Aix-En- Provence, France
1549
The floors of the monastary were lined with the bodies of Minutemen. A man in a suit looked down at the fallen corpses littered across it with the other team of Minutemen following close behind him.
"The Hunter and his Minutemen responded to the routine Nexus Event." One of the officers stated. "It appears that when they arrived, somebody got the jump on 'em."
"You think." The man in the suit said.
"It's him." Hunter U-92 stated.
The suited man squatted down, staring inquisitively at the bodies. "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."
"That's the sixth attack in the last week." Hunter U-92 said.
"That we know of." The suited man added.
The doors at the entrance of the monastary suddenly cracked open and the loud clatter of feet banged echoed across the hall as a figure ran across.
"Hey!" Hunter U-92 shouted, reacting to the sound immediately by activating his Timestick.
"Wait, stand down! Stand down!" The man in the suit said, placing a hand on the Hunter's weapon. "It's just a kid."
The suited man strolled down the aisle. "I'm sorry." He stated in French. "My friend is an imbecile."
"Hey!" Hunter U-92 shouted back in French. "I speak every language on the Timeline too." and then deactivated his Timestick. "Jackass."
The suited man approached the girl at the end of the naves and produced a small device from his pocket, activating it before drawing an image of a yellow stick figure on its screen and offering it to the girl.
When she accepted it, the suited man tapped his wrist at her, whispering. "Tap it."
When she tapped on the device the figure on the screen came to life, hovering above the screen in a walking animation. The girl smiled at it in glee.
"Do you know who did this?" The man asked her in French.
The girl produced a ginger nod and then pointed over at the window to a coloured window painting of a horned devil in a golden robe sitting on a gilded throne suspended over flames.
The suited man looked back at her with a concerned look that soon shifted to reassurance. "Don't worry that devil's afraid of us. We're going to take care of you..." Then gently poked her on the collar before taking back the stick figure device. "We're going to take care of you and put you back where you belong."
The girl smiled, revealing a set of blue coated teeth.
The suited man gestured towards his own teeth then in French. "That blue? What is that?"
The girl reached into her pockets to pull out an object, giving it to the suited man.
"KABLOOIE" The words printed on the package of gum read.
"Devil bearing gifts." The suited man commented upon accepting the gum package. He then handed the object over to Hunter U-92 as he approached down the aisle. "Go ahead and run this for sequence period and any hints of temporal aura."
"You know we won't get anything." U-92 said.
"Yeah, just give it a shot." The suited man said.
A beeping sound emulated from U-92's tempad. The Hunter checked it to reveal a screen with a variant slope rapidly forming across it. "The branch is nearing red line. We need to go."
"Okay." The suited man stated then turned back to the girl. "Go wait outside." He said in French.
The girl looked back at him with uncertainty.
"It's okay." The suited man reassured. Patting her on the back and directing her towards the exit. The girl followed.
"Set a reset charge." U-92 said as the rest of the Minutemen went to work.
A Time Door suddenly emerged, producing another analyst with a stack of folders in his hands. "Sir, there's something you'll wanna see." He said, handing the other man the paper stack.
The suited man accepted it and looked down at the first document. A mugshot of a dark haired man; Variant Name: Loki Laufeyson with a red stamp of the word APPREHENDED along the document.
***
TVA Headquarters
"Next case, please." The Judge announced at the bang of the gavel.
Loki entered the courtroom with Hunter B-15 escorting him down the aisle.
"Laufeyson." The Judge stated. "Variant L1130, AKA Loki Laufeyson, is charged with sequence violation 7-20-89..." The woman at the bench was a dark-skinned woman with curly hair tied into a bun. Looking up from her paperwork she faced Loki as he approached the stand. "How do you plead?"
Loki produced an amused smirk. "Madam, a god doesn't plead." He stated with a smile. "Look this has been a very enjoyable pantomine, but I'd like to go home now."
"Are you guilty or not guilty, sir?" The Judge stated.
Loki scoffed again. "Guilty of being the God of Mischief? Yes." he began. "Guilty of finding all of finding all of this incredibly tedious? Yes. Guilty of a crime against the Sacred Timeline...? Absolutely not, you have the wrong person."
"Oh, really?" The Judge asked, mirroring Loki's amusement. "And who should we have?"
"I suspect, the Avengers." Loki said. "You see I only came into posession of the Tesseract because they traveled through time, no doubt in a last ditch effort to stave off my ascent to God-King."
"That's quite an accusation." The Judge said.
"Oh, believe me, you can smell the cologne of two Tony Starks." Loki replied. The doors to the courtroom opened quietly to allow a man in a brown suit to creep across the aisle into one of the many seats.
"You speak of Time criminals? It's they you should be after." Loki continued. "Perhaps you could provide me with a taskforce..." He said, gesturing to the Minutemen posted around the room. "...and resources, and I could return and eliminate them for you."
"We're not here to talk about the Avengers." The Judge stated, her impatience starting to show.
"Oh, no?" Loki questioned.
"No." The Judge said sternly. "What they did was supposed to happen. You escaping was not."
Loki paused before laughing audibly. "Right. Not supposed to happen. According to whom?"
The Judge produced a bewildered expression. "The Time Keepers?" she stated as if it were obvious fact.
"Oh, the Time Keepers." Loki said. "Right. Well, perhaps I should speak to these Time...Keepers...gods to gods." he finished with a wink.
The Judge produced a smile, visibly trying to curb her obvious annoyance. "I'm sorry, but they're quite busy."
"Oh they are?" Loki questioned. "What are they doing?"
"Dictating the proper flow of time." The Judge stated matter of factly.
"I see. Right." Loki stated in amusement. "And what do you do?"
"Dictate the proper flow of time according to their dictations." She stated quickly, her impatience resurfacing. "How do you plead?"
"Guilty." Loki stated, lifting his arms in the air as a sly smile creased from his lips. "Of this."
Loki clenched his fist in the air. Concern crept onto his face as nothing happened. Stifled laughter began to surface in the background as he clenched them a second time to no avail.
"What's happening?" The Judge stated with a look of genuine puzzlement on her face.
"Hang on. Everyone quiet." Loki said as he continued to try.
Hunter B-15 produced an amused snicker and answered. "He's trying to use his powers ma'am."
"Damn it!" Loki slammed his hand on the desk. "Why won't it work?"
"Magic powers?" The Judge stated with curiosity. "They're no good in the TVA, Mr. Laufeyson. The court finds you guilty, and I sentence you to be reset." She then slapped the desk dismissively with her gaval. "Next case, please."
"Reset? What does that mean? What, is it bad? What does it mean?" Loki asked with grave concern as the Hunters began to apprehend him. "HEY! You ridicuolous bureaucrats will not dictate how my story ends!"
"It's not your story, Mr. Laufeyson." The Judge stated apathetically, as she began sifted through paperwork again. "It never was."
"You have NO IDEA what I'm capable of!" Loki proclaimed.
"I think I might..." The man in the suit stated, standing up from his seat in the courtroom. "...have an idea of what he's capable of."
The Judge looked at the man with an amused glance. "Approach the bench."
The man in the suit began to walk down the aisle towards the Judge's bench. Loki watched in confusion as he passed by.
"Hi." The man said softly to the judge as he arrived.
The Judge scooted up closer to the edge of the bench, looking down at the man with a skeptical glance. "If you're thinking what I think you are it's a bad idea."
"Okay, I'm just chasing a hunch." The suited man said.
"Anything goes sideways, it's on you." She said.
"Okay." The man in the suit said, then produced a smile. "I feel like I'm always looked up to you. I like it. It's appropriate."
The Judge looked at him sternly. The man in the suit turned back to Loki.
"And who are you?" Loki asked.
The man in the suit smiled back at him.
***
"I'm gonna burn this place to the ground." Loki said as he walked down the hallway.
"I'll show you where my desk is, you can start there." The suited man stated.
Loki stopped and turned to the balcony on his right and then began taking steps towards it.
"Go ahead." The man beckoned. "Have a look."
Loki walked in to get a closer view. Outside of it was an entire city. Futuristic buildings showcasing technological marvel. Airways of flying cars soaring across the air.
Enormous and intricate statues lining up the entire metropolitan area along with fantastical lights illuminating everything in sight.
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"Home, sweet home." The man in the suit said.
Loki glanced at him for a second. "I thought there was no magic here?"
"There isn't." He said.
Loki looked back, basking in the magnanimous view of the city.
"That's not real." Loki said before turning back.
"It is and unfortunately so is all of the paperwork." The man said, nudging Loki towards the hallway. "Good tinder for your fire, though. Come on."
"This place is a nightmare." Loki responded.
"That's another department." The man in the suit said. "Now that place I'll help you burn down."
Loki and the suited man arrived at the elevator.
"I'm Agent Mobius, by the way." The man in the suit said, offering his hand to Loki.
Loki looked down at it as if it were something foreign, then looked back up to the other man. "Are you taking me somewhere to kill me?"
"No, that's where you just were." Mobius answered. "I'm taking you someplace to talk."
"I don't like to talk." Loki stated.
"But you do like to lie, which you just did." Mobius said. "Because we both know you love to talk."
Loki looked back up at him.
"Talkey-talkey." Mobius said, while playfully mimicking a mouth opening and closing with his hands.
Loki squinted at him. "How long have you been here?"
Mobius sighed. "I don't know, it's hard to say. Time moves differently here in the TVA."
"What does that mean?" Loki asked.
"You'll catch up." Mobius said, as the doors to the elevator opened to let them out. Loki and Mobius exited into a new hallway.
"So you're a part of the TVA's courageous and dedicated workforce?" Loki said.
"Yes." Mobius said.
"You were created by the Time Keepers." Loki continued.
"Yep." Mobius said.
"To protect the Sacred Timeline." Loki went on.
"Correct."
Loki halted his stride to let out a wholehearted laugh.
Mobius stopped and turned back to him. "Is that funny?"
"The idea that your little club decides the fate of trillions of people across all of existence at the behest of three...space lizards..." Loki stated. "Yes, it's funny. It's absurd."
Mobius cocked his head. "I thought you didn't like to talk?"
Loki let out an exassperated sigh.
"After you." Mobius said, gesturing towards the door. Loki entered through it.
The room was large and spacious with an enormous holographic display against the wall at the other end. At the center of the room was a table with a small computer and two chairs placed in front of the big screen. Mobius approached it.
"For the record, this really does feel like a killing-me kind of room." Loki stated.
"Not big on trust are you?" Mobius said, setting his Timestick and paperwork down at the desk before turning on the computer.
"Trust is for children and dogs." Loki said. "There's only one person you can trust."
"Yourself?" Mobius asked. "I like it. Slap it on a T-shirt."
"If the TVA truly oversees all of time, how have I never heard of you until now?" Loki asked.
"Because you never needed to." Mobius said. "You've always lived within your set path."
"I live within whatever path I choose." Loki said firmly.
"Sure you do." Mobius replied as he finished fiddling with the computer. "Okay, come have a seat."
Loki advanced towards Mobius during the split moment his attention was away but just before reaching him, Mobius produced a device from his pocket, the same device that Hunter B-15 had used on him earlier at the registry desk. As he activated it Loki suddenly glitched back to his previous position.
"I told you, time moves differently in the TVA." Mobius stated, then waved him over. "Come on, sit down. Let's get into this."
Loki walked deliberately towards the chair at the desk, then pointed to it as if to ask, "There?"
"Go on, have a seat." Mobius urged.
Loki sat in the chair with reluctance before crossing his arms and staring at the man across the table from him.
"If looks could kill." Mobius muttered.
"What do you want from me?" Loki asked coldly.
"Well, let's start with a little cooperation." Mobius began.
"Not my forte." Loki said.
"Really?" Mobius said with a puzzled face. "Even when you're wooing someone powerful you intend to betray? Come on."
"You don't know anything about me."
"Maybe I'd like to learn." Mobius said before cracking open the tab to his soda can. "I specialize in the pursuit of dangerous Variants."
"Like myself?" Loki asked.
"No." Mobius said after taking a sip. "Particularly dangerous Variants. You're just a...little pussycat. I've got a set of questions for you. You answer them honestly and then maybe I can give you something you want. You wanna get out of here right? Yeah let's start there. Should you return, what are you gonna do?"
"Finish what I started." Loki answered.
"Which is?" Mobius inquired.
"Claim my throne."
"You wanna be king?"
"I don't want to be." Loki corrected. "I was born to be."
"I know but king of what exactly?"
Loki scoffed. "You wouldn't understand."
"Try me."
Loki sighed. "Midgard."
"AKA Earth." Mobius said, typing on his computer. "Alright now you're the king of Midgard, then what? Happily ever after?"
Loki scoffed again in amusement. "Asgard? The Nine realms?"
"Space?" Mobius asked.
"Space?" Loki repeated.
"Space is big. That'd be a nice feather in your cap." Mobius said with a grin. "Loki, king of Space."
"Mock me..." Loki threatened. "If you dare."
"N-no, I'm not." Mobius chuckled. "Honestly, I'm a huge fan. Yeah. And I guess I'm wondering why does someone with so much range just want to rule?"
"I would've made it easy for them." Loki answered.
"People like easy." Mobius replied.
"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." Loki said shaking his head. "There's a fork in every road and yet the wrong path always taken."
"Good. Yeah." Mobius concurred. "You said nearly every living thing, so I'm guessing you don't fall into that category?"
Loki scoffed yet again. "The Time Keepers have built quite the circus." Then turned back to Mobius. "And I see the clowns are playing their parts to perfection."
Mobius chuckled and pointed with his pencil. "Big metaphor guy. I love it. Makes you sound super smart."
"I am smart." Loki said.
"I know." Mobius said.
"Okay." Loki said.
Mobius paused to look at him pensively before saying. "Okay."
Mobius pressed the button on the computer module. The holographic screen responded to the module, producing an image of New York.
Loki looked at the screen. "What is this?"
"A sampling of your greatest hits, if I may." Mobius answered, pressing another button on the module. The screen shifted to an image of the Avengers. Loki sighed at the image on the screen and placed his hand against his forehead.
"If it's all the same to you." The Loki on the screen stated. "I'll have that drink now."
Mobius took another sip of his can before looking over to Loki and offering it to him.
"No." Loki declined firmly. "And I remember. I was there. Anything else?"
"It's funny. For someone born to rule, you sure do lose alot." Mobius said. "You might even say it's in your nature."
"You know things didn't turn out so well for the last person who said that to me." Loki warned.
"Oh yeah, Phil Coulson." Mobius said, shifting to the next image of Loki stabbing the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent in the back.
"Didn't the Avengers come together to literally avenge him by defeating you?" Mobius asked.
"Little solace to a dead man." Loki regarded.
"Do you enjoy hurting people." Mobius asked shifting to images of the Chitauri attack on the city. "Making them feel small.
Loki turned away from the screen.
"Making them feel afraid?" Mobius continued.
"Your games don't frighten me."
"Making them feel little?" Mobius pried further.
"I know what I am." Loki declared.
"A murderer?"
"A liberator."
"Of eyeballs maybe." Mobius suggested with an arch of his eyebrow before moving on to the next video sequence of Loki stabbing a man in the face.
"Look at that smile." Mobius said. "You are enjoying that. Did you enjoy hurting them?"
"I don't have to play this game." Loki said, looking away from him. "I'm a god."
"Of what, again? Mischief, right?" Mobius clarified. "Yeah, I don't see anything very mischievous about this."
"No I don't suppose you do." Loki said, bitterly.
Mobius sighed. "Let's talk about your escapes. You're really good at doing awful thing and then just getting away."
"What can I say, I'm a mischevious scamp." Loki said.
Mobius nodded in agreement then pressed a button on the module. "This is one of my favorites."
The screen shifted to a new image of a flight attendant walking down the aisle carrying a tray containing a glass of bourbon.
"From the flight deck, Captain William A. Scott," The voice said over the P.A. of the plane. "Northwest Orient Airlines 305, on schedule to land in Seattle. Flight time today, approximately..."
The flight attendant arrived at the seat Loki was sitting in. "Bourbon and soda?
Loki smiled. "Thank you."
"Is there anything else I can do for you sir?" The attendant asked, placing the drink down on his tray.
Loki smiled again and pulled out a slip of paper, extending it to her. "I suppose we'll find out, won't we?"
The woman chuckled as the blush filled her cheeks. Loki winked at her and she began to turn away.
"Um, miss?" Loki beckoned before she could leave.
"Yes, Mr. Cooper?" She asked.
"You might want to take a look at that note." He said.
The woman looked back at him in puzzlement.
"I have a bomb." Loki mouthed to her, gently patting the suitcase resting in the seat adjacent to him.
The woman looked at him in concern, he looked back at her maintaining his smile. Several moments later, the plane was completely vacated. From inside the plane, on-screen Loki looked out at the squad of police cars in amusement.
Off screen Loki shook his head. "I fail to see how this has any relevance or bearing on-"
"No, no, shh, shh." Mobius shushed gesturing towards the screen. "This is the good part."
The video depicted the flight attendant pushing a cart holding a large duffle bag full of money down the aisle. Loki engaged the buckle on his parachute backpack before turning to the woman and accepting the bag of money.
Tippin down his sunglasses and producing a wink he said to the girl. "See you again someday."
Turning to the exit row. "Brother, Heimdall, you'd better be ready." Loki said before advancing up the aisle.
Up in the sky, the airplane continued to fly as a figure in all black leaped out of it, plummeting towards the earth until the rainbow energy of the Bifrost came shooting towards it, sucking it clean out of the sky leaving only a handful of bills scattered to the winds.
Back in the room, Mobius slapped the desk in excitement. "I can't believe you were D.B. Cooper! Come on!"
"I was young and I lost a bet to Thor." Loki said bitterly. "Where was the TVA when I was meddling with these affairs of men?"
"Oh we were right there with you, just surfing that Sacred Timeline." Mobius said.
"Oh so that had the Time Keepers' seal of approval did it?" Loki said, annoyed.
"Well, I wouldn't think of it in terms of approval and disapproval." Mobius began. "That's sort of a...nevermind. Let's get back to escapes and a little psychobabble."
Loki produced an exassperated sigh.
"What is it that you think that you're really running from." Mobius said.
"Enough." Loki said, trying to stand up. Mobius responded instantly by pressing the device in his hand, sending Loki right back down to the chair.
"Back in your cage." Mobius said. "See, I can play the heavy keys too."
"I was just standing up to make a point."
Mobius chuckled. "I'm sorry. Go ahead."
"It won't be as meaningful now." Loki said.
"Okay, well stay seated." Mobius gestured.
"I'll do what I want to do!" Loki snapped.
"Sure." Mobius said.
Loki sighed and got up from his seat. "What exactly is it that you want?"
"I want you to be honest about why you do what you do." Mobius stated.
"Liar." Loki said.
"I'm serious." Mobius said standing up from his chair. "All I seek is a deeper understanding of the fearsome God of Mischief. What makes Loki tick?"
"I know what this place is." Loki said.
"What is it?" Mobius asked.
"It's an illusion!" Loki proclaimed. "It's a cruel elaborate trick conjured by the weak..." he continued, gesturing to Mobius. "...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."
"We are." Mobius said.
"You're not." Loki said back. "My choices are my own."
"Your choices are your own. Good, let's go with that." Mobius said before pressing another set of buttons on the module. "I think this one's gonna fire you up."
The screen transformed into an image of a crowd of civilians lowering themselves to a kneel.
"The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power." Loki stated as he walked among the masses.
"Precisely." Off screen Loki said. Then gestured towards the screen. "I was..." then corrected himself. "I am...on the verge of acquiring everything I am owed and when I do it'll be because I did it. Not because it was supposed to happen. Or because you, or the Time Variance Authority, or whatever it is you call yourselves allowed me to. Honestly, you're pathetic. An irrelevance. A detour. A footnote to my ascent."
"You finished." Mobius said. "You're gonna start taking things more seriously."
Loki groaned.
"If you hadn't picked up the Tesseract, you would have been taken to a cell on Asgard." Mobius stated, shifting to the next scene on the projector.
The screen depicted Loki in chains, being escorted down a hallway to his cell before being stopped by Frigga.
"Hello Mother." On screen Loki stated. "Have I made you proud?"
"Please don't make this worse." Frigga replied.
"What is this?" Loki questioned off screen. "This is nonsense, more tricks. This never even happened."
"Not to you." Mobius stated. "Not yet. Look. The TVA doesn't just know your whole past, we know your whole like how its all meant to be. Think of it as comforting."
Mobius fast forwarded the clip.
Loki shook his head. "This is absurd."
"Am I not your mother?" Frigga asked on screen.
Loki chuckled at the statement. "You're not."
"Hm." Frigga mused. "Always so perceptive about everyone but yourself."
"And then the Dark elves attack the palace, and you think you send them to Thor..." Mobius stated.
"You might wanna take the stairs to the left." On screen Loki said.
"But instead you send them..." Mobius began.
"I'll never tell." Frigga said just before getting brutally stabbed by the Dark Elves.
Loki shuddered, backing away from the screen, looking at it in horror. "Where do you have her...where is she?"
"You lead them right to her." Mobius said.
"I don't believe you." Loki said. "You're lying. It's not true."
"It IS true." Mobius stated firmly as he pointed at Loki. "That's the proper flow of time. And it happens again, and again, and again because it's supposed to. Because it HAS to. The TVA makes sure of it."
"Where is she?" Loki asked again.
Mobius brushed the question aside. "Now why don't you tell me, do you enjoy hurting people?"
"I don't believe you..."
"Do you enjoy killing?" Mobius asked.
"I'll kill you."
"What, like you did your mother?"
Loki grabbed the chair, lobbed it at the screen and then darted towards Mobius. Mobius used the device again; Loki winced in pain as he sailed straight onto the floor.
"Sorry, the Time Twister just loops you, not the furniture." Mobius explained, walking towards the projector, pressing more buttons on it. "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 others can achieve their best versions of themselves."
Loki looked back up to the screen as it shifted to another image. All of the Avengers, standing tall as beacons of hope and looking down on him. Loki looked back down in grief, shaking his head in disbelief. Mobius walked over to him, extending a hand.
"What is this place?" Loki asked before looking up at the hand hesitantly.
"Come on." Mobius beckoned. Loki deliberately accepted the hand.
As Mobius hoisted him up, the doors to the Time Theater opened.
Hunter B-15 entered. "What are you doing?"
"My job." Mobius said in a slightly agitated tone. "Is it yours to interrupt?"
"We have a situation." She stated.
"There's always a situation." Mobius sighed, then pointed a finger at Loki. "Don't go anywhere." he said as he walked towards the doors. "It was just getting good. Spirited."
Mobius left the room and the doors to the Time Theater closed.
"Talking to that Variant is a mistake." B-15 said.
"That's your position." Mobius shot back.
"He should be reset!" B-15 exclaimed.
"You think everyone should be reset." Mobius stated. "I'm getting good stuff in there-"
"We just lost another unit." B-15 said.
Mobius paused and gave a long sighed.
The doors to the Time Theater opened as Mobius reentered.
"Okay, Loki, I think we can finish up tomorrow and just pick it-" Mobius stopped himself as he entered the room to find it empty. No Loki in sight. He looked around the room inquisitively before feeling around in his pockets and looking skyward as the realization of what happened hit him. "Mischevious scamp."