Dagger through the multiverse

Chapter 1

"Take it easy. You're an analyst, right? What division are you from?"
"What? What are you talking about?"
"Who are you? What's your name? Who are you?"

Loki's POV

Mobius looked right through me. He doesn't recognize me anymore, does he? As I am trying to catch my breath, I look around and notice an enormous statue of the man Sylvie and I had previously encountered, right where the time-keepers used to be.
Sylvie. No, no, I can't think about her. She pushed me away, that was her choice. She will never trust me and I should not act like a loyal dog, trying to get her attention. There are clearly far more important matters at hand right now.

"Sir, would you please come with us?" Some TVA agents, led by Mobius, pulled me out of my thoughts. I was too confused to react, to be honest. Without waiting for a reaction, they put a collar around my neck and dragged me to Mobius' office.

The smell of peppermint overwhelmed me as I walked into the familiar room. "Leave us", Mobius ordered the agents. When they obeyed, he turned to me with a serious look. His expression, his posture, were the same as the Mobius I used to know. Yet, something felt very off about him. Though I couldn't quite put my finger on it, deep down, I did realise that I might've just lost my best -and only- friend.

He spoke up: "I looked for your files in the archive, but didn't find anything that could explain why you're here or how you got here. The TVA never registered your presence, so now I wonder how on earth you could've possibly ended up here." I smiled at him: "Well, clearly, I am beyond your understanding. I am Loki of Asgard, and I am burdened with glorious power. The Bifrost must have brought me here, accidentally. So I suggest I am going to relief you of this interrogation and return to my home."

Even though I radiated confidence, as I always do, Mobius didn't look impressed at all. "Lies, Loki of Asgard. I know I must look oblivious to you, but I know more than you think. I am aware of who you are and what you have done. I know you're a liar, a murderer, a hypocrite--" "It's a pleasure to meet you, too", I said without letting him finish and I immediately took advantage of the brief silence: "Look, I don't care what you know. I'm not supposed to be here. I know more about this place than you do and I have way more important matters at hand. So, if you'll excuse me." I stood up, but Mobius used the TemPad to loop me back into my chair, as he leaned back into his.

"Oh, so you know more about this place than I do? Really? Well, go on then, enlighten me." I smiled and leaned forward, putting my elbows on the table that separated us. "You had a life before this, before you joined the TVA. You were variants." I fell back into my chair, feeling in control of the conversation. Mobius laughed, leaving me confused "No shit Sherlock, I chose this job to maintain the balance in our sacred universe. I screwed up, but luckily, Kang gave me the opportunity to be a better man."

The atmosphere was changing. The hostility disappeared a bit, which I rather appreciated, but I also lost control over the conversation, because of my lack of knowledge, which is a bad thing when you want to convince someone. "What? Who the hell is Kang?" Mobius laughed again. He was starting to piss me off, I have to admit. "Kang the Conqueror? He founded the TVA. Honestly, Loki, you're an excellent liar. Saying you knew more than me about this place, I really almost believed you. It's true you're very persuasive." I frowned. Kang the Conqueror? Is that how the man we met was called? What a silly name, Christ. You rule all time and you chose to call yourself 'Kang the Conqueror'. My name, on the other hand, would fit way better for that position.

"But wait", I thought out loud, "you said sacred universe, and not sacred timeline." It was Mobius' turn to look confused now: "Yes, it's not as if there is one timeline. There are multiple, linked to their own universe." There was a brief silence. "Seriously, how can you say you know more than I do, if you don't even know the basics." A multiverse. Of course. Multiple realities with their own timelines. That's what Sylvie created when he killed him. Where would she be now? Kang said that, when he would be killed, many versions of him would arise. Many bad ones as well. The universes will be at war, when they find contact with each other. Maybe they already did. If so, that would mean they are at the exact place where Sylvie is now. And that would mean she's in serious danger. I have to find her. I have to save her.

"So Loki, I'll ask again, how did you come here?" I was pulled out of my thoughts. I realised that I needed a plan, but there wasn't enough time. Luckily, I'm good at being impulsive.

I stood up, and took the TemPad from Mobius before he could even use the Time Twister to loop me back to my chair. I dodged his punch, kicked him in the back, causing him to fall down with a smack. Using that time to my advantage, I relieved myself of the collar around my neck, and put it around Mobius'. I walked to the door, and stood there smiling. "I am going to destroy your timeline, your whole universe", just to piss him off. Mobius got up and ran towards me, angrily, but I used the Time Twister to prevent him from catching me. "GUARDS!" I took that as my queue to get out of there. Using a Time Door, I went for a trip through the TVA. I had no interest in escaping, though. On the contrary, I had to get caught. But, I had to go down in style.

I was walking to my destination, in a less crowded corridor, when I saw a familiar face at a desk. "Change of plans", I whispered to myself and started walking in a different direction. "Well, hello there", I greeted while approaching the man. He was wearing the same outfit as when I first met him. A white shirt with a black tie and some ballpoint pens in his pocket. "Excuse me, who are you", he answered. I tried to look as shocked as possible: "How do you not remember me? I am offended." He looked at me confused. I didn't have much time for this, though. "Casey, give me the Tesseract back or I'll cut you like a fish." "What's a fish?" He looked confused. "How do you not know what a fish is?" "I need to know exactly what I'm threatened with." "DEATH, Casey. Violent, painful death." "Okay, okay", he answered with his hands in the air as if I was about to arrest him. He amused me, but I thought it more wise not to show that and kept up my threatening façade. The man started looking in some desk drawers, and -after a few moments of chaotic scrambling- held out the Tesseract. I took it, verified it's authenticity, and put it away, even though I didn't actually need it. It was fun, so who cares. "Also, Casey, while I'm here, could I have a chisel and a hammer?"

As soon as he gave me the tools, I heard the rythmic sound of footsteps. Obviously, they belonged to some hunters coming my way. I turned to Casey and told him I'd be back for him, but that I had to go to Mobius' office first, knowing that, when the guards would arrive, he'd send them in that direction. The wrong one. Yes, it's smart, I'm aware. I took the TemPad to create a Time Door, which send me right to the place I had in mind.

I landed at the feet of Kang the Conqueror. It was a massive statue, situated in the centre of the TVA, made out of a light shade of caramel colored stone. I looked around me. No hunters. It wouldn't take them very long to notice I didn't go to Mobius' office, but I didn't care and started climbing to the height of their fonder's face.

2 minutes later, my TemPad fell out of my pocket. I looked down and saw that quite a crowd had gathered around the statue. A few hunters too, calling for backup. They were screaming stuff and looked mad, what a pitty. I realized that I didn't have much time left, so started working a bit faster.

After 5 minutes, I was ready with the inscription on their sacred Kang's face. I leaned back and looked at my work.

Loki of Asgard
A real conqueror :))

Happily, I looked down, becoming aware of the hunters who surrounded the statue and were now starting to make their way up here. They couldn't use a Time Door, since there was no safe place to come out of it. I was fighting them off, possibly killed a few because of the fall, while I was trying to hold on to the statue myself.

There were a lot of them climbing up now. One of them called out to me: "Last chance to come down with us, sir." "Nah, I'm good, thanks." He climbed further up, together with 10 others, I estimate. One came up to me and tried to swing me off my feet, but I kicked him off before he even could. The second one tried to stab me, but I could easily dodge him. The third one was rather original and tried to climb up me, causing me to lose my balance. As I tried to recover, another successfully pruned me. I disappeared in thin air, going exactly where I wanted to.