"Mr. Ouroboros, can I have a word with you?" Thanos requested.

"Should I leave you two alone?" Sylvie suggested.

"Oh, for the love of Odin, no!" Loki objected. "If there's anyone here I'd like to be alone with, it's absolutely not him!"

"Fair enough." Thanos replied. "I can understand you not trusting me completely, yet I was surprised at how fiercely you came to my defense when the gallery grew hostile. Why defend me?"

Loki flippantly spread his arms out. "Who knows, maybe the madness is spreading?"

"No, you did not speak as someone afflicted with madness. I would know. You said I brainwashed you: what Ms. Lushton was saying earlier, I messed with your mind to make you believe your brother tried to kill you, turned you against him, didn't I?" Loki didn't answer, but Sylvie nodded. "Why? Why did you come to my defense, when you should have been at the front of the persecuting line?"

Loki sat down, pausing for a moment until Sylvie sat with him, clasping his hand. He smiled and nodded at her, taking a deep breath before be spoke. "I tried to commit genocide once myself. I felt scared, alone, confused, angry, and I was convinced the people I descended from, whom my adoptive race was at war with, were savage, irredeemable monsters, so I wanted them gone. I wanted anything that reminded me of that part of myself gone. Then the you from my universe sent me to Earth to conquer it, but both my attempts were thwarted, and I ended up meeting Mo- Mr. Paradox. While everyone else at his organization wanted me dead and didn't trust me, Mr. Paradox was the only one who believed that I wasn't defined by my mistakes or my mischief. He gave me a chance to redeem myself when everyone else gave up on me, and I think, perhaps, I could be the one to give you that same chance, to believe you as my father believes in me."

Thanos nodded in appreciation.

"I meant what I said earlier though: you will be held accountable for murdering all those planetfuls of people."

"That is fair, but no jail can keep me from my duty to provide for those in need."

"I wouldn't be too sure about that." Sylvie countered. "Anyway, if you two are done bonding, how about we get that octopus I was craving while we've got some time to kill?"

"You go ahead: I have some friends of my own on their way to meet me."

Meanwhile, Attorney Gilfred Gruenwald noticed his opponent approach him.

"Hey, can we talk, man to man?" Mobius offered.

"We'll have plenty of time to talk in court."

"Not about this." Mobius took a deep breath. "My real last name isn't Paradox, it's Gruenwald. Mark Gruenwald."

Gilfred looked skeptical. "You're saying we're related? Don't tell me-"

"I'm saying… I'm your dad."

Gilfred paused for a moment and shook his head. "Save it, my old man's been dead for almost 30 years. Even on the slim chance you're really him, the fact doesn't change that you were gone, and I have no dad. So whatever game you're playing, it won't get you anywhere."

"But- I didn't leave you, I was taken against my will. I care about you, Son, and I don't want you to fall in with the wrong crowd: your clients are lying to you about being innocent!"

"Oh yeah? Prove it."

Mobius pulled out a sheet of paper and revealed its contents to his son. "This is a signed contract between the Niveisian poachers and The Barter Brothers that was confiscated after the foreign poachers were arrested. I believe you'll find it's a hundred percent legitimate."

"Is that it?"

"That's all we need to convict them. Is it enough for you to believe me?"

Gilfred stared at the document. "I'd like to quickly get this verified myself: may I? If what you're saying is actually true, then I need to know before I continue to defend my clients!"

Mobius nodded and handed him the paper, and Gilfred took it to a specialist of his choosing. "Hm, that wasn't so hard. It looks like this case is as good as ours."

When their recess was finished, they all met back in the courtroom, which had been cleaned up a bit, and the judge resumed the proceedings. "Alright, now everyone focus back on the case of the poached animals, or you'll be fined with contempt. Prosecution, you were about to present the evidence."

Mobius took his place and addressed his audience. "As I was saying before, I have a signed contract of the poached animal trade between the Niveisians and The Barter Brothers that proves their guilt."

"Objection, Mr. Paradox!" Gilbert shouted. "I had the document you gave me verified, and it is nothing but a forgery!"

"What?"

"That's right." As Gilfred retrieved the parchment from his briefcase, Mobius secretly flicked his hand and watched his opponent pull out a piece of color paper with a happy stick person drawn walking on it.

"Ah, Mr. Gruenwald, that's no forgery, I drew that myself! I mean, I didn't sign it or anything, but I tend to doodle when I'm bored." The court chuckled as Mobius revealed the real contract, hidden on his person. "Your honor, this is the real document: as you can see, it has the signatures from both parties and the official seal of both planets." He handed it to the judge.

"Hmmm, to be absolutely fair though, I'll get that verified myself." He handed it to a trustworthy official, who left with it at once. "Therefore, for now, Gruenwald's objection is overruled."

"Well, it looks like someone has been practicing his illusions." Loki commended while Gilfred glared at Mobius.

"Thank you. We also have two witnesses who saw one of the brothers on trial tear the piece of Thanos's sleeve off, the sleeve that was found planted on the captured bears." Mobius called his witnesses forward, though to his surprise, he noticed Gilfred display a smug expression to them. "Oh no, he didn't…" Mobius thought silently, but he continued his questioning with the first witness. "Last Wednesday, at around 4pm, could you describe what was going on around you?"

"Uhm, yes. I saw Thanos. He threatened the businessmen, and then I saw him tear his own clothing afterward." The man said, fidgeting his seat. "I thought he was just angry about them getting away."

"Really? That's the truth of what you saw?" The witness hastily nodded, though he didn't look Mobius or anyone else in the eyes. "Alright, thank you, you can step down now."

Mobius called his second witness, who basically repeated the testimony of the first, though he was a bit more relaxed than the previous witness.

"This is absurd! They obviously threatened our witnesses!" Loki angrily mumbled to his team as Mobius continued.

"Or bribed them." Sylvie added. "They sure move quickly."

"What do you think, Mobius?" Loki asked him telepathically. "Bribery or coercion?"

"It seems to be a bit of both." Mobius figured. "The first guy, you saw his squirming body language, right? He was probably threatened while the other was promised a large sum of their court winnings."

"Ah, so a different sort of tampering for each witness." Loki relayed to Sylvie and Thanos aloud.

"It would appear so." Thanos agreed. "But we can prove this to the court."

"How?" Sylvie questioned. "I thought you said hypnotism wasn't allowed, so we can't reveal their minds to everyone!"

"That only applies if you're caught, and the poachers have tampered with our witnesses already."

Loki shook his head. "No, we can't use our enchantment in public. It's too risky, and I should ascertain that my trusted partner hasn't already come up with a better idea before we try it!" Loki waited for the second witness to speak once more before he telepathically discussed their plan of action with Mobius. "Ah, yes. He agreed, we can't hypnotize a confession from them; if they do so in response to our touch, it'll look as if we're the ones coercing them."

"It would be better than losing the case to those villains." Thanos argued.

Loki looked Thanos in the eyes. "You really think I should risk it?"

He nodded. "Without a doubt."

"I see. In that case, I'm definitely not going to do it."

"…Then why-"

"I'm not going to do anything. Like I said, a better idea."

As Mobius continued to question the bribed witness, the previous witness nearly jumped out of his seat as he beheld the vision of a black, goopy monster. "Youuu have been lying." Healer's voice echoed through his head.

"Wh-wh-wh-wha-" He tried to ask, his terror drowning out his voice.

"I am your inner demon, and I am farrr more terrifying than anything those Butthead Brothers can intimidate you with! Tell them the truth, or I will consume you and eat your cowardly soul!"

The man screamed, gaining him the attention of everyone in the courtroom. The judge banged his gavel. "Order in the courtroom! Why did you scream just now?"

"Your honor, I need to amend my statement, please! The Barter Brothers threatened me into lying, but I just can't go on with it!"

"This is the truth?"

"Yes, yes it is. It-" The man nearly fainted, but nearby people caught him, and the guards brought him some water.

"Well, that certainly changes things." The judge remarked.

"Objection!" Gilfred Gruenwald interjected. "The witness was clearly intimidated by Mr. Paradox. The scream came after he questioned him."

"Mr. Paradox didn't show any kind of threatening behavior during his questioning, and he and his team did nothing to him afterwards. Overruled!" The judge turned to the other witness. "And do you have anything you need to confess?"

"Too much?" The enthusiastic Symbiote checked with his host.

"A bit, yes. Now for the other one, you may need some assistance from your magical host."

This time, only Healer's voice sounded in the second witness's mind. "You must tell them about the bribe. That money is the product of thieves and poachers, and it is worthless to you."

"Who said that?"

"I am your sin, your inner demon. Tell the truth, and I will go awayyy."

He shook his head. "N-n-never. I need that money, and I don't really care where it came from, as long as I can spend it."

"But can you? Where can you spend that junk, at the counterfeit supply store?"

"Wha-" He pulled out a couple of bills from his pocket and noticed that they were counterfeit! "Why those no-good… alright, I admit, they bribed me to lie too!" He told the people of the courtroom. He handed the money in as evidence.

"Anything else from the prosecution?"

"No, that's it from me. If our witnesses will now tell the true account of what happened…" They did so, and Mobius thanked them for their current honesty. "So, in summary, the Barter Brothers poached the animals from Earth and attempted to set up Thanos when he confronted them, but he didn't hurt them. Thank you for your time."

"The defense may now speak." The judge announced.

"Your honor, the fact remains that Thanos is a criminal and a madman." Gilfred insisted. "My clients confronted Thanos because they were well aware of this, and they only did so to take measures to keep him from doing to those creatures the horrific acts he has done to so many species, like the annihilation of half the Niveisian population. Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to call Thanos himself to the stand."

The Time Detectives exchanged glances. "That could be trouble." Sylvie remarked.

"I just need to speak the truth. I have nothing to hide." Thanos said as he stood before them all and took the oath likewise.

"Thanos, from what we've heard, you have a certain alias: The Mad Titan, right?"

"That is what people called me."

"And why is that?"

"Because they believed I was mad."

"For killing millions of innocent people across the universe? Because you enjoyed murdering planets full of people? I can't say I blame 'em!"

"No. I never once killed for enjoyment. I only lowered the populations by half to help the other half thrive, and that is why people called me mad."

"But do you believe what you did to those people was wrong?"

"I… yes, I do now. I have been shown a less brutal way to accomplish my goal, and I have not killed the innocent in many years."

"So you do realize you're a murderer, do you?"

"I did kill in the past, but I have changed my ways. My goal remains to help dying species, but since I changed I do so by finding ways to allocate resources fairly, to as many as possible, not by causing harm anymore. I would never harm defenseless animals."

"Not harm, but would you move them away from their area of endangerment if you believed it would provide those resources for them?"

"I would move them away from dangerous people, like the poachers the Barter Brothers collaborated with."

"Dangerous people. Mr. Thanos, dangerous people are anywhere and everywhere, as are law-abiding people. You would know, as you're a very dangerous person yourself, after all the people you've murdered. Now, if your plan is to provide for the animals as you say, why are they all still endangered? Why are there still starving families across this world and many others? And most importantly, if you've changed for good, why haven't you made reparations with those you've hurt and victimized, like the Niveisians?"

"I have been helping planets across the universe with my team, however I can, but we are few in number, and we can only help so many living beings at a time. Providing those resources is the most meaningful reparation I can accomplish."

"So you don't care about the grieving families? They're not important to you?"

"They are important." Thanos argued. "I understand their pain, but I cannot resurrect the dead, so I just provide to save the hungry who still live."

"And why should we believe this? According to the records, it doesn't look like you've served any jail time or been given any punishment for your crime spree? How can we citizens of Earth and other peaceful planets trust a super-powered, undisciplined force when you've been shown to kill on such insane delusions as yours?"

"I'm glad you asked, because you don't only have to trust me: I have some witnesses of my own to tell you for me. Your honor, may I let them speak for me?"

"Alright, I'll allow you your witnesses. Are they present?"

"Yes. People of the court, let me first introduce someone you may know: the heir to the throne of Wakanda himself, Prince T'Challa."