Lokis

"Because the Variant we're chasing is you."

"Well-" It was Sigyn - perhaps surprisingly, for even Loki himself was speechless - who ended up breaking the shocked silence following Mobius's declaration. "-Who better to find a Loki than Loki and his best friend?"

And so it was decided: they were to join the hunt for this Loki Variant.

Well, Loki was. The TVA agents were insistent that she get back to her own timeline as quickly as possible, but she was just as insistent that that wouldn't be happening.

"If I may, Miss Sigyn," Mobius caught her before she left.

"Lady Sigyn," she corrected.

"Lady, Sigyn, pardon me-"

"No."

"I haven't even said anything yet."

"And you don't need to. I know what you're going to say, Agent Mobius: you want to send me back to my timeline. No, absolutely not. As I said, who better to help out in a case like this? Besides, clearly you know how his life goes, how it ends..."

"Yes, I do-"

"I won't lose him yet again, Agent. I won't. I can't."

Mobius sighed deeply, while she turned away, thinking the conversation over.

But he wasn't finished yet. "Yes, I know what happens to him, but he doesn't, not now, not fully."

"I beg your pardon?"

"I saw the film stirp - it was cut. By one of those daggers." He nodded to the weapons at her belt that she had been allowed to keep.

"How could I? How could I let him see that?" she protested.

"He'll find out eventually."

"Perhaps - but not from me." With that, she turned and left.

Again, Mobius let out a sigh. "We'll see..."

When she returned to Mobius's desk where they had been given strict instruction to 'stay and remain out of trouble' - this had been more directed at Loki than to her - she found Loki, a rolled up clump of paper in his hands, swinging and hitting various points of the desk with the roll.

"What are you doing?"

"Jerk!" Turned out, Miss Minutes - the small orange clock who seemed to be the mascot of the TVA - was running around the desk, trying to avoid Loki's swats, before jumping into the computer screen and disappearing.

Mobius swept past then, tossing them each a package. "Come on, put it on - there's been another attack."

The agents provided both of them with suits, Loki's jumpsuit and her armour looking too conspicuous next to the other agents.

"C-20 and her team went dark shortly after they jumped into the 1985 branch," Hunter B-15 explained. "All signs point to another ambush. We've grabbed enough temporal aura to know it's our Loki Variant, but which kind of Loki remains unknown."

"The lesser kind, to be clear," Loki jumped-in.

"Let me see the back of that jacket."

VARIANT was across the back in big red lettering.

"Very subtle, well done," Loki grumbled.

"Here's the deal: when we get out on the branch, we're not just looking for a Time Criminal, we're looking for a Loki," Mobius explained. "A variation of this guy. A type we should all be very familiar with, cause the TVA has pruned a lot of these guys. Almost more than any other Variant. And no two are alike-"

Various versions of Loki flashed before them. "You're still my favourite," Sigyn told him.

"Thank you, Sig."

"Though I wouldn't mind meeting these guys... Oooo, especially him." She nodded to the most recent Variant to top up.

"-Slight differences in appearances," Mobius continued. "Or not so slight. Different powers, although powers generally include shape shifting, illusion projection, and my favourite-"

"Duplication casting," Loki cut in.

"Illusion projection," Mobius repeated.

"No, they're two completely different powers, actually" Loki insisted.

"Oh really?"

"Yes, and which of us can actually perform such a feat? Illusion projection involves depicting a detailed image from outside oneself, which is perceptible in the external world, whereas duplication casting entails-"

"Why don't we do a demonstration? Yeah?" Sigyn broke in.

"Maybe later." Mobius did not look very impressed - in fact, he appeared to be pretty unimpressed. "We're gonna break into two teams including myself, Miss - uh, Lady Sigyn - and Professor Loki. Whoever this Variant is, we haven't been able to catch him - so let's bring in the experts."

And so across the timeline they went. Their jump to investigate in 1985 turned out to be a bit of a mess. Loki kept going on and on... In a tone so certain and convincing, a skill he'd picked up over the years. But no one was convinced.

Again, Mobius looked very unimpressed.

Upon returning to the TVA, the Asgardians were put to work.

"I need you to go over each and every one of the Variant's case files," Mobius explained. "And then give me your unique perspective. And who knows, maybe there's something that we missed."

"Well, you're all idiots," Loki returned. "I suspect you probably missed a lot."

"That's why I'm lucky I've got ya for a little bit longer." With that, he left them at a desk piled high with files.

"Anything?"

"No. You?"

"No, nothing."

Sigyn sighed, dropping the file she had been reading onto the table and rubbing her hands over her face. "You're very sneaky. We're dealing with a professional trickster armed with all sorts of tricks and trials."

"It does sound very me."

"You know, this actually reminds me of our childhood, spending those countless hours together in the library."

He gazed around them. "You're right. That seems like ages ago."

"It does."

"Remember when we stole from Odin's personally collection?"

"Yes! And the Dark Magic section?"

"Oh yes! Good times-" Loki's face suddenly fell.

"What is it?"

"Ragnarok." He held up the file he was currently on.

"Oh..." She came over and peered over his shoulder.

"You were there?"

"We were. It was awful."

Suddenly, he jerked in his seat. "That's it!"

"What's it?"

"The end of the world."

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I've also started my Mobius story so please check it out if you're interested! :)