Deep in the Great Pyramid of Giza, as The Ennead Council discussed an urgent matter, a pale figure in a black hooded cloak approached, its dark sword dragging down the steps. They turned as they heard the mysterious visitor, who glared back at them with murderous intent.

"Stop! This is a private meeting, begone!" The intruder's gaze turned to the speaker.

"You are The Council of Egyptian gods."

"You know us?!"

"I know that you spend your time having lengthy discussions over politics and regulations while the mortals around you suffer and die."

"We are not the ones who have afflicted the human race: they have done that themselves, since the beginning of their time."

"Osiris, god of the dead. How fitting that you should be the first to die."

"You are a blasphemous creature!" The deities stood, ready for battle, as the pale creature's black sword multiplied and swarmed them all in an instant. Soon, screams could be heard from the inside of the pyramid, and even sooner, it fell silent.

In the New York Sanctum, Doctor Stephen Strange, Wong, and the detective duo sipped tea as they sat at the table, trying to avoid the elephant in the room.

"Mmm, tea with honey." Grievance said, tasting the beverage his host was drinking.

"So, Loki, how are things going with your girlfriend?" Strange asked.

"Ah, not girlfriend anymore." Loki showed off his engagement ring. "Fiancée!"

"Oh, congratulations! I'm sure you'll be very happy with yourself."

"Thank you, as am I. And you? Any special sorceresses in your life?"

The doctor smiled. "There is one, not quite ready for engagement yet."

"He needs to follow contemporary wisdom." Wong advised. "If you like it, then you should put a ring on it."

"How dare you use Beyonce against me?! You wouldn't even know who she is if it weren't for me!"

"I know who Beyonce isss."

"Beyonce, is that your darling lady's name?" Loki guessed, still far behind in his knowledge of modern musicians.

"Huh, not even in his dreams."

"And who are you seeing, Wong?" Strange snarked, taking another sip. "I'm glad Loki's spoken for: you two are such bad influences on each other."

Mobius set his teacup down. "Speaking as one of Loki's two good influences, I had my doubts about the two of them together at first: the chaos, the mischief, the… pure craziness, but I've gotta say, I'm really happy for you both."

"So where is the future Mrs. Loki today?" Stephen Strange wondered. "Um… Sylvie, right?"

"Yeah, she told me she was out training Frelsir, her dragon." Mobius replied.

"Sssounds about right."

"So-" Loki began, though he was interrupted by a knock at the door. "Expecting someone?"

"Nope, today's just been full of surprises." Strange sighed as he levitated to the main room. A young girl with a pixie cut stood at the door, waiting impatiently. "Can I help you?"

"I need to see the Sorcerer Supreme, to find my friends. They're in grave danger!"

"And why don't your friends have a number they can reach you at, kid? Who are they, and who are you?"

"Haven't you heard of the Eternals? Hmph, some wise wizard you are! And I'm not a kid, I'm the one and only-"

"Sprite?!" Loki exclaimed, quickly shapeshifting into a snake. "Up to mischief, tricky fox?"

Sprite peered at Loki in surprise, but she didn't respond, looking downward. Loki reverted to his Asgardian appearance.

"You do remember me, don't you? Loki, son of Odin of Asgard, only I was a lot smaller last I saw you."

"Yeah, I remember you, you little snake in the grass. It's just… I don't have my powers of illusion anymore, Loki: I'm human now."

"Oh, you poor thing." Loki said with genuine sympathy.

"Hey!" Mobius and Strange protested together.

"Oh, no offense. I always loved watching your illusions, hearing your stories of pranks and trickery: you were the only hero of Midgard I related to, well, you and Maui."

"I chose to be human: I wanted to know what it's like to live a normal life, to grow up after 7000 years of being stuck in this child body!" Sprite sighed. "But with what happened to Thena, I probably won't get the chance anyway."

"And what happened to Thena?"

"She was murdered, by a monster in that goes around killing gods. That's why I need to find the others, before they get killed!"

"Right. And who am I looking for again?" Strange repeated. "These 'Eternals,' are they like Asgardians, or some other kind of aliens?"

"We're immortal beings created by a Celestial. Now are you going to help me find them or not?!"

"Sure thing kid, thanks for asking nicely." Strange yanked a hair from her head for a DNA sample and searched as far as he could see, letting Sprite look to point out her friends. Oddly enough, none of them could be found. "Well, this sure isn't one of my best days. They must have already-"

"Hey guys, check this out!" America Chavez interrupted, showing them all a news broadcast on her phone.

"I repeat, we're live inside the Great Pyramid of Giza, with what appears to be the giant corpses of five Egyptians gods. We have the eyewitness here, who says she heard screaming coming from inside less than an hour earlier. Who or what killed these beings is unknown, but local authorities have closed off the pyramid to further investigate the scene…"

Mobius turned to his partner. "Well, should we go join the investigation?"

"Five gods killed at once… I believe your friend's murderer has struck again. Yes, let's go investigate!"

"I'm going with you!" Sprite announced. "I need to find out who killed Thena!"

"You don't have any powers to defend yourself if it returns."

"Neither do I, and I'm going." Mobius argued Loki's point.

"You're not a god, Mobius, and you're relatively unknown even on Earth, not to mention throughout the universe!"

"You're not technically a god either, Mr. Frost Giant Jr!"

"Mr. What!?" Sprite and Strange both asked, unaware of the Jotun Prince's heritage.

"Do we even know for sure that only gods have been killed? Is anyone really safe until we find out who's behind these attacks?!"

Loki sighed. "Well, I suppose we'll find out soon enough." Doctor Strange opened them a portal to Egypt, inside the pyramid. "Oh, thank you." The three entered through to the crime scene, and Strange closed it behind them, staying with the others at the Sanctum.

Loki and Mobius studied the bodies. "It took a few hits, but they were clearly outmatched." Mobius assessed. "All the blood appears to be theirs."

"Yes, there are multiple stab wounds on all of them, all from the same sword. A longsword of some sort."

"Not just any sword. It is All-Black."

"So, our killer at least has good taste in the color scheme of his weaponry."

"No, All-Black is the name of a very powerful and deadly Symbiote. He is ancient, the first of us to come into existence by the creator. Manifested from the living abyss, tempered by the divine power of a deceased Celestial, he takes the form of a sword of the purest darkness, corrupting its wielder into committing divine atrocities."

"You're saying it's controlling the killer like you tried to control me?"

"Mmmore like enhancing the darkest desires of their heart. It is actually quite similar to the effects of the Mind Infinity Stone that you experienced: he is attracted to raw, negative emotions within a person, and when he bonds with them, he turns those dark emotions up to an 11, until his host is consumed with hatred and malice! You are lucky All-Black did not find you before I did."

"Mobius, Grievance knows the murder weapon, a sword of living darkness called All-Black. Whoever is using All-Black is being manipulated into going on a god-killing-spree. If- if he's still alive, we need to warn Thor and any other Asgardians who survived Ragnarok! Do either or you know where they are?"

"New Asgard, in Norway." Sprite told him. "It used to be the village of Tønsberg."

Loki nodded. "Of course, the battlefield where my father fought against… my other father in the old Asgardian-Jotun War!" He opened a glowing orange door to Norway via TemPad, disappearing to the other side.

Up on the peak of Mount Olympus, Thor's goat-drawn chariot descended from the adjacent dimension. As the chariot landed, several people stared in awe as Thor and the Guardians of the Galaxy stepped out onto the surface.

"Hello Greeks, we are searching for Hercules, son of Zeus. I'd like to have a god-to-god talk with him." Thor explained. "Does anyone know where we can find him?"

The people whispered amongst themselves, recognizing Thor from the Avengers, excitedly anticipating a meeting or even a showdown between him and their own hero. Finally, a muscular man in a toga made his way through the crowd, walking right up to the equally buffed Asgardian.

"Thor, son of Odin. I almost thought you forgot I existed. And, as far as I remember, you always preferred to let your hammer do your talking."

"I… I've been through a lot since we last met. Your father sent me to warn you about a creature that has been slaying gods, to make sure you're unhurt."

"Pfft, unhurt. You must think I'm some damsel in distress compared to you, oh mighty Avenger! Well, you'd be mistaken." Hercules stretched his beefy arms, tore off a large chunk on the mountain, and hurled it across the sky until it disappeared from view.

"I wasn't trying to insult-"

"Wait, hold on." Hercules interrupted. "Wait for it. Waaaaaait for ittttt…" They waited until they heard a whooshing noise coming from the other direction, all except Hercules himself turning towards the mountain piece heading straight for him. Hercules casually raised a fist above his shoulder, and the projectile shattered into rubble as it met his fist! "There, I'd say my fist speaks pretty well for me too."

Thor smiled. "That's good, I know well of your strength; I just wanted to warn you. None of us know the identity of this god slayer, so it's best to be on guard."

"Well, if there's a god-slayer on the loose, shouldn't you be with your own people in New Asgard? You are their one last hope, as I am with the people of Greece."

"My people have a king to protect them. If they're ever threatened, Valkyrie and Korg will let me know. For now, I'm going to stay with you, so you have another warrior by your side."

"…alright." Hercules led Thor and his friends down the mountain, introducing himself to the others on the way.

As the detectives appeared in New Asgard, Loki quickly pushed Mobius out of the way as he saw a black sword jab towards his friend's head. Loki unsheathed his own blade, setting it ablaze, and matched it against the opposing weapon. He furrowed his brow in surprise as the black sword was sliced in two like butter, and the woman in green and black who wielded it jumped back in shock.

"What!?" Loki's confusion grew as noticed she was dressed like the woman he'd seen slaying the Valkyries in Brunhilde's memory. He looked around at four more people, one dressed as Hulk, one as Brunhilde, one as Thor, and one even as him, all their outfits looking to be made from scratch. He then noticed the large crowd of Asgardians murmuring and oohing, unsure of what to make of Loki's group's sudden appearance, and he put the pieces together.

"Is this… is this a play?"

"Um… was that supposed to happen?" The woman with the ruined prop sword wondered. "Did somebody cast another Loki actor without us knowing to make the scene more magical or more chaotic?"

"Madam, I am Loki."

"Apologies, but the position has been filled." Actor Loki told his counterpart.

Loki shook his head. "Where is Thor, the real Thor? He's in danger, you all are!"

"And why should we believe you, trickster?" A woman in a real Valkyrie's armor and Dragonfang in her hand walked his way.

"Brunhilde?! What's going on here?!"

Brunhilde stopped in her tracks. "How? How do you know that name?"

"Right, she's not the variant I met on Sakaar." Loki thought. "A friend told me." He simply said. He asked the audience, "You all know me: you know I'm Loki, right?"

"We know it, we just don't believe it." Brunhilde clarified. "Thor said he watched you die: Thanos snapped your neck on the ship. How are you alive?"

"I can answer that." Mobius spoke up. "He's from the past. This Loki here was taken from his timeline before he met you, by the organization I used to work for, and now he's free to go wherever and whenever he chooses."

"The two of us are detectives, solving mysteries and crimes throughout time, across the vast multiverse, and today our friend Sprite has asked us to solve her friend's murder." Loki added.

"Wait, you're the Time Detectives?" The Kronan who called them earlier realized. "How's your sick friend feeling?"

"Oh, hello Korg! I'm doing better, thank you for asking."

"Are you here about the god-killer?"

"Yes, we are! Now where's my brother?"

"He's off in space with his new mates, trying to find the killer, same as you."

"Do you know where? Could you help me find him?"

"Not a clue, man. Maybe the king knows?"

Loki raised his eyebrows. "Odin is alive?"

"He means me." Brunhilde asserted. "I'm the king of Asgard."

Loki chuckled. "Right, and I'm the queen of England." He continued to laugh and gave a playful curtsy. "And, if it pleases Your Majesty, I would like to see my brother."

"Look, your brother made me king, okay?!"

"Oh, pardon me, ehehehe. I had no idea you were my sister-in-law!"

"Listen, you arrogant, condescending-" The royal Valkyrie began, but she stopped as they noticed a pale figure, cloaked in black, descend from the sky onto the stage.

"So many gods in one place, where to start?" He faced Brunhilde, his dark sword at the ready. "By taking the king."

"All-Black…" Grievance gulped.

Brunhilde readied her weapon in kind. "The god-killer, I take it?"

Their culprit shook his head. "The god butcher."