Authoress Note: Welcome to Chapter 4 of As the World Caves In. I want to thank those who have left reviews for this story. It truly does mean a lot to me that you guys are enjoying this story. I have a long way to go to finish up the first episode of Loki. Since I'm adding a bunch of extra things to this story. There will also be reels of Everleigh's past including some parts that we didn't see in the very beginning. I hope that you guys enjoy this next chapter. Without further ado Chapter 4. ENJOY!

Chapter 4

The machine began to whirl.

Loki let out a scoff shaking his head. "What is this?"

"A sampling of your greatest hits, if I may."

Loki let out a sigh, frustrated that this was even happening.

"If it's all the same to you. I'll have that drink now."

"No. And I remember. I was there. Anything else?"

"It's funny, for someone born to rule, you sure do lose a lot. You might even say it's in your nature."

"You know, things didn't turn out so well for the last person who said that to me."

"Oh, yeah, Phil Coulson."

Everleigh's hands gripped tightly at her sides in anger.

Phil Coulson fell to the ground with a wound in his chest.

"No!" Thor yelled.

"Didn't the Avengers come together to literally avenge him by defeating you?"

"Little solace to a dead man." Loki said, letting out a scoff.

"Do you enjoy hurting people? Making them feel small? Making them feel afraid?"

"Your games don't frighten me." Loki said, shaking his head.

Everleigh looked down to the ground. "They should make you frightened. You're learning about yourself through the dangers of others." Everleigh thought to herself as she chewed on her lower lip softly.

"Making them feel little?"

"I know what I am." Loki snapped at Mobius, not liking how he was talking to him.

"A murderer?"

"A liberator."

"Of eyeballs, maybe."

A man screamed as he lost his eye.

Everleigh looked away remembering that clear day.

"Look at that smile. You are enjoying that. Did you enjoy hurting them?"

"I don't have to play this game. I'm a god." Loki said, scoffing , crossing his arms.

"Of what, again? Mischief, right? Yeah. I don't see anything very mischievous about this."

"No, I don't suppose you do."

Mobius let out a sigh shaking his head. "Let's talk about your escapes. You're really good at doing awful things, and then just getting away."

Loki's lips quirked a little bit. "What can I say? I'm a mischievous scamp."

Mobius put the video to his favorite part, "This is one of my favorites."

"From the flight deck, Captain William A. Scott, Northwest Orient airlines 305, on schedule to land in Seattle. Flight time today, approximately…"

"Bourbon and soda?" The woman questioned with a smile.

"Thank you." Loki said with a smile.

"Absolutely. Is there anything else I can do for you, sir?"

"I suppose we'll find out, won't we?" Loki said with a growing smile. He let out a chuckle. "Uh, Miss?"

"Yes, Mr. Cooper?"

"You might want to take a look at that note." He lowered his voice. "I have a bomb."

"I fail to see how this has any relevance or bearing on…"

Morbus shushed him. "No. This is the good part."

"See you again someday." Loki let out a grunt looking up at the sky. "Brother, Heimdall, you better be ready."

"I can't believe you were D.B. Cooper. Come on!" Morbus said with a grin.

Everleigh rolled her eyes. "Sounds like a bad joke or bet that you lost." She said, crossing her arms.

"I was young, and I lost a bet to Thor. Where was the TVA when I was meddling with these affairs of men?" Loki questioned looking at Morbus.

"We were right there with you, just surfing that Sacred Timeline."

"So that had the Time-Keepers' seal of approval, did it?"

"Well, I wouldn't think of it in terms of approval and disapproval."

"That's sort of a…"

"Let's get back to escapes…" Morbus let out a sigh. "…and a little psychobabble. What is it that you think that you're really running from?"

"Enough." Loki said moving towards him only to be back in his place.

"Back in your cage. See, I can play the heavy keys, too."

"I was just standing up to make a point."

Morbus let out a chuckle. "I'm sorry, go ahead."

Loki shook his head not liking the idea. "It won't be as meaningful now."

"Okay, well, stay seated."

"I'll do what I want to do!"

"Sure."

Loki let out a huff of irritation.

"What exactly is it that you want? I want you to be honest about why you do what you do."

"Liar."

"I'm serious. All I seek is a deeper understanding of the fearsome God of Mischief."

Loki scoffed, crossing his arms.

"What makes Loki tick?"

"I know what this place is."

"What is it?" Everleigh pointed out knowing that whatever Loki would answer with would be very much wrong.

"It's an illusion. It's a cruel, elaborate trick conjured by the weak to inspire fear. A desperate attempt at control. Now, you all parade about as if you're the divine arbiters of power in the universe."

"We are."

"You're not. My choices are my own."

Morbus let out a hum. "Your choice is your own. Good, let's go with that. I think this one's gonna fire you up. The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power…"

"Precisely. I was… I am on the verge of acquiring everything I am owed, and when I do, it'll be because I did it. Not because it was supposed to happen. Or because you or the Time Variance Authority, or whatever it is you call yourselves, allowed me to. Honestly, you're pathetic. You're an irrelevance. A detour. A footnote to my ascent."

Everleigh shook her head knowing that there was no way out of this; she had long accepted it. As much as it hurt her heart to deem herself irrelevant in this whole thing. She needed Loki to believe in this whole thing.

"You finished? You're gonna start taking things seriously."

Loki groaned.

"If you hadn't picked up the Tesseract, you would have been taken to a cell on Asgard." Morbus pointed out playing the video again.

(CHAINS JINGLING)

Loki walked forward, downed in chains.

"Loki." Frigga said softly walking up to her son.

"Hello, Mother. Have I made you proud?"

"Please don't make this worse."

"What is this? This is nonsense, more tricks. This never even happened." Loki snapped, feeling his ire spike.

"Not to you. Not yet. Look, the TVA doesn't just know your whole past, we know your whole life, how it's all meant to be. Think of it as comforting."

"This is absurd."

"And am I not your mother?"

Loki let out a soft chuckle. "You're not."

"Hmm."

"Always so perceptive about everyone but yourself. And then the Dark Elves attack the palace, and you think you send them to Thor."

"You might wanna take the stairs to the left."

"But instead, you send them…"

"I'll never tell." Frigga said as she took a sword through the abdomen protecting the one person that held danger inside of their body.

"Where do you have her? Where is she?"

"You lead them right to her." Morbus said, looking at Loki.

"I don't believe you. You're lying. It's not true."

"It is true. That's the proper flow of time, and it happens again and again and again because it's supposed to, because it has to. The TVA makes sure of it."

Loki got up to his feet. "Where is she?"

"Loki, she's not here. It's a video of what you would have been." Everleigh said resting her head in her hands not liking that Loki wasn't taking this as well as he should have.

"Now why don't you tell me, do you enjoy hurting people? I don't believe you. Do you enjoy killing?"

"I'll kill you."

"Like you did your mother?"

Loki moved only to be moved back to where he was before.

"Sorry, the Time Twister just loops you, not the furniture. You weren't born to be king, Loki. You were born to cause pain and suffering and death. That's how it is, that's how it was, that's how it will be. All so that others can achieve their best versions of themselves."

Everleigh closed her eyes hearing chitauri screaming over the recording.

"What is this place?"

"Come on."

The door opened revealing Hunter B-15. "What are you doing?"

"My job. Is it yours to interrupt?" Morbus said, looking at her.

"We have a situation."

Morbus let out a sigh. "There's always a situation. Don't go anywhere." He said looking over at the two of them. "It was just getting better. Spirited."

Hunter B-15 let out a breath shaking her head. "Talking to that Variant is a mistake."

"That's your position."

"He should be reset!"

"You think everyone should be reset. I'm getting good stuff!"

"We lost another unit."

"Okay, Loki, I think we can finish up tomorrow and just pick it…" He turned to only Everleigh sitting in her spot looking at the stilled clip. "Mischievous scamp."

Everleigh looked up at Morbus.

"Stay here Miss Everleigh."

"I wouldn't dream of leaving if it causes trouble." She said softly.

Morbus smiled as he headed towards the door.

"Wish I could say I was surprised." Hunter B-15 said as she walked out the door.

"Yeah, I wish you hadn't interrupted us."

Everleigh let out a breath, shaking her head lightly. "Now why would you go off and take off when there is nowhere to go."

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This is the end of Chapter 4. I hope that you guys enjoyed this chapter. I have a lot more coming your way with this story. I can't wait to show you guys what is going to happen next. Please leave a review and let me know what you think of this chapter. Reviews help me keep going when it comes to writing. I hopefully will have a new chapter for next week. Until next time.