TVA 2012 Courtroom
Hunter B-15 escorted you and Loki into the courtroom. "Next case, please. Laufeyson and (L/n). Variants L1130, and G3320 AKA Loki Laufeyson, and (Y/n) (L/n) are charged with sequence violation 7-20-89. How do you plead?" The judge asked. You were about to say something until Loki spoke up. "Madam, a god doesn't plead. This has been a very enjoyable pantomime, but I'd like to go home now." He said. "Are you guilty or not guilty, sir?" The judge asked. He scoffed. "Guilty of being the God of Mischief? Yes. Guilty of finding all this incredibly tedious? Yes. Guilty of a crime against the Sacred Timeline? Absolutely not, you have the wrong person." He said. You rolled your eyes. "Oh, really? And who should we have?" The judge asked. "I suspect, the Avengers. I came into possession of the Tesseract because they traveled through time, no doubt in a last-ditch effort to stave off my ascent to God King." Loki said. You turned to glare at him.
"Don't bring The Avengers into this, Loki. Whatever happened was clearly your fault for trying to steal the Tesseract. Again." You said. Loki glared at you. "Which only happened because The Avengers went back in time to take it." He said. "That's quite an accusation." The judge said. "Oh, believe me, you can smell the cologne of two Tony Starks. You speak of Time Criminals? It's they you should be after. Perhaps you could provide me with a taskforce and resources, and I could return and eliminate them for you." Loki said. "Time Criminals?! They're The Avengers! If they did go back in time it was obviously for a good reason! Especially if they're goal was to get the Tesseract." You argued. Mobius entered the courtroom and took a seat. "We're not here to talk about the Avengers." The judge said. "Oh, no?" Loki asked. "No. What they did was supposed to happen. You escaping, along with (Y/n) trying to go after you, was not." She said. Loki laughed. "Right. Uh... "Not supposed to happen"? According to whom?" He asked.
"I'm going to go on a limb here and say The Time-Keepers?" You asked. "Oh, the Time-Keepers. Right. Well, perhaps I should speak to these Time-Keepers, gods to gods." Loki said. "I'm sorry, but they're quite busy." The judge said. "Oh, they are? What are they doing?" Loki asked. "Dictating the proper flow of time, obviously." You said. Loki turned to glare at you. "Right. And then what do you do?" Loki asked. "Dictate the proper flow of time according to their dictations. How do you plead?" The judge asked. "Guilty... of this." Loki said. You heard stifled laughter from the room. "What's going on?" The judge asked. "Hang on. Everyone quiet." Loki said. The hunter chuckled. "He's trying to use his powers, ma'am." She said. "Don't rush me." He grunted as he tried again. "Damn it! Why won't it work?" He asked. "Magic powers? They're no good in the TVA, Mr. Laufeyson. The court finds you both guilty, and I sentence you both to be reset." She banged the gavel. "Next case, please!" She said. You began to panic. "Wait! Wait! I never even got to-" you protested as two people grabbed you by the arms. "Reset"? What does that mean? What, is it bad? What does it mean? Hey! You ridiculous bureaucrats will not dictate how my story ends!" Loki protested.
"It's not your story, Mr. Laufeyson. It never was." The judge said. "You have no idea what I'm capable of!" Loki said as he struggled against two people holding him as well. "I... I think I might. Have an idea of what he's capable of. Of what they're both capable of, actually." Mobius said as he stood up. "Approach the bench." She said. Mobius walked over and they spoke softly. "Hi." He said. "If you're thinking what I think you are, it's a bad idea." The judge said. "Okay, I'm just chasing a hunch." He said. "Anything goes sideways, it's on you." She argued. "Okay. I feel like I'm always looking up to you. I like it. It's appropriate." He whispered. He then turned to face you and Loki. "And who are you?" Loki asked. You, Loki and Mobius walked together through the halls. "I'm gonna burn this place to the ground." Loki said. "Easy there, tiger." You said. "I'll show you where my desk is, you can start there." Mobius said. You chuckled. You and Loki both looked out the window. "Have a look. Home sweet home." Mobius said. "I thought there was no magic here." You pointed out. "There isn't." Mobius said. "That's not real." Loki said to you.
"It is, and, unfortunately, so is all the paperwork. Good tinder for your fire, though. Come on." Mobius said. "This place is a nightmare." Loki said. "That's another department. Now that department I'll help you burn down." Mobius said. "Can I join in?" You joked. Mobius chuckled. "Sure." He said. Loki sighed as he followed you two to an elevator. "I'm Agent Mobius, by the way." Mobius said as he reached a hand out. You shook it. "(Y/n) (L/n)." You said. He then reached a hand out for Loki to shake but he didn't. "Are you taking me somewhere to kill me?" Loki asked. "No. That's where you two just were. I'm taking you some place to talk." He answered. "I don't like to talk." Loki said. "But you do like to lie, which you just did. Because we all know you love to talk. Talkie-talkie." You chuckled at that. "How long have you been here?" You asked curiously. He sighed. "I don't know. It's hard to say, time passes differently here in the TVA." He replied. "What does that mean?" Loki asked. "You'll catch up." Mobius said. "So, you're part of the TVA's courageous and dedicated workforce?" You asked. "Yes." He said. "You were created by the Time-Keepers." Loki said. "Yup." He said. "To protect the Sacred Timeline." You finished. "Correct." He said. Loki laughed.
"Is that funny?" Mobius asked. "The idea that your little club decides the fate of trillions of people across all of existence at the behest of three space lizards, yes, it's funny. It's absurd." Loki said. "I thought you didn't like to talk." He said. "He got you there, Loki." You said. Loki scoffed. "After you two." Mobius. "What a gentleman." You joked as you walked in. "For the record, this really does feel like a killing-me kind of a room." Loki said as you both walked in. "Not big on trust, are you?" Mobius asked. "Trust is for children and dogs. There's only one person you can trust." Loki said. "Yourself? I like it. Slap it on a T-shirt." Mobius said, causing you to chuckle. "If the TVA truly oversees all of time, how have I never heard of you until now?" You asked. "'Cause you've never needed to. You've always lived within your set path." Mobius explained. "I live within whatever path I choose." Loki said. "Sure you do. Okay, come have a seat. Both of you." Mobius said. Loki went closer to attack him but he sent him back. "I told you, time moves differently in the TVA. Come on, sit down. Let's get into this. Go on, have a seat." You sat down in between the two. "If looks could kill." Mobius said as he saw Loki's glare. You snickered. "What do you want from me?" Loki asked. "Well, let's start with a little cooperation." Mobius said.
"Not my forte." Loki said. "Really? Even when you're wooing someone powerful you intend to betray? Come on." Mobius said. "You don't know anything about me." Loki snapped. "Maybe I'd like to learn. I specialize in the pursuit of dangerous Variants." Mobius said. "Like myself?" Loki asked. "Mmm... No, particularly dangerous Variants. You're just a little pussycat. I got a set of questions for you. You answer them honestly, and then maybe I can give you something you want. You both wanna get out of here, right? Yeah, so we'll start there. Should you return, what are you gonna do?" Mobius asked. "Well... go back to The Avengers." You said. Mobius nodded. "Right. Because you're a part of the team now, right?" He asked. "Well I believe so. Fury did want me working with the team. And I did help them with the battle against this one." You said, referring to Loki as he scoffed. "That's true. New York owes you and your friends a great debt." Mobius said. Mobius turns to Loki. "And what about you?" He asked. "Finish what I started." Loki said. "Which is?" Mobius asked. "World destruction." You said. "Claim my throne." Loki corrected. "You wanna be king?" Mobius asked. "I don't want to be, I was born to be." Loki said. "I know, but king of what exactly?" Mobius asked.
"You wouldn't understand." Loki said. "Try me." Mobius said. "Midgard." Mobius said. "AKA Earth. All right. Now you're the king of Midgard, then what? Happily ever after?" Mobius asked. "People like him don't deserve to be happy." You said. "Asgard, the Nine Realms." Loki said. "Space?" Mobius asked. "Space." You assured. "Space is big. That'd be a nice feather in your cap. "Loki, the King of Space." Mobius said. "Yeah. In his dreams, maybe." You said. "Mock me if you dare." Loki said. "No, I'm not." He chuckled. "Honestly, I'm actually a fan. Yeah. And I guess I'm wondering why does someone with so much range just wanna rule?" He asked. "I would've made it easy for them." Loki said. "People like easy." Mobius said. "The first and most oppressive lie ever uttered was the song of freedom." Loki said. "How's that one go?" Mobius asked. "For nearly every living thing, choice breeds shame and uncertainty and regret. There's a fork in every road, yet the wrong path always taken." Loki said.
"Good. Yeah. You said "nearly every living thing," so I'm guessing you don't fall into that category?" You asked. "The Time-Keepers have built quite the circus, and I see the clowns are playing their parts to perfection." Loki said. "Big metaphor guy. I love it. Makes you sound super smart." Mobius said. "I am smart." Loki said. "I know." "Okay?" Loki asked. "Okay." Mobius said. Mobius then began to play a video. "What is this?" You asked. "A sampling of your greatest hits, if I may. Loki's too." Mobius explained. Loki sighed. On the screen you were glaring at Loki as he looked up at you. "Oh hey, (Y/n)." He said. The rest of the Avengers glares deepened. Mobius turns to smirk at the two of you as you and Loki both looked away. "It's funny, even though you're a supervillain and (Y/n) is an Avenger you still tried to convince her to join you, why is that?" He asked. "She's powerful, and I've seen her use her powers in action before. So I figured she'd be very useful to me if she were to be on my side." Loki said. "Well you can forget it, it'll never happen. I'll never be your partner. Ever." You said. "You know, for someone born to rule, you sure do lose a lot. You might even say it's in your nature." Mobius pointed out. "You know, things didn't turn out so well for the last person who said that to me." Loki said. You turned to glare at Loki as you knew who he was talking about. "Oh, yeah, Phil Coulson." He said. You gritted your teeth. "NO!" The you on the screen shouted as Loki stabbed him. The you on the screen then tried to heal him.
"Didn't the Avengers come together to literally avenge him by defeating you?" Mobius asked. "That we did." You said. "Little solace to a dead man." Loki said. "Do you enjoy hurting people? Making them feel small? Making them feel afraid?" Mobius asked as he showed a clip of New York being destroyed. "Of course he does." You snapped. Loki turned to you for a moment before looking at Mobius. "Your games don't frighten me." Loki said. "Making them feel little?" Mobius continued. "I know what I am." Loki said. "A murderer?" You asked angrily. "A liberator." Loki corrected. "Of eyeballs, maybe." Mobius said. You looked at Mobius with confusion. You then looked at the screen as you saw Loki take out someone's eye. Your eyes widened. "Look at that smile. You are enjoying that. Did you enjoy hurting them?" Mobius asked. "I don't have to play this game. I'm a god." Loki snapped. "Of what, again? Mischief, right? Yeah. I don't see anything very mischievous about this." Mobius said. "It's more like murderous." You corrected.
Loki smirked a little. "You think I should have been named The God Of Death, then?" Loki asked. "It suits you more." You said. "Let's talk about your escapes. You're really good at doing awful things, and then just getting away." Mobius said. "What can I say? I'm a mischievous scamp." Loki said. "You sure are." You said. "This is one of my favorites." Mobius said. You and Loki both look at the screen again. "From the flight deck, Captain William A. Scott, Northwest Orient Airlines 305, on schedule to land in Seattle. Flight time today, approximately..." the Captain said. "Bourbon and soda?" The flight attendant asked. "Thank you." Loki said. "Wow, I didn't know The God Of Mischief actually had some manners." You said. Loki turned to glare at you and Mobius snickered. "Absolutely. Is there anything else I can do for you, sir?" The flight attendant asked. "I suppose we'll find out, won't we?" Loki chuckled. "Uh, Miss?" Loki asked. "Yes, Mr. Cooper?" They asked. "You might want to take a look at that note." Loki said. "I have a bomb." The Loki on screen whispered. "I fail to see how this has any relevance or bearing on..." Loki began, but Mobius shushed him.
"No. This is the good part." He said. "See you again someday." The Loki on screen grunted. "Brother, Heimdall, you better be ready." He said. "I can't believe you were D.B. Cooper. Come on!" Mobius said. "I was young, and I lost a bet to Thor. Where was the TVA when I was meddling with these affairs of men?" Loki asked. "We were right there with you, just surfing that Sacred Timeline." Mobius said. "So that had the Time-Keepers' seal of approval, did it?" Loki asked. "Well, I wouldn't think of it in terms of approval and disapproval. That's sort of a... Let's get back to escapes..." Mobius said and Loki sighed. "And a little psychobabble. What is it that you think that you're really running from?" He asked. "Enough." Loki stood up and was about to walk away but Mobius zapped him back to the chair. "When are you going to realize that you can't leave, Loki?" You asked. "I was just standing up to make a point." He lied. Mobius chuckled. "I'm sorry, go ahead." He said. "It won't be as meaningful now." Loki said. "Okay, well, stay seated." Mobius said.
"I'll do what I want to do!" Loki shouted. "Sure." Mobius said. Loki stood up and walked away, before turning around. "What exactly is it that you want?" Loki asked. "I want you to be honest about why you do what you do." He answered. "Liar." Loki said. "I'm serious. All I seek is a deeper understanding of the fearsome God of Mischief." He said. Loki scoffed. "What makes Loki tick?" He asked. "Nothing." You said. "Nothing? Really? Let's test that theory." Mobius said. "I know what this place is." Loki said. "What is it?" You asked. "It's an illusion. It's a cruel, elaborate trick conjured by the weak to inspire fear. A desperate attempt at control. Now, you all parade about as if you're the divine arbiters of power in the universe." Loki said. "We are." Mobius said. "You're not. My choices are my own." Loki snapped. "Isn't that how it works for everyone?" You asked. "You think so, huh?" Mobius asked. You turned to him with confusion. "Loki, If you hadn't picked up the Tesseract, you would have been taken to a cell on Asgard." Mobius said. You three watched the screen again. "Loki." Frigga said as Loki came in. "Hello, Mother. Have I made you proud?" The Loki on screen asked.
"Please don't make this worse." Frigga said. "What is this? This is nonsense, more tricks. This never even happened." Loki said. "Not to you. Not yet. Look, the TVA doesn't just know your whole past, we know your whole life, how it's all meant to be. Think of it as comforting." Mobius said. "How is that comfort?" You asked. "This is absurd." Loki said. "And am I not your mother?" Frigga asked. "You're not." Onscreen Loki said. "Hmm. Always so perceptive about everyone but yourself." Frigga said. "And then the Dark Elves attack the palace, and you think you send them to Thor." Mobius said. Your eyes widened. "You might wanna take the stairs to the left." Onscreen Loki said. "But instead, you send them..." you look and see Frigga get killed by them. "Where do you have her? Where is she?" Loki demanded. "You lead them right to her." Mobius said. Your breath hitched and you looked toward the floor. Your hatred for the god growing each second. "I don't believe you. You're lying. It's not true." Loki denied. "It is true. That's the proper flow of time, and it happens again and again and again because it's supposed to, because it has to." Mobius said raising his voice.
"The TVA makes sure of it." He added. "Where is she?" Loki demanded. "Now why don't you tell me, do you enjoy hurting people?" He asked. "Of course he does. It's obvious." You said. "Shut up, (Y/n)." Loki said. "Do you enjoy killing?" Mobius asked again. "I'll kill you." He threatened. "What, like you did your mother?" Mobius asked. Loki throws a chair through the screen. Loki goes to attack him but he was sent back again. "Sorry, the Time Twister just loops you, not the furniture. You weren't born to be king, Loki. You were born to cause pain and suffering and death. That's how it is, that's how it was, that's how it will be. All so that others can achieve their best versions of themselves." Mobius said as you and your friends appeared on the screen. You sighed. "Can I go back to them now?" You asked. Mobius turned and looked at you. "Not yet. Sorry." He said. "Why? For what purpose do you want me here with this monster?" You asked as you glared at Loki as he glared back. "I am not a monster. I'm a god." Loki said. "Come on." Loki takes Mobius's hand and gets up.
"What are you doing?" The Hunter asked as she came in. "My job. Is it yours to interrupt?" He asked. "We have a situation." She said. "There's always a situation. Don't go anywhere. It was just getting good. Spirited." Mobius said as he left with her, leaving you and Loki alone. "I can't believe you." You said. Loki turned to you. "What?" He asked annoyed. "How could you? Killing your own mother." You said. "Let's get something straight here. She wasn't my own mother. I was adopted." He said. You turned around angrily. "What difference does that make? She was still your mother, Loki. And you killed her!" You shouted. "No, I didn't. Those elves did." He said. "Only because you led them right to her!" You shouted. "Not to mention trying to lead them to kill Thor is equally as bad." You said. "Whatever. Why do you even care? This is none of your business. It was my life, not yours." Loki said. "Why do I care? Because Thor is my friend, Loki! I don't care if it's your life! Thor is important to me!" You said. Loki scoffed. "Friend? Thor isn't your friend. None of them are." Loki said. "What would you know? You've never had friends." You said. "And you never will if this is truly the path you're going on." You said. "What? Do you truly believe that what they showed us on that screen is real?" Loki asked. You paused. "Forget it. I'm leaving." Loki said as he left. "Good. I don't want to see you ever again." You said. Loki scoffed as he left the room.
Mobius came back in and saw you but not Loki. "Where's Loki?" He asked. "Left." You said. He sighed. "Great. I'll be back." He then left the room. After a few minutes, Loki came back in. "You're back." You said. "You're still here." Loki said with the same amount of annoyance. Loki looked at the screen as you turned to look as well. He went back to the part of his dead mother. You turned to glare at him but your expression softened when you saw his. He looked... sad? He then went to a scene with you, him, Thor and his father. "I love you, my sons. Remember this place. Home." Odin said. "Loki, I thought the world of you. I thought we were gonna fight side by side forever." Thor said. Your eyes widened. Wait, what timeline was this? You then saw you, with Loki and Thor and some woman who you didn't recognize. "Maybe you're not so bad after all, brother." Onscreen Thor said. "Maybe not." Onscreen Loki said. "Thank you. If you were here, I might even give you a hug." Onscreen Thor said. Loki chuckled. "I'm here." Onscreen Loki said. You couldn't believe it. Thor and Loki as actual friends?! Then the scene switched again. You felt like you couldn't breathe. There, right on the screen, was Thanos. You watched as Thanos picked up Loki and began to choke him as Loki gasped for air. "You... will never be... a god." The Loki on screen said. You gasped as Thanos snapped his neck. No. You heard Loki exhale and knew he was also in shock. You looked at the screen as you saw Thor on top of Loki in grieving.
Your breathing quickened as you felt as if you were about to have a panic attack. No. This... this can't be how it ends! What frightened you even more, was when you saw words on the screen, saying "End Of File." Your breathing quickened again as you tried to calm down. Loki turned to your direction. "(Y- (Y/n)?" He asked. He struggled with saying your name due to his own shock. Loki slowly walked toward you. You finally managed to calm down. "What's going on?" Hunter-B 15 asked. "Glorious purpose." Loki mumbled. Loki walked toward her and your eyes widened when you saw the two of them begin fighting. Loki then took off his collar and snapped it on her neck. He then used the device and she disappeared. You looked around but didn't see her. "Where did she go?" You asked. Loki then used the device and made her disappear and reappear every few seconds. "Stop... It. Stop it! St... Stop it... It... Stop it... Stop... I... St... Sto... St..." she tried to say. You couldn't help but let out a few snickers.
Loki sighed and sat down and you sat down next to him. The door opened and closed. "Loki? Nowhere left to run." Mobius said. "We can't go back, can we? Back to our timeline. I don't enjoy hurting people. I..." he sighed. "I don't enjoy it. I do it because I have to, because I've had to." He said. Your eyes furrowed in confusion. "Okay, explain that to me." Mobius said. "Because it's part of the illusion. It's the cruel, elaborate trick conjured by the weak to inspire fear." Loki said. ""A desperate play for control." You do know yourself." Mobius said. "A villain." Loki sighed. "That's not how I see it." Mobius said. Loki picked up the tesseract. "You try to use that?" Mobius asked. You smiled a little. "Of course he did." You said. "Even an Infinity Stone is useless here." He scoffed. "The TVA is formidable." Loki said. "That's been my experience. Listen, I can't offer either of you salvation, but maybe I can offer you both something better. A fugitive Variant's been killing our Minutemen." He said. "And you need the God of Mischief and an Avenger to help you stop him?" Loki questioned. "That's right." He said. "Why us?" Loki asked. You jerked your head toward him. That was the first time he's included you, even though you've both been together this entire time. "The Variant we're hunting is... you." He said. "What?" You asked. "I beg your pardon?" Loki asked.