Competition/Challenge Block
Written for/Stacked with: Monthly Challenges for All (Year 4); Whumptober 2021
MC4A: Ship War (2A [Epiphany]); Settings Bingo (2A [Tournament]); Fall Bingo (4E [Eye Patch])
Other Challenges: Whumptober Day 11: Just Keep Swimming | Alt. Prompt - Regret
Word Count: 1,721
Author's Note: Ok hi yes. Words go here. Um, this one is a bit longer than the others by a lot. Oops. It just wouldn't stop. I have no idea where this piece is even going to go, so just hang on tight alongside with me as we all figure it out together.
Before you ask, yes, I have President Loki be an absolute vengeful asshole. Why? He just screams it to me. I dunno. Mobius seems to understand him, though, and perhaps will help soothe that pain some? Also, there is a perspective change mid-story, oops. It just transitioned over nicely so I didn't bother trying to tweak it.
Epiphanies with a Dash of Regret
"Stand down," the elder Loki all but snapped at Sylvie, holding a hand up in her direction as he walked across the room.
She watched him approach the makeshift ladder, grabbing a long, thin pole and tapping what seemed like a code back against the metal bunker's hatch. Loki was still curled up in the oversized chair, seeming to come down from his feverish state from the Time Sickness. Mobius was still protectively hovering over him, and Sylvie had to avert her attention when that white-hot stab of… something hit her in the chest at the sight.
Still gripping her shortsword, she instead focused on the elder Loki exchanging code with someone before he flourished a hand to reveal the entrance. It didn't take long for the loud Loki to climb down and turn to face the group with a broad smile.
"A successful mission and even better loot!" he bellowed, pulling the large satchel from his shoulder. "That group has been doing quite well for themselves."
"Of course," the elder said, taking it to presumably go through the contents. "They have numbers on their side."
"Did anyone see you?" Sylvie asked, more concerned about him being followed more than the resources.
"Ah, such ill faith, little one," he said, regarding Sylvie. "I assure you that not even their keen-eyed scout with the eye patch saw me enter or leave. They seemed to be quite preoccupied with what had just happened in a pick who to blame type tournament brawl."
"It's Sylvie," she said with a huff, sheathing her shortsword in silent acceptance.
This response seemed to genuinely catch the loud Loki's interest. "You are so interesting. Out of every version of us I have come across, never have I heard them use an entirely different name for themself before."
"Well, I am not like the rest, then," she replied, crossing her arms and shifting her weight. "Is that a problem?"
"It's different," the child intervened. "And not something we ever considered, is all. It could lessen the confusion if anything."
"Glad to be of service," Sylvie said pointedly. "Do you think that group will be a continuous threat?"
Even though the plan worked, they got Loki, them being found and ambushed was reeling in her head. They needed to keep moving. She needed to fill her Loki in on her other plan that involved Alioth. She dare not mention it to anyone else yet aside from Mobius, who was simply there when she verbally formulated the idea and strangely supported it. He was the one who quickly gained the attention and help from the others when they came across them in the car, however, so maybe they could help rather than hinder. Had they never met them, Loki would still be at the mercy of the president.
"Well, we stole from them, and took away not one, but two TVA members. I am certain that the president is seething and will surely be hunting us all down because of it," the child Loki casually supplied. "He is very vengeful."
"Very," the elder said, busying with the resources at the makeshift pantry. "It is why he was so violent with the both of them."
"The president absolutely despises the TVA and anyone who is a part of it," the child explained.
"Splendid," Sylvie said. "He can get in line."
"If you knew this, then you were idiots for giving him Mobius," Loki said shakeningly, glaring at the three. "He could have seriously harmed him."
"It was his idea," Sylvie defended, "he was quite insistent about it, too."
Mobius withdrew some, tucking his hands in his pockets. Loki turned his paler than usual face to look at the agent, tilting his head in disbelief.
"It's not a big deal. I knew that President Loki wasn't going to do anything drastic to me," Mobius said.
"How?" Loki questioned.
"I'm a little curious, too," Sylvie said, folding her arms together and leaning against the wall, attention on Mobius.
"I think I'll leave it to our storyteller over here. He seems familiar with his history," Mobius deflected, gesturing to the loud Loki with a goblet of wine in hand nearby.
"His story really isn't all that interesting," the loud Loki said from his own cushy chair. "He got here like the rest of us for disrupting the 'sacred timeline'. He was taken by the TVA, sentenced, and pruned. He takes his revenge far further than the rest of us and hunts anyone who wears TVA garb as a way to spite them, though. Why exactly is that aside the obvious? Not sure, never bothered to ask and it never made a difference, but he seems to think it will." He pointed at the elder Loki. "He used to be a part of these two's clan, actually. Long before I came along."
The elder sighed, taking his time to pour his own goblet of wine, silently offering another one around, to which the others declined. "He did, for a time. But only because me and our younger self have been here far longer than we care to admit and we feel that it is our duty to help those who end up here to not be consumed by Alioth."
"That is so noble of you both," Mobius said sincerely. "Really."
"When you end up in a place worse than Helheim alone and unsure of what had even happened in the first place to put you there, you would be willing to do the same," the elder said, finally taking a seat near the kiddie pool where the alligator sat in. "However, we eventually parted ways due to his unsatable need to seek out and punish those who he deems did him wrong. We were no longer wishing to tolerate such needless bloodshed."
"Don't get me wrong, I find it very commendable," Mobius assured. "But I unfortunately think I may know why he is so hostile towards TVA folks who end up here."
"He seemed to be quite familiar with you, come to think of it," Loki muttered, looking at Mobius suspiciously. "Care to elaborate on this?"
Mobius sighed, adjusting himself as best he could while sitting on the arm of the large chair Loki occupied. "I suppose I have to now."
The others seemed interested as well, settling in with their beverages and snacks. Even the alligator grumbled noises with interest. Sylvie busied herself picking through their pantry, pretending to not be curious.
"Well, as you all know I recruited this Loki to help me catch her," he said, patting Loki lightly on the shoulder and gesturing at Sylvie. "But he wasn't the first one. President Loki was, and I am honestly quite surprised I was able to convince my superior to allow me to try again after everything he pulled. But, I had him try and help me look for Sylvie some time ago, and he was far from cooperative.
"Long story short, he seemed to have figured out Sylvie's secret to hide from the TVA, and he eventually tried to escape, stole a TemPad and ran. I managed to catch up to him and stopped him."
"So, he worked for you? Just like this Loki was doing?" Loud Loki asked. "Of course he would scrub that little detail. His group would probably skin him for it from lying."
"How did you stop him?" Sylvie asked, turning to face the group.
Mobius cringed at loud Loki's comment, but pressed on. "I got through his time door before it closed and tried to have him see reason on what he was about to do. Of course, he never shared with me anything about how he figured out how you did it, he only ever led us on wild goose chases. Something that I learned far too late. Anyway, I had to prune him."
"Wait," Sylvie said, holding her hand up. "He just, let you prune him? I highly doubt that. Clearly you are still alive so he didn't kill you, either. Don't skim the details, Mobius."
"No!" Mobius said loudly in protest. "He... he turned his back. I let him think I'd let him go. He turned his back and... I pruned him."
A few hisses escaped around him, and Mobius dropped his head in his hands.
"He liked you," Loki said, seeming to know where the lost details were. "It's why he strung you along, let you chase him, didn't kill you. Trusted you enough to turn his back, even.
The awkward silence lingered in the space. Wine was sipped, but eyes lingered on Mobius and Loki.
"Am I close?"
Mobius scoffed. "No. It wasn't like that at all. He… found me interesting, but in the way that he found everything else about the TVA. He wanted to learn how everything worked so he could exploit it."
He nudged Loki with a gentle elbow at that.
"He found you interesting because you are, and probably also found you like a complete moron for not noticing that he liked you," Sylvie prodded.
"No—"
"You didn't see the look he gave you when you showed up," Loki snapped. "Those gentle touches, the empty threats and lack of action—"
"He broke my nose with the back end of a dagger, Loki. Last time I checked, that isn't a sign of affection," Mobius dished back.
The others stifled their laughs, and Sylvie splayed a hand over her mouth to hide her own smirk. They all seemed to see the underlying, albeit slightly twisted, meaning behind it.
"What?" Mobius grumbled.
"He did that because he had to," Loki supplied. "The look on his face as you bled on the floor was pain and borderline regret."
"He was a royal pain in my ass," Mobius argued. "He misplaced my magazines, hid my coffee mugs, took all the salads from the café and threw them out, always tried to sabotage my work—oh my God…"
Mobius dragged his hands over his face and into his hair at the realization. "Oh my God."
"Aaand there it is," Loud Loki bellowed with a laugh. "The obnoxious route to conceal the true feelings trick."
The others nodded, raising their goblets and taking a drink. Loki sighed, leaning into Mobius to provide a sense of comfort despite the bubble of anger in his chest from the revelation.
