Sylvie woke up on a bed of twigs and branches. She looked around her and realized she was inside of an old, hollowed out, school bus. She looked around inquisitively. When she heard a crash of thunder and wind around her, she got to her feet immediately. Kicking out the front window of the bus, she escaped to see a menacing cloud of purple mist headed her way.

She leaped off of the bus as it was being devoured and bolted for it. Slowly the mist began to catch up to her. As she vaulted over another broken down car she reached out and touched a tendril of the purple smoke. A flash of green energy glimmered in her eyes as a series of images flashed through her mind. A giant carved out asteroid floating through space, and on it an enormous tower, a citadel at the center of it.

The images died away an reality came rushing back to Sylvie. The honk of a horn beeped. She looked ahead to see a car with a giant pizza on a spring attached to its roof heading her way. The car stopped in front of her and the back door opened up.

She got in and the car drove off. Sylvie looked to the driver.

"You!?" She questioned.

"Can you shut the door." Mobius said. "We still got a bit of a situation here."

Sylvie shut the door.

"By the way, you should be careful just jumping into a stranger's car like that." Mobius remarked.

A tendril of the cloud creature came rushing in front of the car.

"Watch out!" Sylvie pointed to it.

"I see it, I see it." Mobius said.

"Really, cause your driving right towards it." Sylvie said.

"God, you really are one of you." Mobius said. "Hang on!"

Mobius took a sharp turn to the left towards a set of Egyptian pyramids as he pumped the gas in a desperate attempt to outrun the horror that was behind them.

***

President Loki smiled malevolently as he stood with his gang in front of the other Lokis.

"You bastard!" Classic Loki spat at Loki. "You led the wolves to our door."

"We prefer snakes to wolves." President Loki remarked.

"I've eaten both." Kid Loki said, stepping forward defiantly. "They die just the same."

Boastful Loki stepped forward and grabbed him from behind, holding the hammer up to his neck. "Apologies, my liege. I betrayed you." He said proudly. "And now...I'm king."

President Loki stepped forward. "About that..."

The gang of Lokis brandished their weapons behind him.

"You can't be serious." Boastful Loki said.

"Come on." President Loki said slyly. "What did you expect?"

"That was not the bargain." Boastful Loki stated. "I gave you our location. In exchange for shelter and supplies, you give me your army and I take the throne."

"Ah, yes." President Loki mused. "Not so good a bargain. How about this one: my army, my throne."

"About that..." One of the Lokis behind him said and a moment later all of the weapons were suddenly pointed at him.

President Loki stared in disbelief. "Oh you beef-witted, half-faced scrubs! We had a deal!"

In background Loki rolled his eyes in bewilderment at the display before him.

"For god's sake." Boastful Loki muttered.

Alligator Loki growled.

President Loki looked down at him. "Why the hell is there an alligator in here?"

"He's a Loki!" Kid and Classic Loki exclaimed.

The alligator immediately pounced, leaping into the air and landing on his hand. President Loki struggled against the gator before ripping it off and find out that it wasn't the only thing that came off. He lifted his arm up and immediately screamed when he realized that he had no hand.

All chaos broke loose after that moment with all of the Loki engaging in combat with each other in an all out free for all. Classic, Kid, Gator and Variant Loki all tried their best to sneak about admist the pool of violence occuring around them. Screams, projectiles and blasts of energy came flying everywhere. The entire bowling alley had descended into a cacophony of dissonant madness.

"Glorious purpose!" The Lokis shouted above the sea of clamor.

Classic Loki conjured up a set of illusionary doppelgangers of the four of them to engage in the battle. He tapped Loki on the shoulder. "Come on."

The four of them rallied at the top of the bowling alley. Classic Loki swiped his hands to form a portal of green mist. He and Kid Loki, carrying Alligator Loki in his arms, entered through it. Loki took one more look back at the madness that had transpired behind them, shook his head in utter disapproval then entered through the portal.

"Damn it." Classic Loki said upon emerging from the portal. "Animals. Animals! We lie and we cheat. We cut the throat of every person who trusts us, and for what? Power. Glorious power. Glorious purpose!" His voice became quieter. "We cannot change. We're broken. Every version of us forever."

"And whenever one of us dares try to fix themselves they're sent here to die!" Kid Loki joined in.

"That's why I need to get out of here." Loki said. "Nothing can change until the TVA is stopped."

"And you trust her?" Classic Loki questioned.

"She's the only one I do trust." Loki responded. "And right now, I believe she's our only chance of stopping the TVA."

"That's good enough for me." Kid Loki said.

Classic Loki sighed before inevitably conceding. "Okay. Okay, we'll help you. But approaching Alioth is a death sentence. We'll get you to it. But that's as far as we go."

Loki nodded in acceptance.

***

Mobius and Sylvie continued to drive. Alioth seemed to slow its pace. Perhaps in pursuit of something in the distance.

"All that time, I really believed we were the good guys." Mobius said.

"Annihilating entire realities. Orphaning little girls. Classic hero stuff." Sylvie regarded.

"Well, I guess when you think the ends justify the means there's not much you won't do." Mobius said. "By the way, you did some annihilating too."

"I did what I had to do." Sylvie said.

"Yeah, so did I."

"You hunted me like a dog." Sylvie said.

Mobius looked back in shame. "Sorry about that."

Sylvie looked bitterly out the window. "When I pruned myself, I thought I might be able to find Loki. That storm, that thing, has likely already got him."

"You really believe that?" Mobius countered.

"It doesn''t matter." Sylvie said. "All that matters now, is getting out of here and finding out who's behind all of this."

"Great." Mobius agreed. "How do we do that?"

"We turn around."

Mobius looked back. "Turn around? You want to go back to the angry cloud monster?"

"Yeah, I think it might be the answer." Sylvie stated, then more assertively. "We're going back to it."

Mobius produced a look of reluctance and then turned the car around.

***

"I have to say, it feels odd walking toward the gargantuan creature." Classic Loki remarked. "Do you have a plan of action?"

"Get inside, find its heart or brain or whatever, and then, you know do it in." Loki said.

"I mean..." Kid Loki began as he guided them along with some time of radar signal device.

"Just because it's not complicated doesn't mean it's bad." Loki pointed out.

"It also doesn't mean it's good." Kid Loki said.

Alligator Loki produced a low growl.

"See?" Loki said, gesturing towards him. "He's on board."

"He's praying." Classic Loki said. "He thinks we're going to die."

Kid Loki's device pinged. At the same time beyond the edge of the plateau they were standing on an enormous light emerged and the branched matter was conjured. Alioth was quick to follow.

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An enormous battleship fell from the sky, landing onto the ground. Sailors scrambled around it desperately.

"Alioth is like any animal." Loki stated confidently. "He'll go for the big meal first. And while he's busy with that, we can seak around the back and uh-"

Alioth approached the ship. All of the sailors looked in terror as he came into the vicinity.

"Fire!" One of the officers commanded. The ship fired from all of its turrets, artillery and other manner of armaments at Alioth. All of the munitions sailed harmlessly though the clouds.

Alioth descended upon them, swallowing up the entire ship and all of its crew alive. By the time Alioth had left, the ship had become nothing more than a skeleton.

Loki looked forward in pure shock. "Okay. Um, maybe we think a bit more about this, huh?"

Kid Loki turned around and said. "Car."

The others turned with him.

"What?" Loki asked.

"Along the horizon." Classic Loki answered.

"Is that bad?"

"Well, usually means cannibalistic marauders or cannibalistic pirates." Kid Loki said.

"Delightful." Loki regarded. "Now they're slowing down."

"What are they doing?" Classic Loki chimed in.

"Just stay on guard." Kid Loki urged.

The car stopped and two figures exited. Upon seeing them Loki immediately ran towards them. "Sylvie."

"I don't understand. Is he a coward or was he being brave?" Classic Loki commented.

"I'm not sure." Kid Loki answered.

Loki arrived in front of Sylvie and Mobius.

"You're alive." She commented upon his arrival.

"What happened? You okay?" Loki asked then turned to the man. "Mobius! How did you..."

"We thought you could do with some backup." Sylvie said with a smile.

Loki placed his hands on his hips and cocked his head in disappointment.

The other Lokis approached from behind them. Sylvie prepared to confront them.

"Oh no, wait, wait, wait, these are my friends." Loki said. "Well, they're, um...how best to put this. Us as a child, us in the future and us as um...an alligator."

Sylvie arched her eyebrows at him.

"It's best not to question it." He said.

Mobius chuckled. "You throw a rock out here, you hit a Loki."

"So you're all after the cloud monster too, then?" Sylvie asked.

"Well, we haven't decided how we're going to kill it, but-"

"Sorry, come again..." Sylvie questioned. "Kill it?"

"Yes, we're going to kill Alioth."

"Oh my god, that was your plan?" She said.

"Yeah?"

Sylvie turned to the other Variants. "And you all went along with it?"

"I had my doubts." Kid Loki said.

"Probably unsafe." said Classic Loki.

"All right, well, what's your plan, then?" Loki said.

"I think the person we're after is beyond The Void at the end of time." Sylvie stated. "And if they are, that thing is just their guard dog protecting the only way in."

"Okay, so um, how do we get passed the guard dog?"

"I'm going to enchant it." Sylvie said.

Loki scoffed and then went into a long chuckle. Sylvie rolled her eyes impatiently.

"That's insane." Loki said.

"As insane as what? Paper-cutting the giant cloud to death?"

"Listen, I've been down here a bit longer than you-"

"I'm going to enchant it." Sylvie said with certainty.

Loki paused and looked to Mobius.

"She's pretty confident." Mobius said with a smile.

Loki placed a hand on his hip and cocked his head in confusion.

***

Judge Renslayer walked into the Time Theater, immediately approaching one of its walls at the other end of the room.

"Leave us." She told the two guards posted in front of the doors. They obliged.

After they left, Renslayer pull out a remote from her pocket and pressed a few buttons on it. A whole section of the wall opened up to reveal a cell made of several red pixelated cubes. Inside sat Hunter B-15.

She looked up as Renslayer approached. "Why am I locked in here?"

"You freed the Variant." Renslayer said. "You were disloyal to the TVA."

"Disloyal."

"Did you think you'd escape punishment?" Renslayer said.

"Disloyal to who?" Hunter B-15 asked. "You were in the Time Keepers' chamber they weren't real."

"And why do you think that changes anything?"

"That changes everything!" Hunter B-15 exclaimed. "The people need to know the truth."

"No, the TVA needs stability." Ravonna said. "And until we can figure out what's going on, that is what it will get. So you need to tell me everything."

"What exactly do you want from me?" B-15 asked.

"You had a link with the Variant." Renslayer said. "I want you to tell me what drives her."

"Revenge drives her." B-15 said. "Killing the Time Keepers. But they turned out to be fake in case you forgot. So she'll be searching for whomever created them."

Ravonna glanced away for the briefest of moments.

B-15 noticed and scoffed. "This isn't about protecting the TVA at all, is it? You just want to find whoever is behind all of this, too." B-15 chuckled. "You'll never find them. Not before she does."

"And why is that?"

"You only want it." B-15 said. "She needs it."

Ravonna exited the Time Theater and pulled out her Tempad.

Miss Minutes emerged from it. "Hey ya'll!"

"I need all the files on the founding of the TVA." Ravonna requested. "Everything from the beginning of time."

"Well that's a mighty tall order." Miss Minutes said.

"Whoever created this place is in danger." Ravonna said. "I need to find them."

"Okay." Miss Minutes agreed. "Right away, ma'am."

***

Mobius and the Lokis took camp in the ruins of an abandoned barbershop that was missing most of it's walls and didn't serve as a great shelter, but a shelter all the same.

Mobius, Classic, Kid, and Gator Loki were sat around the fire inside the barbershop.

"You really don't remember him?" Classic Loki said.

"I mean the TVA arrested a lot of Lokis, but, no, I don't remember an alligator." Mobius replied. "I mean who's to say he's even a Loki Variant?"

Classic Loki shrugged. "He is green isn't he?"

"I don't know, he could be lying. The long con. " Mobius mused. "Of course, that just makes him more likely to be a Loki. Always the game within the game with you guys. Which I respect."

"Mobius," Kid Loki said. "Assuming you do get back to the TVA, what exactly are you getting yourself into?"

"I don't know." Mobius responded. "I'd like to let people know the truth."

"So just like that you're turning on the very thing you dedicated your life to?" Classic Loki chimed in.

Mobius shrugged. "Well, it's never too late to change."

Classic Loki paused and stared at the fire in contemplation.

"I hope they know what they're doing." Kid Loki said, staring outwards.

Right outside of the barbershop, the two Lokis sat next to each other in the grass.

"Mobius isn't so bad." Sylvie said.

"Or so good." Loki added. "I think that's why we get along."

"He cares about you."

Loki looked over to her. A cool breeze went by, prompting him to rub his shoulders.

"It's cold." He said.

"Mhm." Sylvie agreed.

Loki waved his hand and conjured a green silky blanket around himself.

He bundled up further in it. "I could conjure one for you if you'd like?"

"I'll tell you what, you could conjure me a new outfit." She said, pulling at her collar. "You have no idea how uncomfortable something like this is."

Loki shook his head in amusement then produced a scoff.

"So..." Sylvie began. "...Mobius and his um...theory about..."

"Right, right. About our nexus event." Loki finished.

"Total rubbish right?"

"Absolutely. Of course. I mean..."

"I don't mean that it wasn't a nice moment..." Sylvie continued awkwardly.

"No, it was great. It was really nice."

"It just sounds like another TVA lie."

"A hundred percent. I mean, totally, yeah." He stammered.

A silence fell on the both of them for a moment.

"I don't know how to do this." Sylvie said.

"I don't even know what we're doing."

Sylvie looked over to him. "I don't have friends." She admitted. "I don't have...anyone."

"Well...there are more important things right?" Loki said.

"Right? Yeah." Sylvie agreed. "Like...like bringing down the TVA."

"Saving the universe, even." Loki expanded.

"Well, there's no need to be dramatic, but, yeah, kind of."

Another cool breeze washed over the both of them. Sylvie shivered. Loki glanced over to her, then waved his hand again, causing a wave of green magic to rush over the blanket, extending it. Sylvie flinched as the blanket wrapped around her, but relaxed afterwards.

Bundling herself she remarked. "It's not very snuggly."

Loki chuckled. "Okay?"

"Is it a tablecloth?" She asked.

"No?" Loki scoffed. "It's a blanket."

She took in a repressed breath and said. "Thank you."

Loki looked at her and paused before answering. "My pleasure."

Another quiet silence settled between them.

Sylvie broke it. "How do I know that, in the final moments, you won't betray me?"

Loki shifted to turn towards her and sighed deeply. "Listen, Sylvie I betrayed everyone who ever loved me. I betrayed my father, my brother...my home. I know what I did. And I know why I did it. And that's not who I am anymore. Okay? I won't let you down."

"You sure?" She asked. "Cause if we make it, and the TVA is gone, there might be a timeline for you to rule."

"Ah, and then I'd finally be happy." Loki said with a smile. She smiled back at him. "What about you? What will you do when this is all over."

Sylvie paused to think for a moment. "I don't know."

"I don't know either." Loki said. "Maybe...we could figure it out...together."

Sylvie looked at him. "Maybe." She said.