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The three were walking through an area with various desks and shelves around, in a fashion that reminded Týr of a library, encircling three large statues at the centre. He gazed at the giant statues of the Time-Keepers with a look of disgust, as Mobius began to explain what he wanted them to do.
"I need you to go over each and every one of the Variant's case files, and then, give me your... how do I put it? Your unique Loki and Týr perspectives. And who knows? Maybe there's something that we missed."
"Well, you're idiots. I suspect you probably missed a lot." Loki retorted.
Týr bit back a snigger.
"That's why I'm lucky I got ya, for a little bit longer." Mobius sighed, "Let me park you at this desk, and don't be afraid to really lean into this work. Here's a good trick for you, pretend your life depends on it. I'm gonna get a snack."
"Oh! Mobius-" Týr began, perking up slightly.
"Nope. Not getting you anything. Help Loki with this and maybe I'll think about buying you lunch again." Mobius said, before walking off.
Týr groaned, slumping down into one of the chairs, as Loki sat beside him.
"I hate desk work. I blame you for this you know." He said, turning to face Loki, laying the side of his head on the table using his arms as a pillow.
Loki rolled his eyes, but chuckled lightly. Sighing, he picked up some of the files and started reading though them.
"Oh, my goodness. Don't tell me the Variant ambushed a killed another team of Minutemen." Loki mocked as he read the file.
Týr took his head off the table and leaned closer to read the file over Loki's shoulder. He faked a gasp, "And stole their reset charge as well."
"Shh." Came a voice from behind them.
The two swivelled around in their chairs to see the woman who had shushed them.
Týr put a finger up to his lips, "Sh!" He repeated back.
After a while of skimming over all the files, and Týr loudly complaining, the pair were incredibly bored. Putting down another useless file, Loki suddenly stood up, Týr absent-mindedly following as he walked over to a woman behind a desk, typing something on a computer.
"Hi." Loki greeted, gaining no response. "Hello?"
The woman continued typing, seeming completely oblivious to the two men standing by her desk. When it was clear they weren't going to get a response, Týr took a step closer and pressed down in the bell that was sitting on the desk.
The woman stopped typing and turned to face them.
"Can I help you?" She asked.
"Yes. I'm on some important TVA business." Loki began, stepping forward and leaning an arm on the desk, "Follow-up to a field mission. You know how it goes. We, uh, we red lined near the apex, and... well it's never good. Um, I'd like all files pertaining to the creation of the TVA, please."
Týr smirked, shaking his head.
"Those are classified."
"Okay. I'd like all files pertaining to the beginning of time, then." He tried.
"Those are classified."
"Okay, the end of time."
"Those are classified."
"Okay, what files can I have?"
The woman sighed and stood up, leading the two through various shelves of files, picking up two stacks of files as she went.
After locating the second stack, she handed them both to Loki, "Happy reading."
Loki looked down at the files, sighing when he read his name on the first one.
"Nice try, Loki" Týr teased, grinning, but his face fell when the other man flipped the papers over to read the title of the second stack. As he spotted his own name, he quickly attempted to snatch the files out of Loki's hands, but only managed to send the papers falling all over the floor. "Shit."
Loki furrowed his eyebrows, looking at him in confusion, but then started to help Týr pick up the scattered files. As he went to pick one up, he paused, eyes flicking over the words on the paper. Týr's file contained all the same data as his own, but one part in particular caught his eye.
Birthplace:
Asgard
"You're asgardian?" Loki asked as he stood up, still staring intently at the paper in his hand.
Týr cleared his throat, making Loki look up to see he had his hand outstretched, waiting for Loki to hand him the file. When he did, Týr quickly stuffed it under the other papers in his arms, hiding it from view.
"Yeah, well, I prefer not to think about that period of my life." He stated, avoiding Loki's questioning gaze, "Come on."
He began walking back to the desk they had been working at, Loki quickly following.
After sitting back down, the pair began trying to organise the mess of papers and files that were scattered across the table, when one in particular caused Loki to pause.
Looking over, Týr immediately realised why, his eyes filling with a matching look of sadness as he read the paper.
The destruction of Asgard.
Suddenly, Týr snatched the paper from Loki's hand, eyes wide.
"Hey-!" The other protested, attempting to grab it back.
"Oh, hush." Týr said, waving him off, then pointing at some writing on the paper, "Look!"
Zero Variance Energy Detected
Loki's eyes narrowed as he scanned over the words.
"No branches caused." He muttered, looking back up at Týr, realisation slowly dawning on him.
"The Variant could be hiding in apocalypses! And it wouldn't alert the TVA-" Týr started explaining, excitedly.
"-because no one would make it out alive." Loki finished, grinning.
Týr stood up, quickly being followed by Loki, as the pair rushed out to find Mobius.
-
"We found something." Týr announced, tapping Mobius on the shoulder with the file he was holding as they came up behind him.
"No, I said, 'Don't bother me until you've read all the files'." Mobius objected, mouth full of food.
"We have." Loki told him, taking a seat with Týr, opposite Mobius.
"Every file?"
"Yes."
"Pertaining to the Variant?"
"The answer isn't in the files, it's on the timeline." Týr explained.
"He's hiding in apocalypses." Loki continued.
"Which apocalypse? Any time in history? There's, like, a million of 'em."
Loki took the paper from Týr's hand, displaying it to Mobius, "Ragnarok. Are you familiar?"
"Yes. The destruction of Asgard and most of it's people. I'm sorry."
"Yes, very sad. Anyway, it got me thinking..." Týr started.
"Go ahead."
"Nexus events happen when someone does something they're not supposed to do, right?" He went on.
"Well, it's a little more complicated, but, yeah." Mobius nodded.
"Great. And the that thing they're not supposed to do, cascades into a whole range of other things that aren't supposed to happen. And so on and so forth, until, eventually, a new timeline branches. Yes?"
"Chaotic alterations of a predetermined outcome." Mobius confirmed.
"Exactly!" Loki interjected, "So, let's just say..."
"What are you doing?"
"...your salad is Asgard in this scenario."
"No. It's not Asgard, that's my lunch."
"Should've gotten me something then." Týr grumbled.
"It's a metaphor, just hang in there." Loki told him.
"I want that salad."
"Okay, I could go down to Asgard before Ragnarok causes its complete destruction and I could do anything I wanted." Loki explained, picking up a salt shaker, "I could, let's say, push the Hulk off the Rainbow Bridge."
He began pouring salt into the salad. "There he goes."
"The salt's Hulk?"
Týr grinned and grabbed the pepper shaker, pouring the pepper in as well, "And I could... set fire to the palace!"
"No, just stop. Don't set fire to the palace."
"Okay? The point is, we can do whatever we want to do, and it would never matter." Loki illustrated, continuing to pour salt into the bowl.
"It wouldn't go against the dictates of the timeline because..." Týr trailed off, picking up Mobius' soda can, glancing to Loki when he realised it was empty.
Loki looked around the room, quickly spotting Casey next to them and rushing over, grabbing his juice box.
"Oh god." Mobius groaned.
"You!" Casey exclaimed when he recognised Loki.
"Nice to see you, I just need this for a second. Thanks" Loki smiled, sheepishly, sitting back down and handing the juice box to Týr, who then continued his explanation.
"Because the apocalypse is coming."
"Ragnarok, Surtur will destroy Asgard no matter what we do." Loki finished, as Týr started pouring the juice into the salad.
"No, don't do-!" Mobius sighed.
"There's the apocalypse."
"That's the apocalypse?"
"Ragnarok obliterates the salt."
"Ragnarok." Týr set the empty juice box down on the table, grinning at Mobius, as Loki wore a matching expression.
"There it is!"
"What am I lookin' at?" Mobius asked, exasperated.
"Okay, it was a clumsy metaphor. But you see what we mean. It doesn't matter. It could be any apocalypse." Loki clarified, "It could be a tidal wave. It could be a meteor. It could be a volcano, a supernova."
"If everything and everyone around you is destined for imminent destruction," Ty picked up the salt and pepper shakers again, pouring them into what was Mobius' salad, "then nothing that we say or do will matter, because the timeline's not gonna branch. 'Cause it gets destroyed."
Týr put the salt and pepper back down again, Loki leading off from what he had been saying, "Hence, the Variant could be hiding in the apocalypse and do whatever he wants, and we wouldn't know!"
Mobius nodded, pausing for a moment. "Not bad."
"Take us to a real apocalypse! Take us to Ragnarok, we'll show you!"
"Yeah. So you two can run away back to your homeland? No." Mobius said, glancing at Týr for a moment as he did so, then muttering a quiet, "Sorry."
"No, it's not about going home, we could go anywhere!"
"I'm not taking you two for a stroll along the promenade, much less an apocalypse."
"Oh, Mobius, come on!" Loki exclaimed, "What could possibly go wrong? We gotta properly test this theory."
"Well, here's a fun theory. You lure me out into the field, and stab me in the back. Or you, Týr, try burning my scalp off. And those are theories I don't wanna test."
"I'd never stab anyone in the back. That's such a boring form of betrayal!"
"And I'd never set you on fire!"
"Loki, I've studied almost every moment of your entire life. You've literally stabbed people in the back, like, 50 times." He turned his glare to Týr, "And earlier you were this close to setting my hair alight."
The two glanced at each other, Týr giving Loki a small smirk.
"Well, I'd never do it again, because it got old!" Loki promised.
Mobius started chuckling disbelievingly, "Okay."
"Okay, look." Loki leaned forward, "You don't trust us, you can trust one thing. I love to be right."
-
Distant rumbling could be heard as the trio gathered under an archway. Týr was practically shaking with excitement, grinning giddily in anticipation of the chaos that was about to ensue.
"Here we go." Loki nodded at the other two, wearing an identical grin to Týr.
"Shh, any minute now."
"Until this entire town is wiped off the face of this planet," Týr whispered, "Imagine! All that volcanic ash."
"I know. We don't want to get too giddy." Mobius said, gesturing at Týr to calm down a bit more.
"Oh, come on! It's cool." Loki whispered.
"No, it is cool, but it's just not in good taste because..."
"They're all gonna die anyway." Týr shrugged, ignoring Mobius' gestures to calm down.
"I know. Now listen, I'm gonna watch the TemPad for any variance energy." Mobius explained, pulling his TemPad from his jacket pocket.
"Okay." Loki nodded.
"Okay, because we gotta be careful. If you guys are wrong, and there's a good chance you are, anything we do can create a huge branch."
"Oh, Mobius!" Týr exclaimed, rolling his eyes, "You make even the end of the world sound boring."
"Listen!" Mobius whisper-yelled, "Okay, we're not meant to be here. Okay?"
"Okay." Loki sighed, as Týr just rolled his eyes again and grumbled something about 'never getting any fun'.
"Anything we do can impact the course of history, do you get that?"
"Yes. Yes." Týr finally nodded, sighing as well.
"Okay, so we're gonna start very small disturbances."
"Very small."
"Can either of you make bird noises?"
Both Loki and Týr's eyebrows furrowed, Týr tilting his head to the side.
"Bird noises?" Loki repeated.
"Yeah, yeah. Bird noises, like some, like, whooshing noises." Mobius started imitating a cooing sound.
Týr just groaned, suddenly grabbing Loki's hand and pulling him out from under the archway, towards a cart full of goats, both grinning.
"Loki! Týr!" Mobius yelled after them.
Ignoring Mobius, Loki jumped onto the side of the cart, opening it and freeing all the goats.
"Go!" Loki shouted, encouraging the goats out of the cart, "Be free, my horned-friends, be free!"
The goats all ran out of the cart, as Týr started making sparks fly from his fingertips, setting a small basket next the the cart on fire.
"My name is Loki." Loki began, in Latin, "We are agents of the Time Variance Authority. I bring you all dark tidings. All of you!"
Some people began shouting about the basket on fire, one man rushing over to try an put it out.
"You're all about to die!" Týr yelled in Latin, throwing his arms up in the air.
"That volcano is about the erupt!" Loki continued, pointing to the volcano behind them, "I would know, because I'm from the future."
He then turned to look between Týr and Mobius, "We are from the future, right? What is the TVA? I mean, it's from the future, it sounds from the future. It's pretty future-y?"
Just then the volcano began to erupt, causing the people around them to start screaming and shouting.
"Right on cue!" Týr yelled, grabbing another basket and throwing it into the air, setting it alight as he did so, "Enjoy your last meal while you can! Nothing matters!"
"Nothing has any consequence! Dance while you still can!" Loki whooped, catching hold of Týr's arms and spinning him round.
After a few spins, the pair stopped, turning to Mobius as Loki spread his arms out, "How'd we do?"
"I don't believe it. Zero variance energy." Mobius confirmed, eyes wide in disbelief, "No branching in the timeline."
"The TVA would never even know we were here. If it were me, this is where I would hide."
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AUTHOR'S NOTE:
ik im probably posting this more spaced out but im currently cranking out these chapters daily. this fic is consuming me. also Týr just is will graham at this point.
- Arachnid
word count: 2439