"So, we will need to find Eros's location." Thanos stated. "He shouldn't be hard to track down, especially knowing and following his pattern of hedonistic behavior."

"Splendid, then get to it. We'll just..." Loki, with Verity following his lead, backed away from Thanos to the other side of the room. "...give you some space to work."

"I'm not the Thanos who tortured you into submission; there is no need to fear me, unless you are plotting to harm the innocent or throw off the balance of nature."

Loki squinted. "He can't be serious."

"He is." Verity told him.

"He is mad: it's in his moniker! Verity, why should we take the word of a madman!?"

"This one is cooperating with me." Thanos spoke of Mantis.

"To be honest, I do not like Thanos either." Mantis told them. "He killed Gamora, and before that he killed Drax's family! I am only working with him to save the Loki baby."

Verity exhaled. "Then I guess we're all just gonna have to trust him."

"Speaking of trusts..." Just then, Loki conjured up a quill pen and scroll. "Anyone for writing our their will, perhaps leaving their president something nice? No?" He peered in Thanos's direction. "Wait... what's that?"

He pointed to a glowing rectangular shape that appeared behind Thanos, inside which they could see a lush forest.

"Hey Thanos, Mantis, this way!" He heard Mobius's voice beckon. Thanos took a step inside, wondering where Mobius was calling to him from.

"I thought that Mobius mortal was going to stay home and rest." President Loki figured.

"What do you mean?" Verity questioned. "That sounded like a woman's voice."

"A woman's? But I heard... oh no..."

But it was too late. After Thanos was all the way in the Time Door, with Mantis right behind him, Detective Lady Loki appeared between her variant and Verity in a green flash, in her Asgardian battle armor, and she closed the TemPad's portal on Thanos and Mantis, smirking.

"The coast is clear, Eros!"

Taking his cue, Sylvie helped Eros into the building. "Hello, you must be Verity Willis." The adopted Titan greeted. "How would you like to join us for some fun?"

Verity attempted to back away, but she and her president were already against the wall, cornered. "And you must be Eros, the kidnapper."

"Kidnapper? You think I'm keeping these ladies hostage?" Eros chuckled. "No no, they all want to be with me, don't you?" Detective Loki and Sylvie both agreed.

"They only 'want to be' because you messed with their brains and their emotions, you creep!" Then she faced Detective Loki, who stood at Eros's other side. "Did you turn Detective Loki into a woman!?"

"Not me, he's/she's a shapeshifter." Eros told her.

"It's true, we all are." President Loki added.

"Detective Loki, Sylvie, he's got you under his spell! Fight him, free yourselves!"

"We're not under any spell, we just love him." Sylvie replied. "I saw it for myself."

"Indeed, he may be irresistibly charming, but we're free to make our own decisions, to love who we want." Detective Loki agreed.

"But you love Sylvie!" Verity insisted. "She's going to be your wife and have your baby!"

"I'm aware. I love them both, soon to be all three of them."

"Same here." Sylvie told her.

"Me threeee." Healer confessed. "But Lokiii is still my favorite!"

"And I love all of them." Eros walked forward until he was right in front of Verity, looking her straight in the eyes. "Yet there's always room on my team for more." Verity winced as he placed a hand on her on the head, watching for the moment she'd fall to his charms. "What do you say, Verity?"

Verity gritted her teeth. "I say drop dead!" She kicked Eros between the legs and turned to President Loki while the Titan dropped to his knees and squeaked in pain. "Can you teleport Thanos and the empath lady back here?"

Loki shook his head. "Even if I knew where they were, I can't move people across time or alternate universes without a TemPad. But there's worse news yet."

"What?"

President Loki sighed. "Now I'm in love with Eros too."

"Why don't my powers work on her?" Eros moaned as Detective Loki helped him up. Verity watched in dismay as President Loki joined them, grabbing onto his variant to help.

"Because she can see past anyone's charm and smarm, even my own, and see one's true self." President Loki explained.

"Fortunately for her now, she's no longer forced to work with you." Sylvie sassed him.

"She beat me to that one." Detective Loki admitted. "Shall we be off then?"

"We shall." Eros answered.

"Hey!" Verity yelled after them as the Lokis all left with Eros, but she stopped as she heard President Loki's voice in her head.

"Verity, do you trust me?" He telepathically asked her.

"Trust you!?" She thought. "You're under his control too, aren't you? You weren't lying when you said you loved Eros!"

"I know I wasn't, but do you trust me regardless? You yourself said we'd have to."

"That was... can you read my mind?"

"I can only hear that which you mean for me to hear. Do you trust me?"

Verity paused. "Surprisingly, yes. A little."

"That's all I need from you for the moment. Tarry here for now, please."

"What?" She asked, puzzled. "Who's 'Terry?'"

"Wh- oh. Tarry, it means 'wait' in old English."

"Oh, okay, I guess."

"Thank you." President Loki then exited the White House with the others as Verity hesitantly waited.

Soon, Eros led them back to his spaceship, and President Loki spotted his past friend Erin's descendant, among the other brainwashed ladies.

Eros prepared to board his ship with his entourage. "If there's one thing I can say of this week, it's that I've really gotten to know Loki."

"You think you know me so well." President Loki started. "There is one important thing you don't know of Lokis." He hurled a flurry of daggers into Eros's ship's engine, causing it to explode while those nearby ran to safety. "We have a bad habit of betraying those we love."

President Loki then used Detective Loki's TemPad to open the Time Door back to where his allies were trapped, and he leapt in after them. "THANOS, MANTIS, YOUR SAVIOR HAS ARRIVED!" He called to them.

Detective Loki and Sylvie checked their pockets for their TemPads, and when the former noticed hers was missing, she wondered aloud. "Did he-" Then she remembered. "Of course, why would I need help getting Eros back on his feet? Not bad."

"Don't compliment him, he stole from you and betrayed me!" Eros chastised. "You should be angry!"

"I should be; I'm merely in too... too euphoric a mood to be upset."

When President Loki found his allies, he added, "I have also found the missing women, stalled their ride, and have your brother waiting to see you on the other side. You're welcome!"

"Thank you!" Mantis politely replied.

"Then leave Eros to me!" Thanos told them. He returned to Earth and confronted his brother.

"Uh-oh!" Eros yelped when he beheld the purple, muscular figure in front of him. "Ladies, if you'll excuse me..." He took off running, and Thanos immediately gave chase. "STOP THAT OTHER LOKI!" Eros instructed his fighters, as they were powerless to stop Thanos.

Back on the forested planet, Mantis made her plan. "I will free them from his control!"

President Loki stepped in front of her. "Free me first! I may have turned on him, but I'm still quite infatuated with Eros, and that could prove problematic further on!"

Mantis placed a hand on his shoulder. "Be your normal self."

Suddenly, President Loki's lovestruck grin was wiped off his face, and he breathed a sigh of relief. "Ah, that feels much worse, thank you. Now for the rest..."

President Loki emerged from his Time Door, and as he did, he was ambushed by Sylvie and Nibiki from either side, but they both passed right through his illusion. He then teleported Mantis behind them, who placed a hand on each of them.

"Back to normal!" Mantis repeated. Looks of realization came over Sylvie and Nibiki, while Sylvie faced her Loki, determined to help free her too.

"Ladies, if you'll excuse me." President Loki subsequently took another Time Door, and he reappeared back at the White House. "Verity, are you still here?"

"Yeah. Are you back to your senses?"

"I most certainly am, and we're in the process of restoring the others. Would you like to join us, Miss Vice President?"

"Of course!" Verity followed him back to Eros's sabotaged ship, marveling at her first trip through a wormhole.

Mantis had returned most of the other women to their normal states, yet Fiamma kept her body blazing, while Healer formed a symbiotic shield around Detective Loki, preventing each of them from being touched.

"I tried to restore the black-haired Loki, but my powers don't affect his... her sludge zombie!" Mantis told the president Loki.

"Then let's focus on that Fire Demoness first." President Loki proposed before narrowly dodging a stream of fire from her. "Goodness, I'd hate to see how she'd treat me if she wasn't sweet on Lokis!"

"I could let you live if you gave up." Fiamma told him. "If you joined us, you could still be with me, fire and ice in perfect harmony, and we could rule this whole universe together!"

At that moment, Verity had an idea. "Loki, now it's your turn to trust me."

"You have a plan, I take it?"

She nodded. "A good one."

"...Very well then."

Verity then turned to Fiamma, who prepared another fiery assault. "It's true, President Loki is in love with you!"

"What?" Fiamma temporarily ceased fire.

"What!?" President Loki echoed.

"I'm sorry, I know you told me that in confidence, but she has a right to know." She cleared her throat uncomfortably. "When we were still solving this case, Loki confessed to me in secret that he really does want to be with you, but you're so... fiery hot, he's afraid you'll burn his face if he tries to kiss you, and do all that other kind of mush."

"Is that all? I can cool myself down for you, see?" Fiamma did as she said, her flames hardening and cooling. "Allow me to demonstrate."

President Loki shot Verity a mixed look of disgust and admiration before he played along, approaching the Muspel and kissing her on the lips. While she was distracted, Verity signaled for Mantis to sneak up behind her.

"Back to normal." Mantis whispered.

However, Fiamma either didn't notice or didn't particularly care, for she continued to smooch her original crush.

When their moment was over, they faced Detective Loki, the only one there still under Eros's influence.

"Well, you're quite the cunning one too, aren't you, Vice President Willis?"

"Yesss, let's eat her cunning brain!" Healer suggested. The Symbiote stretched over to her, her mouth stretching wide, but President Loki telekinetically pulled his friend out of the way. Fiamma flung a fireball at Healer while Detective Loki shot it away with ice. Sylvie then held Healer with her own telekinesis and attempted to move him off of her host. She struggled to clear a spot on Detective Loki's body for Mantis to reach, but said Loki knocked the green-clad empath unconscious.

Detective Loki then summoned the Casket of Ancient Winters and froze Fiamma in place. Sylvie then faced her down while President Loki guarded Verity.

"Loki, Verity was right, you're being manipulated to fight for a criminal!" Sylvie reasoned. "I know... I know it's sort of my fault you got turned in the first place, so I'm going to make sure you return to your right mind!"

Detective Loki just shook her head. "Sylvie, Sylvie, Sylvie... there's no need for jealousy. Even with Eros in the picture, no one could ever take your place in my life, nor our little Frigga's."

Sylvie gaped in bewilderment. "You can't seriously think I'm jealous of that star-crossed sleazeball! You see what I mean, Lolo? You're not thinking straight at all!" She drew her sword and proceeded to hit Healer with a blast of green energy. "So I suppose I'll have to knock some sense into you!"

She then teleported behind her Loki, pried Healer off a bit with her sword, and punched Loki on the head, dazing her. Healer then bit Sylvie's arm and tossed her against the spaceship with her teeth!

"Sylvie!" Detective Loki shouted in concern. She narrowed her eyes at Healer. "Healer, we don't want any harm to come to her, only to keep her allies from brainwashing us!"

"I do not careee! I only want to protect you!"

"Well, if you're really a part of me, as you claim, you should wish to protect my fiancée even more!" Detective Loki angrily protested.

As the pair argued, President Loki smiled, a new scheme in his mind. He teleported behind Sylvie and helped her to her feet, but as he did, he held a dagger to her belly. "HEY, odd couple!"

Loki and Healer turned, and the former gasped at the sight. "What are you doing!?"

"Bargaining: make your monster slither back inside of you so we can turn you back and I get to save the day, or you can say a permanent farewell to your better half and your future progeny. Shouldn't be a hard choice."

Detective Loki panted in fear, her concern for her family overpowering her infatuation with Eros. "Healer, do as he says, now!"

Healer scoffed. "He is bluffing! You lesser Lokis are all talk!"

"Is that right!?" President Loki sank his dagger into Sylvie's abdomen a smidge until she stifled a squeal.

"NO, STOP!" Detective Loki screamed. "Healer, please, get back inside me or he'll kill them both!"

"He's right. I couldn't care less about your wife and child when I've problems of my own to deal with... mainly your newest object of affection challenging me for my throne."

"YOU COWARDLY PIECE OF DOG SHIIIT!" Healer lunged at President Loki to bite his head off, but he teleported himself and Sylvie to safety, and he readied his dagger again.

"So you want me to sink this in further? I'm not bluffing, just ask Verity!"

"He's not lying, he's really going to jab her in the gut again!" Verity truthfully confirmed.

"NOT IF I KILL YOU FIIIRST!"

"NO-!" Before her Symbiote could strike again, her host desperately unsheathed Lævateinn and stabbed Healer with the flaming blade, causing both of them anguish. Unable to bear the pain, Healer finally retreated into Loki's chest.

Mantis woke up after Verity doused her with a glass of water from inside the ship, and she walked up to Detective Loki, who raised her hands in surrender.

"Be yourselves!"

When Detective Loki came to her senses, President Loki released Sylvie from his grip, and her symbiotic partner ran to her in a warm embrace. "Sylvie, are you alright? Let me heal you?"

"I'm alright, Lo."

Still, Detective Loki glared daggers at her variant. "If you hurt her... if you hurt our baby... you're going to wish you were still under the evil Thanos's tortures compared to what I'll do to you!"

"Oh, do calm yourself, detective, don't you think you're overreacting?" He coyly responded.

"OVERREACTING!? YOU COULD HAVE KILLED MY FAMILY!"

President Loki responded by merely holding up his dagger, and in a flash of green, it became the president's trusty quill pen once more. "With a feather? They must be extremely ticklish!" He tapped his forehead and grinned. "I told you I'm the superior Loki."

Detective Loki looked back at Sylvie, curious if she knew the whole time, and she grinned as a yes. Detective Loki slowly nodded. "Well played, I'm impressed. Make no mistake, I loathe you for it, but I'm impressed nonetheless."

President Loki simply grinned wider.

"So, now that you're all back to normal..." Verity began. "we just wait for the good Thanos to catch his troublemaker of a brother?"

"Indeed we do."