On the blackened realm of Svartalfheim, the Time Detectives guided their young human client across the barren wasteland, seeking out some form of life that remained. They did their best to shield Røskva from the dark gust that threatened to blow her away. Loki and Sylvie used their magic to illuminate their path a bright glowing green.

"At least we won't have too many suspects to sort out on this dump of a planet." Sylvie remarked.

"The Dark Elves have been scarce enough from the aftermath of their war against my former adoptive grandfather 5000 years ago, and if my brother fought the rest of them, especially after what they did to Mother, I'm surprised there are any left at all." Loki speculated.

"It might just be a good thing there was at least one survivor." Mobius theorized. "If they were transported here without anyone who knows this place, like where to find food, water, and shelter, who knows how long they would have held out?"

"Can you track them here, Grievance- or Healer?" Røskva inquired.

"I would have to come into physical contact with someone before I can track them down, with maybe the exception of different variants of my host. If I find anyone here, I will tell you immediatelyyy."

The group continued their search until they eventually spotted the figure of a red-haired woman being carried off by a figure in Dark Elvish clothing and a purple hood.

"ELF AHEAD!"

Loki and Sylvie snuck up on the figure, pursuing him until they got close enough for Loki to teleport behind him, while Sylvie approached from the side. The elf stopped for a second, feeling he was being watched, but he was far too late to react as Loki snatched the woman from his clutches, while Sylvie blasted him with green energy from the other direction. Their elvish adversary was knocked on his back, and Sylvie rushed over to him, grabbed him by the collar, and threatened him with another energy blast.

"Alright Dark Elf, you're going to tell us where the other human is, or I'll light you up so bright, they'll be able to see you from Niflheim!"

"Sylvie, this isn't a human!" Loki interrupted, tossing the 'woman' to the ground. "It's a replica: it's not alive!"

"What!? What kind of sick joke is this!?"

The Dark Elf smirked. "They're really something though, aren't they? I can also make life-sized replicas of us, of dwarves, even of Asgardians like you two. And my name isn't 'Dark Elf,' it is Duskalf!"

"That's practically the same name."

"But I only work at night, when it isn't irritatingly bright out like it is now!"

"This… is bright!?" Mobius asked in bewilderment.

"No thank you." Loki refused him. "In our case, we'll only accept the real deal. Now where are the two living Midgardians?"

"You're looking for the humans that came here during the convergence." Duskalf figured. "I've been studying them, but they were stolen from me not long ago. You're too late to steal them for yourselves, Asgardians."

"Stolen by whom?"

Duskalf hesitated, trying to free himself from Sylvie's hold on him, but she pinned him down further. "Urgh!" He uttered an angry string of curses at her in Dark Elf language. "…By dwarves. The dwarves must have come to take crafting materials from the planet's surface, and they took my humans from me while they were at it."

"Did they travel by Bifrost or by spaceship?" Sylvie asked.

"Spaceship, of course. Old Allfather Odin hasn't allowed anyone through the Bifrost in years."

"Which direction did they go?"

He pointed to the sky. "Back towards their home realm, I'm sure. It was in the middle of broad daylight, so it was hard for me to see too clearly. You know, those humans may have been a hideous pair of creatures, but I did care for them these past few years, and they made excellent test subjects; I may have even grown a bit fond of them, like they were my own pets. If you return them to me, I could make you something real nice!"

"The only returning we shall be doing will be returning that couple to their daughter, and then returning them all to their home." Loki again refused. "Miss Luston, let's just make sure he's being truthful with us."

"No problem." Sylvie looked into his memories, verifying the story they were told. "Yeah, he told us the truth about the dwarves, only they left in the opposite direction that he pointed us to." Duskalf cursed in Elvish again as Sylvie steered them in the right direction.

"Wonderful. That'll be all." Sylvie pushed Duskalf away and rejoined her friends. "It couldn't have been more than 10 or 15 minutes since Heimdall showed us the Madsens here, so the dwarves that took them shouldn't be anywhere near Nidavellir yet: we just need to find a fast ship to intercept them, and we won't have to deal with an entire race of them." Then Loki got an idea. "Or perhaps something even faster than a ship!"

Meanwhile, in the kingdom of New Asgard, Norway, in 2025, Thor and his timeline's Loki were surprised to find the detectives back for a hurried visit.

"Detective Brother, you're back!" Thor greeted. "Has the time for your wedding arrived already?"

"Not yet, Brother. We can't tarry here long right now, but after this case we'll talk! May I kindly borrow one of your goats?"

Thor glanced back at his goat-drawn chariot, curious what the time travelers had in mind.

Back on 2017's Svartalfheim, Loki, Sylvie, and Mobius, with Røskva on his lap, rode Toothgnasher through the stars, and Heimdall's sight guided them until they found the dwarves' spacecraft and stopped them, boarding the ship and disembarking the big brown goat.

"Who are you, and what do you need of us?" One of the dwarves asked.

"Wait, I recognize this one." One of them said. "Though he wears Midgardian garb, he is Loki Odinson of Asgard, and undoubtedly he has come requesting some kind of weapon to be crafted for him!"

"Yes, I am, but no, I haven't." Loki answered chronologically. "This young girl's parents are missing, and we have evidence that they were recently taken from Svartalfheim by dwarves like yourselves." He showed them the photo. "Do you have them?"

The dwarves exchanged glances and whispered to each other. "Maybe we do. Maybe we don't. The question is, how much are ye willing to pay to take them?"

"What?" Røskva asked, shocked by the question.

"Oh, you've got some nerve to try and sell a child her own parents back!" Sylvie snarled at them. "I'm really getting sick of all these sleazy alien kidnappers and their idiotic greed!" She drew her sword and pointed it at the dwarves. "How about you make this easy for yourselves- especially for your necks- and give up the humans, safe and unharmed, before you get cut down as short as you are in the Snow White fairy tale!"

"If you kill us, you'll never find them before we get to them."

"You wanna bet?" Sylvie grabbed one by the head, but he knocked her away with his brute strength, taking her by surprise. "I couldn't see his memories!"

"We came prepared." The dwarf that resisted Sylvie replied. "We have technology on this ship that prevents the use of magical abilities, no matter what realm's powers ye wield."

"Now, back to the price." The other dwarf mused. "Due to that act of aggression, I'd say the price just went up."

Loki shook his head. "This is absurd, getting extorted by dwarves. Then what is your price now?"

The dwarves whispered amongst each other again, and they simultaneously smirked at Loki. "We want your head."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Pardon granted. Oh, and that includes yer neck, so no using that excuse to weasel out of our bargain! Now, do we have a deal?"

"They're like the dwarves in the old myths!" Røskva realized.

"Aye, we did a fair bit of reading on your Midgard the last time we visited. We certainly enjoyed the story of Skáldskaparmál, particularly the ending!"

"Sorry, but I happen to still be using my head, unlike some people, and I plan on continuing to do so for many thousands of years to come!" Loki explained.

"Well, we still have plenty of use for those humans you're after as our workers, so either both of us is going to have to compromise, or neither of us will!" The dwarf brothers laughed maliciously while the detectives glowered at them. They turned their backs to the dwarves to discuss the issue amongst themselves further.

"I still say we kill them!" Sylvie proposed. "They're even more annoying than that Dark Elf was!"

"And I will bite their heads off!" Healer excitedly volunteered.

"I'm not usually one for overly violent solutions, but I agree with Syl." Mobius voted. "But Røskva, they're your parents at stake: what do you think?"

"I want to be sure they're safe, but I definitely don't want those smug, conniving dwarves to lay a hand on Loki!" Røskva turned to Loki. "You may not have your magic here, but you can outsmart these jerks easy, right?"

Loki smiled. "Most definitely. In fact, I believe I've already come up with the perfect solution for us all to get what we want, no bloodshed necessary."

"Awww…" Sylvie whined, sheathing her sword.

"Awww…" Loki's Symbiote whined at the same time. They turned back to the dwarves.

"We have decided to accept your offer, as long as you give me time to say my goodbyes to my family and friends." Loki told them.

"Sounds fair, that shouldn't take too long." One of the dwarves rudely responded. "Just be mindful that ye can't trick us with yer illusions here."

"Noted. I'll be back." Loki and his friends mounted Toothgnasher once more to return to Svartalfheim, paying a return visit to its key resident. "Hello again, Duskalf. Do you take requests?"

"Not for free. Did you bring back my humans?"

"They're not yours, and no. I recall you mentioning you had a problem seeing in the daytime. I have something that could eliminate that problem for you." The curious Dark Elf looked closely as Loki pulled out his pair of disguise sunglasses. "Believe it or not, there are humans who have a disdain for the light similar to yours, so they invented this potent eye protection the Midgardians call 'sunglasses,' or 'shades,' for short. Here, try them out." Loki handed Duskalf the glasses, and he was amazed as his surroundings became clear, despite the realm still experiencing its daytime.

"These are… incredible! I could work even in the brightness of Midgard with these!" Duskalf exclaimed.

Loki grinned. "They're yours if you make us something special."

Duskalf grinned back. "What do you need?"