Y/N's POV
We walked inside the store. Loki and I were soaked from the rain. I put my hand on Loki's head and messed with his hair. He grabbed my wrist and used his powers to dry us both.
"Thank you" I said.
"Well, wouldn't want you to catch a cold. Especially not now" He said.
"What was that ?" B-15 asked, a little defensive.
"That was me using magic to dry our clothes. I don't want to announce myself with squeaky footstep like rest of you" Loki said with a sarcastic tone.
"Remember, when we sneaked out of the palace to walk in the rain at night, and when we came back everyone had woken up" I said with a laugh.
"Well it wouldn't have happened if you hadn't slipped and dragged me with you" Loki said with a chuckle.
The lights in the store flickered.
"No time for chitchat. Take both teams and sweep the storm shelter" B-15 commanded.
"Loki, Y/N and I are gonna check out the greenhouse. We'll meet-" Mobius was cut off by B-15.
"No"
"No ?" Mobius answered back.
"You go with D-90. They stay with me"
"They're under my supervision" Mobius said trying to defend his point.
"This is my field op Mobius"
"I want them with me"
"You are welcome to go back at the TVA and litigate with Renslayer, but right now-" B-15 was cut off by Mobius who was getting more angry by the second.
"We're here, we're not going back. The variant is here !"
"Mobius, it's fine. It's fine. We'll go with her" Loki said as we walked towards B-15.
Mobius walked away with his team as we walked towards the greenhouse.
"I'm glad we're spending this time together" Loki said trying to annoy the hunter.
"Quiet"
We heard a noise coming from one of the stores isles. We walked towards the sound and we saw a man looking at plants.
"Hey !" B-15 said trying to get his attention.
He turned around to face us. He was shocked when he saw us, but he quickly went back to being calm.
"What are you doing ?" B-15 asked the man.
"Shopping for plants"
"In this storm ?" Loki asked.
"It's a hurricane sale"
"Could that be you ?" B-15 asked Loki.
"I mean, I probably would have worn a suit but, yes, maybe" Loki answered.
B-15 walked towards the man. He grabbed her wrist and green magic flowed trough the hunter as the suspect fell to the floor.
The variant in B-15's body turned around to face us.
"Is he dead ?" I asked.
I heard the variant gulp loudly.
"N-No. They usually survive" They answered.
I was surprised. The variant seemed nervous, but after a couple sentences their calm attitude came back.
"So you're the people the TVA brought to bring me down ?" They asked.
"Me, I presume ?" Loki asked.
"Please. If anyone's anyone. You're me" They answered with a smile.
Loki smiled back.
"This is awkward" I said.
"How nice to meet you" Loki said.
We followed the variant trough different isles of the store.
"Enchantment, that's impressive. Cowardly, a bit amateur-ish but clever" Loki said trying to make small talk.
"Almost as cowardly as working for the TVA" They answered.
"You should probably see who you've enchanted" I said.
"I'm working for us" Loki said as he pointed at himself, then me.
"You really believes that, don't you ?" The variant said with a scoff.
"And here I was worried that they'd found a better version of me" The variant chuckled at their own joke.
A young man who looked like an employee walked next to the variant.
"Hi, are you looking for the disaster shelter ?" The young man asked.
The variant grabbed his wrist and enchanted him, making B-15 fall to the floor. The variant continued walking.
I bent down to check on B-15. She wasn't hurt and she was breathing.
"Are you going to call your little friends for help ?" They asked me and I got up.
Loki and I followed them as they walked away.
"What's the matter ? You too scared to meet us face-to-face ?" Loki asked.
"Show yourself" I said.
"Gaining their confidence was no mean feat" Loki said.
"You went undercover" The variant said as they stopped walking and faced us.
"If you could possibly sheathe your smarm for a moment, I have an offer for you. That's why I found you" Loki said.
"Go on" The variant said turning around and continuing their walk.
"We're going to overthrow the Time-Keepers" Loki admitted.
The variant stopped walking once more.
"We could use an ally, who's been escaping from the TVA for a while" Loki said.
"And I assume you mean me ?" The variant said with a smile.
"What do you say, Loki ?" Loki asked trying to convince his variant.
"Don't call me that !" They answered with a look of disgust.
"Then what do we call you ?" I asked.
They looked at the employee who they had enchanted's name tag.
"Randy" They answered.
"Now I understand why Thor found this so annoying" Loki said with an annoyed huff.
"Enough with the games" Loki said with an assertive tone.
"We're trying to help you" I said.
"I kept them vulnerable at the Renaissance Fair for some time" Loki added.
"Oh, gosh and that was just so nice of you. But after eight to ten seconds of consideration, the answer is no. I'm not interested in ruling the Time Variance Authority" The variant said walking closer to us and then running away.
Loki and I kept on following.
"If you don't want to rule the TVA, even without us, what do you want ?" I asked.
"It doesn't matter. You're too late"
"I think you'll find we're well ahead of schedule" Loki said.
"I found your hiding place quite easily" I said.
"I'd say I'm the superior Loki, wouldn't you ?" Loki said trying to annoy his Variant.
I saw multiple reset charges on the shelves.
"Loki, look" I said pointing at the stolen equipment.
"I see. That's your plan. Lure us here so you can blow the place up" Loki said, but when we looked back at the Variant, they were gone.
Loki and I looked around for them, but they were no where to be seen.
Suddenly, someone kicked Loki from behind. He fell on the floor far away. Behind us was a tall man with more muscle than Loki.
"I miss Randy" I said.
The man tried fighting Loki.
"Thanks for helping me stall for time. You really do love to hear yourself talk" The Variant, in the body of another man, said.
"You're the first person to tell me that" Loki said.
"Loki not the time, sweetheart" I said as I ran towards the man to attack.
The man kicked Loki away, and lifted me in the air. I tried grabbing his head, but before I could, he threw me with full force into an isle. I slid like a bowling ball into the wall.
Weirdly enough, The Variant was more concentrated on hurting Loki. I guessed that it was their want for superiority. After living with a Loki for over a thousand years, I learned that Loki, at least mine, loved to be better than others.
After a little while I ran back into the fight. Loki was fighting the Variant but he kept on getting thrown around.
I kneeled next to Loki.
"Are you alright ?" I asked as I helped him up.
"I'm fine. Thank you Darling"
We walked towards the tall man. He was messing around with reset charges and TemPads.
"What do you want from us ? What is this about ?" Loki screamed.
The man got up and chuckled.
"Brace yourselves" The Variant said as the man fell on the floor.
A figure wearing a cape stood behind us. Their hands were glowing green with magic. The Variant.
They walked close to us and removed their hood.
It was a woman. She had dyed blond hair and she wore Loki's signature horned crown. One of the horns was broken.
"This isn't about you" The Variant said spitting venom with their words.
Loki and I stood there in shock.
The lights went out. The only things visible were the TemPads.
All the reset charges began turning on at the same time. The lights were back on, they were red.
The Variant took a TemPad from the floor and began pressing buttons.
She opened a portal, waved at me and left. The portal was still opened.
"What do we do ?" I asked.
"The only thing I'm good at"
"That is ?"
"Escaping"
Before we could run into the portal we saw Mobius and his team behind us.
"Loki ! Y/N !" He screamed.
Loki looked back. He hesitated.
He grabbed my hand and ran into the portal. The portal closed behind us, and we were gone.
Published : 24-11-21
Number of Words : 1508
Edited : 08-06-22