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End of file. That was it, the end of my existence upon the sacred timeline.
The tape fell out of the small device, slowly drifting to the floor. It was shorter than I cared to see and ended so abruptly with my neck being effortlessly snapped. The final sound playing on the tape was the scream of a woman, her voice filled with heartbreak and pain. Sigyn's voice was the last thing I was to ever hear in my life and yet it sounded like nails on a chalkboard. The way her scream rattled in my ears made me sick to my stomach.
I grabbed the chair, steadying myself as I reeled over the events I had just witnessed. No matter what evils I was bound to commit, I knew my life was meant to be more than what was demonstrated. How could it be cut so short? So abruptly? I had so much that I longed to witness, to do, and to see. Would I truly never be able to see my daughter grow up, to find her first love? Even now, I so desperately wanted to grow old with Sigyn and spend every waking moment with her. My heart felt crushed at the reality that I would never be able to do any of these things.
Hot, stinging tears began to stream down my face as I took it all in. So much for being born to rule and so much for the vows I had made to Sigyn about growing old together. So much for life. I couldn't help but laugh at the melancholy reality of it all
"What's so funny," Hunter B-15 asked, walking into the viewing room
"Glorious purpose," I muttered, laughing in disbelief of it all.
I turned to her, my blood boiling. This stupid TVA, this idiot slave, all of it was catastrophically asinine. I wanted to go home. I wanted to get out of this hell hole. The only thing standing in the way was Hunter B-15, and I was planning on making her pay.
Swiftly, I charged her. Immediately I was hit and pinned against the table, her entire bodyweight working against me. I struggled to get my arm free, reaching for the remote of the time twister. Once I had hold of the device, I flipped the two of us over. I held her arms behind her as I made quick work of releasing the collar from my neck and putting it onto her. The hunter gasped in shock, reaching to hit me before I shot her back through time with a click of a button.
I took a moment to breathe before pressing the button again. I watched as she practically glitched through time. Stumbling over herself as she appeared and the disappeared, appeared and then disappeared. Over and over again. It was entertaining for a second but quickly, it got boring. I threw the remote down in exasperation.
I sat down with the tesseract in hand. But it didn't matter. The stone was no more than a block within the restraints of the TVA. I placed it gently on the floor, hanging my head in my hands. There was nowhere to run, nothing to do. All hope of returning home drained out of me.
Slowly, the door creaked open as quiet footsteps lead into the room.
"Nowhere left to go, Loki," Mobius chided cautiously. His voice was quiet compared to the steady buzz of the turning stick he held.
"I can't go back can I?" I asked softly, looking up at him, "Back to my timeline?"
Mobius sighed gently, his eyes told me my answer loud and clear. No.
"I don't enjoy hurting people," I stammered quietly, "I...I don't enjoy it. I do it because I...I have to, because I've had to. It's the cruel elaborate trick conjured by the weak to inspire fear."
Mobius nodded, "A desperate play for control."
He chuckled lightly, slowly walking toward me as he continued, "You do know yourself."
"I'm a villain," I said softly.
A villain. Sounds appropriate for a monster as atrocious as me. I had betrayed everyone who had ever loved me. Not one person was untouched by my infidelity towards trust and relationship. I was a pathetic man who had the insane audacity to call himself a god. At the end of the day, I was no better than anyone. I'm fact, I was worse than everyone. Yet somehow people had hope for me. Somehow Thor had hope for me, even our mother did. And most importantly, Sigyn believed in me. She consistently demonstrated her trust in my ability to do good. Constantly she insisted that I was a good man. She was the only one who rooted for me throughout the last years of my life and yet I had betrayed her too. I was a sick individual. I was a villain.
Mobius however, didn't feel the same. He shook his head and said gently, "That's not how I see it."
I sighed, picking up the tesseract. I examined it, looking over every icy blue surface. I smiled softly as I realized it was the same shade of blue that Sigyn's eyes had miraculously shifted to.
"Tried to use that?" Mobius asked, gesturing to the cube with his pruning device.
"Oh yes, several times," I admitted, "Even an i of unity stone is useless here."
I scoffed, gently tossing it up and down through the air.
"The TVA is formidable," I said, gently putting the Tesseracr back down.
"That's been my experience," Mobius seconded, "Listen, I can't offer you salvation but maybe I can offer you something better."
I eyed him as I stood up. Nothing could be better than going back to my life, going back to Sigyn and Hela. I knew this and I was genuinely surprised Mobius would even dare offer an alternative.
"A fugitive variant's been killing out minutemen," he explained.
"And you need the God of Mischief to help you stop him?" I teased.
"That's right," he agreed.
"Why me?"
Mobius paused a moment before he explained, "The variant we're hunting is...you."
"I beg your pardon?"