For All Time. Always!

30 - The One with A Plan

  Finally making it to wherever we were, they open a hatch on the ground to some sort of bunker. We make our way, down, down, down, oh, wait, what's that? Just more down, before we finally make it to a sort of bowling alley, filled with decorations and overgrown plants.

  In the center, a throne rests, probably for the younger Loki.

  "So, why do you want to return to the TVA so badly, anyways?" the older Loki asks.

  I think for a moment. How was I supposed to explain that I was falling for a TVA agent? "You leave your glorious purpose there?" buff Loki asks.

  "Something like that." I continue looking around, bewildered by the number of things they had. There were candy canes, an obsessive amount of bowling pins, chairs, you name it, it's probably here.

  "Come on, then. Take a seat, I'll pour us some drinks," old Loki pleads. I oblige, awkwardly taking a seat with them, holding my goblet in my hand while he pours the wine into the alligator's mouth. It was an odd sight to say the least.

  "So," buff Loki continues. "After I vanquished Captain America and Iron Man..." I furrow my brows. "I claimed my prize, all six infinity stones." The alligator growls.

  Old Loki smirks. "That's alligator for growling and saying 'liar' at the same time."

  "Well at least my nexus event wasn't for eating the wrong neighbor's cat." The alligator snarls, jumping out of his little pool and charging for the boastful Loki, jumping to bite his hand. He grunts, struggling to take it off as we stand up to help.

  We pry the creature off of him while the younger Loki watches from his throne, amused. Old Loki finally throws the alligator back into his pool, letting us relax.

  "Tell them your story, Loki," the kid requests.

  "Me?" older Loki asks. "Nobody wants to hear about that."

  "I would, actually," I state. "Um... it's just, I've been wondering, because I'm... well, we're supposed to die, right? Thanos kills us after Ragnarök."

  "Thanos?" He shakes his head, placing the goblet on the table. "In my timeline, everything proceeded correctly, my entire life, until Thanos attacked our ship."

  "So, you didn't try and stab him?"

  He chuckles. "No, certainly not. Take no offense, my friends, but blades are worthless in the face of a Loki's sorcery. They stunt our magical potential."

  "But they look awesome," boastful Loki replies.

  "Oh, yes. Especially when they clatter to the ground just before your neck is snapped. I cast a projection of myself so real, even the Mad Titan believed it. Then, hid as inanimate debris. After I faked my death, I simply drifted in space. Away from Thor, away from everything. Thought about the universe and my place in it, and it occurred to me that everywhere I went, only pain followed. So, I removed myself from the equation. Landed on a remote planet and stayed there in isolation, in solitude, for a long, long time." He takes a drink.

  "How did the TVA find you?"

  "I got lonely." He chuckles. "To tell you the truth, I missed my brother, and I wondered if he ever missed me, if anybody did. If, um... well nevermind that." I furrow my brows. "But as soon as I took my first steps to getting off that planet, the TVA arrived. Because-"

  "Wait, wait, hold on... what were you about to say?" I interrupt.

  He sighs. "If-"

  "Loki," the young one says, sternly.

  "Don't say her name," boastful Loki pleads.

  He takes a breath, stopping himself. I furrow my brows once more. "Who's name?" They all look to the leader who sighs himself, ready to explain it himself.

  "Y/n. We've all had her, we've all fallen for her, but somehow and someway, we've all lost her," he says, his eyes becoming slightly damp. I turn to the others, them looking down in sorrow. Even the alligator looks sad.

  "You've all lost your Y/n's?"

  They nod their heads, making me think for a moment. That's it!

  I quickly rummage around my pocket, successfully finding the small device gifted to me. They look at me, furrowing their brows. "What's that?"

  "Y/n thinks I'm dead. This," I hold it up, showing it off. "Will let her know I am in fact not dead, giving her some hope in getting us out of here." I press the button, making them wait in anticipation.

  "What now?" the kid asks.

  "Why isn't it working?" I say, pressing the button to hopefully call her. I groan, upset at my failure. "The buttons jammed. I can at least use this one to alert her that I'm alive," I sigh, pressing the working button.

  "Five pins says it won't work," boastful Loki offers.

  "Deal," the others say simultaneously.

  "What?" I furrow my brows. "Why wouldn't it work?"

  "Because, my friend. A Loki never wins. We are the Gods of Outcasts," the older one says, putting forward his goblet before taking a drink, the others following suit.

  I shake my head, standing up. "I'm going."

  "Going where?" he asks, standing up with the rest.

  "Out of this place, out of the void, back to the TVA. We're as good at escaping as we are at surviving. That way it gives me a decent chance as any."

  "You won't do either, you'll be murdered."

  "Well, so be it. That was my destiny to begin with."

  "You're different," younger Loki says. "Why?"

   "No, I'm not, you see?" I go back down the stairs, towards his throne. "I'm the same, really. I'm the same as all of you. Have any of you met a woman variant of us?"

  "Sounds terrifying," older Loki complains.

  "Oh, she is. But that's kind of what's great about her. She's different. She's not trying to take over the TVA, she's trying to take it down. And Y/n... well, I think you know that she's fierce. She may not have any powers of her own, but she can certainly do whatever her mind sets on. She needs me.

Now, you said Alioth is what keeps us here." Younger me nods his head. "You said it's a living thing." I point to the boastful me. "You said it's a shark," I finish, pointing to elder me. "Well, if it lives, it dies. So, I'm gonna kill the shark. I'm gonna kill Alioth, and I could use all the help I can get." I finish, hoping to get a team going on.

  They look amongst each other, not quite giving me the reaction I was hoping for, before erupting into loud laughter. Well that's just rude.

  Humiliated, I make my way to the exit, ready to do this alone. "Monsters," I mumble before climbing up the ladder. I open the hatch, seeing a large group, staring at someone almost identical to myself.

  "Ah, hello. Which one of us are you?"

  I huff, nodding my head. "This is a nightmare."