Utilizing his shapeshifting powers, Detective Loki changed his physical form into that of a woman, wearing the golden bridesmaid dress she kept from her and her brother's wedding ruse in the past. Sylvie donned the lovely green dress and boots that her fiancé gifted her for her birthday, her sword tucked into the hidden pouch, while Fiamma hardened a dress from lava on herself. The triplicity of ladies grinned at each other and turned their attention back to their target.
Detective Loki spoke to her team. "From what I saw with those shopkeepers, he doesn't need to touch them to influence them, so we can assume he isn't enchanting them. Healer, could you send an infiltration blob inside him to identify whether or not he truly is a Loki?"
"Leave it to meee." The Symbiote sent a piece of herself to their suspect, and it quickly returned to them. "He is not a Loki."
"Excellent, then he won't be able to resist our enchantment. Now, I've got the communication channel on these Kimoyo Beads running, so we can record everything that happens during our confrontation as evidence." Loki expositioned. "He'll certainly try to sway us into believing whatever he says, but he won't be able to control Lokis so easily."
"Got it." Sylvie replied.
Loki made sure she had her power-dampening handcuffs at the ready and nodded to her allies. "Good. Let's move in!"
Loki, Sylvie, and Fiamma approached their suspect as the man had the store employees carry an enormous widescreen television to his spaceship.
"Oh hey lovely ladies, you're not with us, are you?" The mysterious man asked the trio, looking each of them in the eyes. "I would have definitely noticed such dazzling beauties by now. Would you like to join our company?"
"Oh yes, we have been looking all over for you." Loki answered him. "You're the dashing rogue who's been charming people left and right, aren't you?"
"Guilty." He laughed.
"As I suspected. Then you're the man hi we're here for."
"I'm certainly here for him!" Sylvie affirmed, walking calmly towards him. She laid her hands on his shoulders, a green glow emanating from them as she looked into his mind. "His name is Eros: how very fitting." She silently thought with a big grin.
Eros grinned back at her, placing his hands on her shoulders in return and gazing into her eyes further. "Nice to meet you. What's your name, m'lady?"
"Call me Lushton. Sylvie Lushton."
"Don't tell him your real name, Syl!" The lady Loki thought. "What are you doing!?"
"Hello, I am Fiamma Surturdottir of Muspelheim." Fiamma introduced as she approached them, further confounding Loki. "And I'm more available than she is!"
"What?! Fiamma knows he's not a Loki; why pursue him? Neither of them have the power-dampening cuffs: are they attempting to distract him for me?"
"And you are?" Eros asked Loki."
"Oh, um... I am Sif." Detective Lady Loki did a curtsy and turned her face back to Sylvie, quietly pondering as her fiancée continued to grin from ear to ear. "This is peculiar... I have never seen Syl smile like that, except for when we..." Loki's eyes widened in horror as he realized. "Don't tell me this charmer has her under his spell! Her and Fiamma both?!"
Loki gritted her teeth and approached the charming villain, prepared to handcuff him, but she was promptly interrupted by a telepathic message from Sylvie.
"Loki, don't arrest him, he's innocent! I saw it in his mind!"
"How could he be innocent?" Loki telepathically relayed back. "He has the group of missing ladies with him right here, and he somehow talked the shopkeepers into giving him all those free goods!"
"Being popular doesn't make him a criminal, does it? Just trust me, alright? Someone once told me it's wise to stop and discuss things before jumping into action, so let's figure this out the civilized way, okay?" She then turned to Eros and spoke out loud. "Oy, did you kidnap these women from their homes?"
"Certainly not! They enjoy my company, and we're all going on adventures together, that's all."
Sylvie smirked at Loki. "See? Case closed."
"Well, what's his name, at least?"
"It's a secret." Sylvie and Eros replied simultaneously.
"Healer?"
"I didn't get it."
Loki grimaced and turned to face and detain Eros, but while her back was turned to her fiancée, Sylvie pickpocketed Loki's power-dampening handcuffs and cuffed Loki instead.
"By the way, her name isn't Sif: she's an undercover detective, trying to arrest you!"
"Sylvie, he's manipulating you!" Loki struggled to free herself, but without her powers or her hands free, there was nothing she could do. "Fight his influence!" Loki then was able to activate the Kimoyo Beads she wore around her wrist. "King T'Chara, this is Loki: Nibiki and my partners have been brainwashed by the suspect, and I've been captured by my own team! He has the power to charm people someh-"
Fiamma incinerated the communication device before Loki could finish her sentence. The Fire Giantess then did the same to the beads on Nibiki's arm.
"Thanks Fiamma!" The current object of her affection told her.
Healer suddenly emerged from her host, attempting to bite through the cuffs around her hands, but Fiamma shot the Symbiote with another fiery stream, causing Healer and Loki both to recoil in pain! As the black goopy creature shrunk back inside, Sylvie blasted Fiamma in the head with an icy beam, stunning her.
"Don't you burn Loki, you horny spitfire!" She chastised.
Determined to reach her, Loki awkwardly took Sylvie's hand while her own were still cuffed together, staring into her eyes. Sylvie's expression remained outwardly euphoric, though there was a conflicted struggle in her eyes that Loki sought to bring forward, until they were interrupted by a pat on Loki's head.
Feeling strangely compelled to look, Loki turned and saw Eros right in her face, and as the two locked eyes, the Jotun-Asgardian former prince felt less inclined to resist and a climbing state of ecstasy with each second she stared into his eyes, until Loki had finally stopped struggling. She gazed at Eros with the same lovestruck expression as the others.
"You're more resilient than most... Loki? Color me impressed!" Eros complimented. "But you'd much rather join me on adventures than do a bunch of boring detective work, wouldn't you? Have some real fun with me?"
Loki nodded. "A bit of mischief!"
Eros smirked. "Atta girl!"
Back on the other end in Wakanda, King T'Chara sat pensively. "I've not only lost communication with President Loki, but there is no longer any signal coming off from their Kimoyo Beads: I can't track either of them!"
"Shall I send the rest of the Dora Milaje to their last known location to attempt a rescue, my king?" The leader of the Dora Milaje asked him.
"We can't leave our own kingdom unprotected, and by the time any of us arrive there, he'll undoubtedly be long gone. Perhaps... a small band of War Dogs will go and track him down, but they are not to engage until we know more information about this wrongdoer... if he could brainwash one of the Dora Milaje, as Loki said, we need a plan of attack first. While they are gathering that information, I will contact the vice president to inform her of the situation, and she will warn the rest of the Americans."
"Right away, my king!"
In the White House, Verity Willis's secretary found her napping in the bedroom and handed her the phone while President Loki tested out his new replacement hand. "It's for you, Vice President Willis."
"Mmmn, five more minutes..."
"It's from the king of Wakanda, and he says it's urgent!"
"Really?" She sleepily mumbled. "Uh, hello?"
"Hello, this is King T'Chara of Wakanda. We lost communications with your president after he reached the culprit who's behind the missing women. He claimed that the mystery man had brainwashed one of our agents and his own partners, using a mysterious power to charm them to do his bidding. He said he was captured by the enemy, and then he cut out, so we have to assume he has been turned also."
"Oh, the president is here with me; that was a different Loki who went to solve the mystery. Well, technically two different Lokis."
"Two- three Lokis?" King T'Chara summarized. "Is there a mad scientist cloning the real Loki somewhere in outer space!?"
"I wish it were that simple. Did he give you any clues on the guy's identity?"
"Just that he's an alien with black hair and very persuasive powers."
"As if we didn't have enough of those here. Well, thanks for the heads up!"
"You're very welcome. Goodbye."
"Goodbye." She hung up the phone and turned to the real President Loki. "Did you hear?"
"I did; it seems Mr. GoodyGumShoes wasn't as great as he believed himself to be!" He said with a smirk. "So much for Mr. And Mrs. Loki!"
"Hey, could you stop acting a petty little teenager for five seconds and take this seriously!? That Loki is on our side, and he's.. well, you! That doesn't bother you!?"
"He's more like a male Sylvie than a Loki, perhaps even akin to a Thor! In fact, I'd say personality-wise, he's as opposite a Loki as you can get... more like a..."
"A Highki?"
"...I was going to say something more along the lines of Ikol, but I suppose."
"A Kilo?" Verity guessed again.
"That's a unit of measurement."
Verity nodded. "Fitting since you keep measuring yourself up to him." President Loki winced as she made her point. "Anyway, now that he and his friends are out of commission, it's up to us to solve this case!"
President Loki leaned back in his seat. "Sorry, but I have more pressing matters to tend to, such as... ordering a set of alligator gloves for my new hand!"
"Come on, this could be exciting, solving an unsolvable mystery! You remember what you promised your people?"
"Indeed I do. I promised them I'd see who I can find to solve the case; I didn't say anything about solving the case myself."
Verity groaned. "You're right, you didn't." She put her face in her hands until she had an idea. "You're right, this abductor isn't any business of yours: a charming alien who can win over everyone like magic... you two would get along like twins! And the people of America will probably grow to love him, just like all those women have. Before you know it, he'll no longer be seen as a criminal, there'll be no case to solve anymore, and who knows, maybe he'll run for president himself!"
President Loki frowned and sat back up straight; he stared pensively at one of his commissioned portraits on the wall.
"Oh, and if his powers are strong enough to charm the other Lokis, if he got enough support, he could take your job- and your 'throne'- in a matter of days, maybe even sooner! Of course... if you can find him first and prove him guilty somehow, your people will not only love you more for it, but you'll be able to prove yourself the superior Loki and keep your power and your throne!" Verity smiled at Loki. "Buuuut, if you'd rather spend the day shopping-"
"You know, you make an excellent case, for a mortal! Very well, I have decided that this problem is worthy of my time after all, therefore I shall indeed solve it for you!"
Verity raised an eyebrow. "Hm, maybe I am cut out for politics after all!"
Loki grabbed the hair sample. "I'll start by taking another analysis of this piece of evidence! You can search the worldwide web databases for any accounts of aliens and/or their ships sighted and registered!"
"Yeah!"
So, the presidential duo worked individually to find any information they could about the mysterious kidnapper, not yet knowing his name from the detective trio. Loki conjured the Casket of Ancient Winters into his hands and carefully held the hair to it. Verity combed through the lists of super powered alien beings for anyone who matched the appearance and supposed abilities of their culprit.
President Loki reported first. "Ah. Well, he's not a Loki. I tested the sample by freezing it with the Casket of Ancient Winters, an artifact from my biological homeland. My hair doesn't freeze solid when I revert to my Jotun appearance; this one did!"
"Really? I haven't found any physical matches yet, but I'll keep looking! Hey, could you check the shop's cameras in Times Square for recorded surveillance footage of the guy? Even if the store owners defend him, the cameras won't lie!"
"Not a bad suggestion. Alright."
As Verity Willis continued to scan the screen and President Loki tucked away the hair again, a thought occurred to him.
"Curious, since you can see through all facades, do you have dreams while you sleep?"
"Yeah, I still have dreams sometimes, but I can usually tell they're not really happening."
"What do you mean, usually? There are some that can fool even you?"
"Every now and then. Like just now, I had a dream where I was riding on the back of a dinosaur over a crowd of rioting tree people, in some kind of strange and savage land... with a Loki. It wasn't you, though: it was one I haven't met before. But after what Detective Loki told me, maybe what happened in my dream really took place... like in another universe, with a different me and a different you!"
"Oh please!" President Loki arrogantly scoffed.
"The Loki from my dream was a lot less of a dick than you are too; we were even friends!"
"Ah, then that proves it was a fiction! Lokis don't make friends: that's a proven fact."
"And I thought I was a cynic."
"And the fact that you are is one of the reasons I tolerate you so readily, unlike most other mortals. I find that mindset, especially in such a young human, admirable even. Remember what you told me when I met you about everyone being a liar? It's true: people are terrible, no matter where you go."
"But the detective you said there are people in this universe who will never lie to us, and I could tell he wasn't lying when he did!"
"Which merely means he's told himself that line so many times, he's actually convinced himself that it's true!"
"And how do you know that? Is it from experience?"
President Loki sighed. "...Never mind, I don't want to talk about it."
"No, you clearly do." Verity corrected. Then she softly added. "Hey, I'm on your side, remember? 'Your most tolerated mortal,' or whatever. You can tell me; how do you know Loki's lying to himself about there being people who-"
"Because it's the same lie I told myself when I was younger! It's the kind of bunkum that all Lokis believe, and then, the one time when they actually do find someone they think they can trust, they get arrested, held down as they watch that friend get vaporized right in front of them, and then they tell you, right before you suffer the same fate, you committed a universe-ending crime by making a friend, when your destiny is to either die a horrible, excruciating death or remain evil and alone for the rest of your MISERABLE, MEANINGLESS LIFE!" Loki bitterly shouted, pushing his desk and paintings over with an impulsive telekinetic blast!
Verity stared, at a loss for words as Loki seethed.
"Loki..."
He quickly stood and turned away in embarrassment. "I should go check the cameras in Times Square now!" He hastily teleported out of the room before Verity could get another word in. She sighed, shook her head, and went back to work.
