Sylvie brought the dagger to Kang's neck and held it there. "Wait!" cried Kang. "Wait! You can't kill me!"
Loki rested a hand on Sylvie's shoulder. "He's right. Killing him will just create a bigger mess."
Kang nodded frantically, gesturing to Loki. "Listen to him. I still have to fight Ant-man in 2023!"
"What?"
"Look, I'm not the man in charge. I'm an actor, a prop, like those robots at the TVA. Just another layer of obfuscation between you and the truth. But if you let me live, I can take you to him. The real man behind the curtain. The true power – they don't just pull the strings, they made them."
Sylvie brought the knife closer, drawing a bead of blood from Kang's throat. "You're lying."
"Not about this."
"What," asked Loki, "is an Ant-man?"
"Paul Rudd."
Loki's eyes narrowed. "And what is a Paul Rudd?"
"He's just a guy! He does a lot of work with Judd Apatow."
Sylvie tightened her grip on the dagger. "Rudd and Judd? Nonsense. He's talking nonsense. Just let me kill him."
"No, please," said Kang. "I can take you to the man in charge."
He tapped a few buttons on his control pad. A portal appeared in front of them, glowing with a terrible light.
Kang nodded towards the waiting portal. "He's just through there."
"No tricks?" asked Loki.
"No tricks."
Loki stepped towards the portal. "Wait here, Sylvie. If I'm not back in ten minutes, slit his throat."
Sylvie nodded. "Be careful."
Loki stepped through the portal into a flash of light.
And then he found himself standing outside an office door.
He knocked.
"Come in."
Loki opened the door to find a small office. A man was sitting behind a desk.
The man gestured to an empty chair across from him. "Take a seat," he said. "I've been expected you."
Loki hesitated, then sat. "Have you now?" he asked. "And I'm to assume you're the man behind the curtain? The true power behind Kang and the TVA?"
The man nodded. "Well, I suppose so. I'm the President and Chief Creative Officer here at Marvel, but, really, I'm just a small part of the Walt Disney Family, one of its many hardworking employees."
"And what, exactly, does that mean?" asked Loki.
"I'm a producer. I produce the show."
"The sacred timeline."
The man chuckled to himself. "That's right. When you've got a 20 billion dollar franchise, you need a plan to keep it all on track. My god, look at what happened to Star Wars! Rose Tico action figures gathering dust on store shelves!"
"What's your name?"
"You can call me Kevin. Kevin Feige."
"A strange name for a god," chuckled Loki.
"I'm just a man, Loki." Kevin smiled, resting his hands behind his head. "I'm going to be honest with you. It's a tough job, managing all of Marvel's properties. But it's an important job. We have to make sure everything works. That everything is congruent. All these stories have to exist in parallel to each other, they have to make sense, they have to have a clear watch order. We can't have the audience get bored, or confused.
"Do you have any idea how much effort it took to do Infinity War? We started with nothing! A washed-up actor and a second-rate superhero! And do you know what we did with them? International sensation. Robert Downey Jr. is Iron Man! Did you know they've changed Tony Stark's appearance in the comics so he looks like Robert now? That's movie magic, baby! That's the power of a well-managed franchise!"
"I-" began Loki.
"And you, Loki," shouted Feige. "Why do you think you're so good at escaping death? Why do you keep coming back to life? Do you think it's because you're clever? No! It's because you're a handsome pretty boy with an English accent. Our female demographic loves your greasy-haired, devil-may-care attitude. We did that!"
Loki slumped in his chair, taken aback. His eyes wandered to a small vinyl figure standing on a bookshelf. "What's that?"
"That is a Loki Funko Pop," replied Kevin Feige.
Loki walked over to the shelf to examine the toy. "Is this supposed to be me? Ridiculous. Look at these terrible, lifeless eyes. How repulsive!"
Kevin shrugged. "People seem to like them. TVA Loki with tie. One of our biggest sellers for Q2 2021."
"People buy these? What do they do with them?" asked Loki. "Are they a totem? Do they worship me?"
"Well, maybe a few people do, but mostly they just use them as shelf decorations. Put them next to their Avengers figurines." Feige reached into a desk drawer and pulled out an Alligator Loki figure, mint in box. "Check out this variant, limited edition. Already sold out."
Loki stepped back, shocked. "You mean…?"
"Yep, that's right. This little fella was crafted by the Disney marketing department. A fun little joke just wacky enough to create internet buzz and a few toy sales. Gotta get those metrics up. His entire existence is nothing more than a merchandising decision, approved by stiff shirts in a corporate board meeting, who, over bagels and stale coffee, decided his status as a gag character didn't threaten the integrity of the Marvel brand."
"And then pruned, because he didn't have enough weight to carry his own show or movie?"
"That's right."
Loki's face fell as he examined the crudely shaped polymer. "Is that all that's to be left of his legacy?" The poor reproduction held none of the original's charm or reptilian handsomeness.
Feige shrugged. "That, and a few over-saturated Tumblr gifs. Most variants, when we allow them, are just a flash in the pan."
Loki furrowed his brow. "I don't know whether to be impressed or disgusted. The sheer banality of it all."
"Actually, we're glad you're here," said Feige. "With the end of Phase Three and the Thanos/Infinity Stone storyline, we've really been head-scratching where to go next. We had a plan, and the plan came together wonderfully. But that begs the question, now what? Who is the guy we have after Thanos? Half the universe hanging in the balance. How do we go bigger than that? What do we do next?"
Feige leaned back in his chair. "So, let's spitball here. What would you do, Tom?"
"You could just stop?" suggested Loki. "Stop controlling everybody. Let the chips fall as they may. Stop pruning variants like my alligator friend there. He's valuable, you said so yourself. Why not go all in on that? Lokis everywhere!"
"You'd like that wouldn't you?"
"Yes, Kevin, I would. And so would everyone else."
Feige tapped a pen against the side of his nose. "I hear you. You're saying, open up the multiverse. Let the timelines branch. I like it, we'd have stories for years. But that creates complications. How can you have any investment in any one timeline, if there are an infinite number of others?"
Loki considered the question. "So, don't get rid of the sacred timeline. Keep it, focus on it. Just… let the other timelines float out there, when you need to have a little bit of madness. Prune if you must, when things get out of control, just be less aggressive, let new things flourish. Take chances, take risks. Maybe a Nextwave movie."
Feige leaned forwards, cupping his hands over the desk. "I think you're onto something. So tell me, Tom – Loki – where do you see yourself in all of this? What do you want?"
"I want-" Loki swallowed. There was a lump in his throat as he tried to come to terms with this frightening new reality. "I want my own TV show. One – no – two seasons. And an option to appear in the next wave of movies."
"Done," said Feige with a smile. He extended his hand for Loki to shake. "Maybe something with Dr. Strange and Scarlet Witch…"