"So we haven't been to the Ottoman Hippodrome, where the Ghost Clock was spotted. And the balloon park! That sounds like it could be fun" Mobius cheers, looking down at the paper at all the options.
"I want to see a balloon" you smile, going to follow him but Loki pulls you back back.
"Guys, look" he points, making you turn to the small board. 'Victor Timely's astounding Temporal Marvels.'
"'Temporal'" you say. "That can't be a coincidence."
"That's where we'll find Renslayer" Loki tells you both.
"Wait, so no balloon park?" You frown. Loki gives you a loving smile, giving you a pat on the head before dragging you along.
—
You all walked through the door, fining a huge crowd smiling and listening to the happy music.
"Oh, I don't do crowds in tight spaces" you freeze, grabbing Loki's hand. "Don't let go or I promise you, you'll loose me in here" you warn him. He laughs lightly, placing a kiss on your forehead.
"I won't" he promises.
"I think she's here" Mobius says. "Well, maybe. She does like a good drink."
"Me too-"
"No" Loki cuts you off. You all walk past the bar, making you smile.
"Come on! I haven't tried this kind of drink before!"
"No" Loki repeats himself.
Eventually, you all find a space amongst the crowd and you start cheering with them, getting ready for the show. Loki still hadn't let go of your hand.
"There she is!" Mobius points, going to run towards Ravonna but Loki pulls him back quickly.
"Don't let her see you!" He whisper yells.
As the music stops, the crowd starts applauding. You do too, earning you a glance from Loki. The curtains pull back, the lights dim.
"The shows starting!" You whisper to Loki.
"I know" he smiles.
On the stage, there seemed to be what looked like a smaller version of the Loom. You felt your stomach drop.
"Is that the Loom?!" You ask Loki.
"I think so" he answers.
"Time.. is.. everything" a man appears on stage, clearly having a stutter. "It moves through each and every.. one of us! It shapes our.. lives. Our.. futures. But perhaps we can shape... it!" A spotlight appears on the man, revealing Victor Timely. Or, better that, He Who Remains.
Suddenly, all the fun you had been having was gone within an instant. Your hand tightened around Lokis, taking a cautious step closer to him. He was just has scared as you.
"It's him" Loki's voice shakes.
"Who?" Mobius asks.
"He Who Remains."
"Ladies and.. gentlemen" Victor continued.
"What?! You made him sound like this terrifying figure!" Mobius says.
"He is" you tell him.
"When I tell you that time is the future of.. energy" his show carries on.
"And just what would you know about the future, boy?" A random man asks him.
"Great question! And the answer is.. more than you.. might think" Victor answers him.
"We can't just stand here!" Loki says, and you nod in agreement. "It's one of the Variants that He Who Remains warned us about! It's coming, it's beginning!"
"I have an idea" you say. "Let's attack!"
"No!" Mobius whisper yells at you. "Look where we are! Does he look like he's about to conquer all of time?!"
You and Loki just look back to watch the show, still terrified.
"Why should we toil in the dirt for coal and petroleum.. when the energy.. of the past, present and future flows.." he places something into his Loom, making a bulb light up. "All around us."
He points to his Loom, looking proud as he bows. "My Temporal Loom," he says. You and Loki look at Mobius, almost like warning glares. He ignores you both. "..inverts the Temporal Decay of the electricity flowing through it, lowering it's entropy, and gathering it into fine threads of.. power!" He yells at the end.
"Which.. it then weaves into elegant ropes of.. voltage. A chaos! A chaos of particles is transformed into.. order. With my device, the wattage.. Edison.. uses to light a.. single bulb.. can.. light.. the whole of.. Chicago!" Victor beams.
"So you can light a few bulbs? Big deal. You'll need a lot more than that to light a whole city" a random man shouts out, earning small giggles from the audience.
"Don't misunderstand me, sir. I do not want.. to light a.. c-city," Victor tells him, pulling a small lever to make the covers fall to reveal more bulbs. "I aim.. to light, to power, the entire planet!" He yells. Your eyes widen.
"So, call it a dream. Fine. Sneer. Laugh it off a pure.. science.. fiction! But if it can be dreamed, it can be achieved" he was saying, twisting a small wheel and making the Loom slowly light up with lightning. "Because all science is fiction until it's fact!"
The lightning began shooting across the whole room, making people cheer as Victor grinned.
"Getting deja vu of sparkles?" You whisper to Loki, who smiles.
"Well, usually, I wouldn't be overly fond of what would follow" he whispers back, making you laugh.
"Welcome! Welcome to the future, my friends!" Victor yells as the crowd cheers. The three of you, however, did not.
"We need to bring him back to the TVA" Mobius tells you both, making you gasp.
"I beg your pardon?!" You remark. "Are you out of your mind?!"
"You can't trust a Variant of He Who Remains in the TVA" Loki agrees with you.
"That's a later problem. We have a very serious now problem" Mobius explains, making you sigh in realisation.
"The Loom" Loki frowns.
"Yes, and his aura is the only thing that can get us access to the Loom. And who knows what else he can do!"
"Wait, so what about cartoon clock?" You ask.
"Were we ever gonna get Renslayer or Miss Minutes to help us? I mean.." Mobius turns to Ravonna, who had now disappeared. "Where is she?!"
"Over there" you point. "She's talking to our guy."
You feel Loki's hand on your shoulder, pushing you along as Mobius follows. "Lets go!" Mobius says.
You pushed your way through the crowd, constantly apologising to the different people until eventually you got out.
"I can finally breathe" you laugh back at Loki, only to walk straight into a much taller guy.
"Hey, clown" he spat down at you. "You stepped on my foot."
"Clown?!" You question angrily. "I-"
"She does apologise!" Loki pulls you back from him, smiling. "I assure you, any physical contact was purely incidental."
"I don't care" the man growled at Loki, who had an arm over you.
"Guys, come on, he's getting away" Mobius gestures to Victor. "Will you handle this, please?"
"Yeah, tell your slut of a wife to keep her hands to herself" the man snaps, glaring at Loki. You felt your blood boil.
"Slut?" You question. "Who the fuck are you calling a slut?!"
"Oh, you have some nerve, women" he snarls at you, turning to Loki. "How about we settle this outside?" He growls, flicking Loki's hat on. You knew he was no annoyed too, and not just because of the hat.
"Gently" you heard Mobius warn behind you both.
"Outside?" Loki laughs. "Excellent suggestion. I agree!" Loki lifts his hand, making the man disappear in a puff of smoke. "Oh, come on!"
"The amazing Loki, everyone! He'll be here all week!" Mobius cheers from behind as Loki was now pulling you quickly outside.
"Sludder?! Kvinner?! Jeg burde tatt den lange hatten hans og dyttet den rett opp i rumpa hans!" You scream. (Slut?! Women?! I should've taken that long hat of his and shoved it straight up his ass!)
"That's very pleasant" Loki responds, giving the man, who was now in a pigs cage, a little wave. You go to start something but Loki pulls you away.
"I mean, I don't even know what a slut means!" You complain as Mobius catches up. "I know it can't be good though.. Mobius, what does a slut mean?!"
"Doesn't matter" he answers oddly quickly.
Mobius spots Victor, running past the two of you towards him. You both run behind him.
"Mr Timely. My associates and I want to discuss a little business adventure" Mobius says. He was with Ravonna, which you tried to ignore.
"It's thrilling" Loki smiles.
"I beg your pardon, fellas, Mr Timely and I are in the middle of discussing business!" Ravonna tells you three.
"Renslayer, this is only gonna take a minute" Mobius tells her.
"Wait, you all know each other?!" Victor asks.
"Unfortunately. Old friend" Mobius answers.
"Colleagues. I can hardly remember!" Ravonna corrects him.
"I want my money back, Timely! These trousers don't work!" A random man ran towards you all. You looked between him and Victor, raising an eyebrow.
"Counsellor, what are you talking about?" Victor asks, slowly bending down. "You look.. taller to me. I told you, these were a prototype. Perhaps I could come by next week and.. maybe.. adjust the settings"
"Next week?" The man asks.
"Next week!"
"Fine."
"Fine."
With that, Victor was walking away again and Ravonna was desperately trying to get his attention.
"Mechanical trousers?" You question Victor.
"You're a confidence trickster" Loki tells him.
"Luminary is the word you're looking for" Victor responds.
"Luminary. Of course! Please, forgive my, uh, husband" you smile, feeling Loki's glare on you.
"My ideas are just ahead of their time" Victor tells you.
"Yes, why wouldn't they be?" You grin.
"The concepts are bona fide. I just need t-the crude technology of this era to catch up with my visionary mind."
"You know? I never doubted it for a second" Loki tells him, you and him both side by side of Victor.
"Enlightened fellows never do."
"Of course" Loki smiles.
"Your inventions are fake, Timely!" You all hear a yell, making you all turn to an angry looking man he had sold the Loom too.
"Excuse me" Victor smiles before suddenly running away.
"What do we do?!" Mobius asks you and Loki. You roll your eyes.
"We go after him, that's what!" You yell back.
"No!" Ravonna screams at you with all her might, making you all turn to her.
"He's mine! I was here first! I-"
You quickly punch her around the face, sending her flying to the floor. You don't stop to say anything, turning and running over down where you assumed Victor had gone. Loki followed after you.
"The ferris wheel!" Loki calls from behind you.
"Maybe we can go on!" You say, half joking.
"Absolutely not, love!"
You run up the stairs, cursing your heels and dress as you nearly trip on the way up. You grab Victor, turning him around to face you. You must have looked really out of breath because the face he pulled wasn't necessarily a nice one.
"Right, Victor, you are clearly very good at getting away" you breath out, having a tight grip on his suit.
"We have that in common" Loki smiles as he appears behind you.
Victor suddenly screams, making you turn to see Sylvie pointing her sword on you.
"Shit, Sylvie!" You remark, getting Victor behind you. "Sylvie, no."
"You both stay out of this" she snarls, walking towards him. You think fast, pushing Victor back and running into the ferris wheel after him. Loki runs after you too.
——
A/N - On one hand, I've just reached 7000 reads on this fic so I'm absolutely over the moon. Thank you so much!
On the other hand, REST IN PEACE MATTHEW PERRY </3
He was my favourite character in friends and I'm absolutely heartbroken and in shock. I'll miss him so much.
Hope you enjoyed!
Thanks for reading.
Bye <3