Case 3: The Shapeshifter


"Well, how do I look?"

Loki inspected his variant, a mirror image of himself in a matching detective coat. "Very sharp, and dare I say, extremely handsome! You're a quick learner!"

"Well, we are the same, in terms of abilities, but I never had a teacher in magic before we met, so I've always had to be quick." Loki's variant replied, and in a flash of green light, a blonde woman in a green cape and black leather appeared. "You make shapeshifting seem like loads of fun!"

"Oh, it is, Sylvie, it is!"

"Even more fun than he's having?" The mischievous duo shifted their attention to the young man, who was struggling so hard to reel in a very large fish, he was being dragged into the lake, doing an amusing-looking backstroke to keep from being pulled under completely. Loki walked over to his line and began to reel it in by hand, giving the fisherman some help. Soon, they were amazed at the behemoth of a fish that they had caught, around the size of a human child!

"Man, you weren't kidding when you said the fish here were huge!" The young fisherman exclaimed.

"Of course not: my father and my brother used to come here hundreds and hundreds of years ago and brought back the largest fish for the great feasts of kings! I think this was actually one of the smaller ones." Loki bragged. "But Casey, you put up a commendable fight against it for a human! And to think, not too long ago, you didn't even remember what a fish was!"

"Could you stop bringing that up? It was a weird phase." Casey explained.

"Right."

"Hey Loki!" Mobius came up to him. He pointed out on the gleaming lake, teeming with aquatic life yet only a handful of boats. "Someday, very soon, that's gonna be me out there!"

Loki smiled. "Yes, with that enormous haul of units from our last case, you should be able to purchase that jet ski of your dreams in no time, my friend!"

Mobius nodded, a bittersweet expression in his eyes. "Yeah, no time… hey, speaking of our last case…"

"Yes?"

"Do you think you could teach me some magic?"

Loki blinked. "Teach you… magic?"

"Yeah. I mean, the combat fighting lessons you've been teaching me will be helpful too, but how about a spell? I'm not very physically strong, like Asgardians and Frost Giants are, and I don't want to be used as a hostage again, or worse, actually get hurt or killed! I just… I haven't felt very useful in these cases."

"I… well, I did fight alongside three human spellcasters in the Multiversal War, so perhaps you could perform a spell, if you had a master of magic like myself as your teacher…"

"And perhaps Mobius could teach you some modesty in return." Sylvie dryly answered.

"Not likely." Loki replied. "Any requests?"

"Teach me to cast fire!"

"Fire!? That's the spell you'd like to start with? Shapeshifting would be a safer option, and more effective for assignments requiring stealth and deception!"

"Yeah, but I've spent so long being cautious and stealthy, working behind the scenes for that corrupt TVA, I'd like to cause some chaos, burn something to the ground, you know? Come on, Loki, you know I'm not a reckless idiot: I'll practice hard until I get it down right!"

Loki turned to Sylvie, who just shrugged. "Well, this should prove interesting! Alright, fire casting: first, with any spell, you need to concentrate as hard as you can on a specific point." Loki unsheathed his sword.

"Uh, Loki? Wh-"

"Trying focusing with all your willpower on the tip of my blade. Magic takes intense concentration to perform correctly, especially if you're a beginner. Now, to cast the spell, try moving your fingers just like this!" Mobius did as Loki instructed, gazing deeply at the weapon and trying to set it on fire, but he got no results. After a few hours of practice, they decided to call it a day, head back to the Null-Time Zone, and have a delicious fish dinner.

"You met a Valkyrie?" Sylvie asked, listening intently to her boyfriend's adventures in his latest case. "What was she like?"

"She was fierce, put up one Hel of a fight, yet bitter and depressed and very lonely. She drank a lot, and I mean a lot: she drank to try and escape her past."

"Sounds like me not too long ago."

"No, definitely not: she was also very greedy and selfish!"

"Ah, so a mix of both our past selves, huh?" Sylvie teased.

"Hilarious." Loki tossed a large fish to Jörmungandr, who heartily swallowed it whole.

"Did she wield the legendary Dragonfang and ride a winged Pegasus?"

"No. She was trying to forget her past, hence all the alcohol, and hide her identity." Loki leaned back in his seat. "Though I did get a glimpse of such a glorious sight in the Valkyries' final battle. Mobius, who was that deadly woman with impeccable fashion sense that wiped them all out?"

"Oh, well, she's actually-" Mobius was cut off as the phone rang. "Hold on." Mobius answered it. "Time Detectives, what case do you need solved?"

"Hello, this is Denarian Saal from Xandar: a woman has been murdered here, in section 703A, sometime this morning, we believe. We request your services to find the killer."

"Alright, you're from the year… 1986?"

"Correct."

"Hang on…" Loki wondered, carrying on his conversation with Sylvie at the dinner table. "You don't remember our mother, yet you recall all those details about the Valkyries?"

"I guess so." Sylvie casually replied. "Playing Valkyries vs. Dragons was the last memory I had, before the TVA took me from my timeline."

"I see."

"Alright, we're on our way!" Mobius hung up the phone. "Murder on Xandar, team!"

"Would you like to join us, Sylvie?" Loki offered. "Who knows what mysteries await us today?"

"Mmm… maybe next time. I've got a little adventure of my own planned today."

"Suit yourself." Loki donned his detective hat and sunglasses and followed Mobius through the time door to Xandar. They stepped out onto the blue planet, and took in the sights: beautiful greenery and crystal clean waters, as they walked along the pathway towards the crime scene. Even though it was a few decades before the time of Loki's present day, it still was more technologically advanced than Earth was on his last visit. They passed by people of various shapes, shades, and sizes until they reached the boys in blue, The Nova Corps!

"Hey, I'm Mr. Paradox, and this is my partner, Mr. Ouroboros." Mobius introduced their aliases to Denarian Saal. "What can you tell us so far?"

"The victim was one of our own, a member of the Nova Corps."

"Does the Nova Corps have many enemies?" Loki asked.

"Is a Krylorian pink?"

Loki looked to his partner, who nodded, and back to the victim as the officer continued his report. "She was stabbed to death with some sort of foreign-made sword: see the stab wound here? Do either of you recognize the shape, maybe know where the murder weapon is from?"

As they both looked closer to inspect the victim's wound, a Xandarian citizen pointed at Loki and whispered to one of the Corps members. He whispered back, and they both looked at him more closely.

"You, in the funny hat and shades, take them off! Show your face!" The officer ordered.

"I beg your pardon? I wear these to protect my privacy: I'm something of a celebrity on a few worlds."

"In that case, we'll ready our autograph books and T-shirts. Now take off your disguise."

Loki turned to Mobius, who hesitantly nodded. As the god of mischief slowly removed his hat and glasses, the officers present stepped back in surprise, until one shouted, "It's him!" They quickly surrounded the revealed Loki, as he took a defensive position.

"Easy officers; one at a time please, and I'll get you those autographs." Loki coyly told them as they inched closer, their weapons drawn.

"Freeze! You're under arrest for the murder of Nova Corps member Esa Kul. Stand down!" As the Xandarian police attempted to seize the cornered sorcerer, he teleported himself a few feet away, Mobius joining him at his side.

"Wait, wait!" Mobius held up his hands, trying to reason with the officers. "My partner didn't murder her! He's innocent: he was in the office with me at the time of the murder!"

Suddenly, Loki was blasted by a red energy beam from above. "You can save your story for the Nova Prime: he's coming with us!" A voice came from the skies as a tractor beam enveloped Loki, rendering him incapable of escaping and pulling him upward into a Star Blaster ship. Mobius was then caught in a similar tractor beam as Saal entered his own ship, leading them to the Nova Prime's palace for sentencing.