Chapter 2 – The TVA
Loki's POV
Loki was happy when he was able to arrange the tour at the National Gallery without any fuss. He knew if he used the name of the prestige museum that he would be able to get in without any problems. Stupid mortals, he walked right in without even showing ID. He walk up to the reception desk and announced himself.
"Good day, my name is Mr. Laufeyson, I have an appointment." I look over the receptionist desk and notice a small woman with red hair sitting on chair looking like she was in a daze.
"Good Morning Mr. Laufeyson. Yes, Miss Osborne will be escorting you on your tour." She looks over the small woman.
"Miss Osborne?" he looks at her when she snaps out of her daze and she stares at him with a shocked look on her face. He wonders what she is thinking so he reaches out to read her mind. Well, this should be interesting, she finds him attractive. He decides to use this to his advantage.
"Miss Osborne, I presume?" He says and flashes her a dashing smile. He noticed the effect on her when she tries to get up and her knees fail her. This will be very interesting he muses.
"Opps, Yes sorry I'm Miss Osborne." She walks around the desk and holds out her hand to him.
"Welcome to the National Gallery of Canada, Mister?"
"Mr. Laufeyson." He takes her hand and suddenly get a shock. What could this be he thinks.
"Welcome Mr. Laufeyson." She looks right into his eyes and he notices how clear blue her eyes are. Almost white. He also stares at her when she speaks up.
"Laufeyson, that's a Norse name is it not?"
"Very astute Miss Osborne. It is Norse. My ancestors originally came from Norway. I was told you where a bit of an expert on the subject." She was smart. Loki liked that, it also helped that she looked so small a delicate. He really liked that. They chat a bit more and then she finally escort him to his treasure.
He walks into what she calls a study room. It is filled with artifacts that Loki does not care about except for one. His tablet piece. With that piece he could finally complete his quest. To go back in time and change his faith.
Miss Osborne walks around the room illuminating each table one at a time. Loki examines each table when he finally reaches the back of the room he finds what he is looking for.
"There you are. Finally." He mumbles to himself and his then disturbed by the very curious Miss Osborne.
"Is that it?" She questions him. How dare she? He turns to look at her with anger in his eyes.
"You have no idea what you have here." He says to her with a low growl in his voice. He can see the fear in her eyes and take makes him happy.
"You mortals. So clueless." He makes the tablet disappear into his pocket dimension and then stalks up to her while casting a spell to stop her from moving. He can hear her thoughts very clearly. She is afraid and panicking. He places his finger on her chin and can't help but notice her soft skin.
"I have place a spell on you that is what is going on. It will fade away eventually but not before I escape with what belongs to me." He answers the question she was thinking and she looks shocked.
"Now you will be a good girl and do has I say. You will not remember this. You did not see me pick up that tablet. It was never in your collection. Do you understand?" She nods her head.
"Oh no, little one, I requires a verbal confirmation." he wants to hear her sweet voice.
"I understand" she says to him still shocked at what is happening. He place another quick spell to erase her memories.
"Perfect. I was nice to meet you Miss Osborne." He says and walks away and leave her alone in the study room. Has he walks out of the Gallery he crosses the street to hide in an alley behind a large church. He changes back into his Asgardian armor and just has he takes outs the tablet from his pocket dimension a strange orange doorway appears in front of him. A group of soldiers walk out of the doorway.
"Appears to be a standard sequence violation. Branch is growing at a stable rate and slope. Variant identified." The lead female soldier says.
"I beg your pardon." Loki looks at them confused.
"On behalf of the Time Variance Authority, I hereby arrest you for crimes against the Sacred Timeline. Hands up." The group hold out their batons and activate them.
"You're coming with us." She says
"I'm sorry. Who's "us"?"
"Last chance, Variant." She points her baton at him and Loki chuckles.
"It's been a very long day, and I think I've had my fill of idiots in armored suits telling me what to do in this lifetime, so, if you don't mind, this is actually your last chance. Now get out of my way." The female soldier hit him in the face with her baton.
"You are now moving at 1/16th speed, but feeling all that pain in real time." Loki grunts while she leans over him to place a collar around his neck.
"Reset the timeline." She tell the other soldier and grabs Loki's arm.
"Common Variant. The Judge is waiting for you." She pulls him through the doorway they end up in a large reception area. Loki looks around confused.
"Where are we?" he asked the female soldier and she ignores him. They walk up to a reception desk where a small man is sitting.
"Hello, ma'am" he says
"Log this as evidence." She give him Loki's tablet.
"Oh... Can you at least tell me what it is?" He looks up at her confused.
"It's a piece of the tablet of Chronos. Be very careful with it."
"It sounds dumb." He replies to Loki has they walk away. They head down a hallway.
"Know this. You cross me, there are deadly consequences." He tells his captor.
"We'll see." She replies and pushes him into a small room. He is meet by a computer screen with an orange happy face on it. A few mechanical arms surround the screen. It smiles at Loki and start picking at the pieces of his armor.
"Hey! Hey!" Loki yells at it. The arms keep picking.
"Absolutely not. This is fine Asgardian leather" the computer smiles and points a firearm at him.
"Hold very still." A mechanical voice says and disintegrate Loki outfit in seconds.
"Now, wait, just hang on just a minute." Loki says looking down at himself seeing that he is completely naked except for the collar. Then all of a sudden a trap door opens underneath him and he falls into another small room. He looks down shocked to see that he is now wearing a pair of brown overalls and white sneakers.
"What?" he looks up at an older man sitting behind a desk with a large stack of papers on top of it.
"Please sign to verify this is everything you've ever said." He hands a pen over to Loki.
"What?" a printing machine whirls out another page.
"Sign this, too."
"Oh, this is absurd." The machine whirls again
"And this." Loki takes the pen and signs the piece of paper on top.
"Happy?" he says annoyed and falls through another trap door. This time he is met by a tiny man. The room contains a body scan machine that you would see in airports.
"Please confirm to your knowledge that you are not a fully robotic being, were born an organic creature, and do in fact possess what many cultures would call a soul."
"What? To my knowledge? Do a lot of people not know if they're robots?"
"Thank you for confirming. Move through." The Machine starts to pulsate
"What if I was a robot and I didn't know it?"
"The machine would melt you from the inside out. Please move along, sir."
"Okay, I'm not a robot, so I'll be fine."Loki walks up to the machine and walk through it. A bright flash appears to take a picture of him.
"What?"
He sees the little man pull out a photograph out of the side of the machine.
"Oh, what's that?" He looks at the photograph.
"Your temporal aura."
"What's that?"
"Please, through the door." A door open to a large waiting area. The room has a row of velvet ropes that leads to an open counter. When Loki enters he sees a small man arguing with one of the guards.
"Take a ticket."
"What is this, a deli?"
"No. Take a ticket."
"There's only two of us in here."
"Take a ticket." The guard says to Loki. He walk up to him and pulls out a ticket from the machine standing at the entrance of the velvet ropes. He shows it to the guard and stuffs it in the pockets of his overalls.
"This is a mistake! I shouldn't be here! "The little man yells out.
Then a Female voice starts to speak over the PA system. Loki and the small man turn to see the rooms monitors come to life. A cartoon clock with legs and a face appears on the screens.
"Hey there! You're probably saying, "This is a mistake. I shouldn't even be here." She says.
"Welcome to the Time Variance Authority. I'm Miss Minutes, and it's my job to catch you up before you stand trial for your crimes. So let's not waste another minute. Settle in, sharpen your pencils, and check this out." The screen flashes and Miss Minutes continues
"Long ago, there was a vast multiversal war. Countless unique timelines battled each other for supremacy, nearly resulting in the total destruction of ...well, everything. But then, the all-knowing Time-Keepers emerged, bringing peace by reorganizing the multiverse into a single timeline, the Sacred Timeline. Now, the Time-Keepers protect and preserve the proper flow of time for everyone and everything. But sometimes, people like you veer off the path the Time-Keepers created. We call those Variants. Maybe you started an uprising, or were just late for work. Whatever it was, stepping off your path created a nexus event, which, left unchecked, could branch off into madness, leading to another multiversal war."
"But, don't worry, to make sure that doesn't happen, the Time-Keepers created the TVA and all its incredible workers. The TVA has stepped in to fix your mistake and set time back on its predetermined path. Now that your actions have left you without a place on the timeline, you must stand trial for your offenses. So sit tight, and we'll get you in front of a judge in no time. Just make sure you have your ticket, and you'll be seen by the next available attendant."
A logo appears on the screens and the voices of many people say.
"For all time. Always."
"Time-Keepers? The Sacred Timeline? Who actually believes this bunkum?" The little man scoffs and laugh out loud. He walks to the end of the velvet ropes and is met by another guard.
"Ticket, sir?"
"He didn't give me a ticket. I asked." The little man replies pointing to the guard at the entrance.
"Ticket, sir!"
"I tried to ask that guy for a ticket!"
"Sir... "
"What, you're raising your voice at me, bucket head?" The guard pulls out his baton, ignites it and touches the little man. The little man screams and is completely disintegrated. The guard turns to Loki and says.
"He didn't have a ticket" Loki frantically searches his pockets and pulls out his ticket to show the guard. Miss minutes comes back on the monitors.
"Thanks for visiting the TVA. Don't hesitate to let us know how we're doing."