Clock's Ticking

Memories

Mobius and I give up on the questioning for a bit and move onto the video portion of our talk with Loki. We start this by putting up a photo of New York, the last place this Loki was, but he scoffs and looks away from the screen, "what is this?"

"A sampling of your greatest hits, if we may," Mobius clicks the monitor and switches the photo to a video, this time showing Loki being taken in by the Avengers.

Loki sighs and shifts in his seat, putting his head in his hand as the Loki on the video begins to speak, "if it's all the same to you... I'll have that drink now."

Mobius, who had been taking a sip of his soda, offers it to Loki, who leans forward, "no. And I remember. I was there. Anything else?"

"It's funny," I rub my lip, "for someone born to rule, you sure do lose a lot. Might even say it's in your nature."

Loki looks up to me, "you know, things didn't turn out so well for the last person who said that to me."

I look over to Mobius, "has anyone ever actually said that to him?"

"Well, kind of," Mobius nods and ques up another video, "Phil Coulson." The next video to come up is one in which Loki stabs a man in the back. "Didn't the Avengers come together to literally avenge him by defeating you?"

"Little solace to a dead man," Loki shrugs as I chuckle, "what?"

I clear my throat, controlling my laughter from knowing the fact that Coulson isn't really dead, "do you enjoy hurting people?" We watch a few videos of Loki's recent attack on New York. "Making them feel small? Making them feel afraid?"

"Your games don't frighten me."

"Making them feel little?"

"I know what I am."

"A murderer?"

"A liberator."

"Of eyeballs, maybe," I look down to Mobius, who brings up another video of Loki removing a man's eye at a gala, all with a smile on his face. "Look at that. You're enjoying yourself. You're a sadist."

Loki keeps his eyes off the screen, "I don't have to play this game." He looks over to me, "I'm a god."

"Right, the God of Mischief. But you see the problem is that that doesn't look very mischievous."

"No, I don't suppose it does, to you."

"What about your escape? You're really good at doing some pretty awful things, and then just getting away with it."

"What can I say? I'm a mischievous scamp."

"Oh, oh," Mobuis chuckles, "this is one of my favorites."

Mobuis pulls up another video, this one is Loki on a plane. A voice over a PA is the first one we hear, "from the flight deck, Captain William A. Scott, Northwest Orient Airlines 305, on schedule to land in Seattle. Flight time today, approximately..."

The voice of the man on the PA is overtaken by a flight attendant, "bourbon and soda?"

"Thank you," the short haired Loki smiles. I have to say this version of Loki is very attractive, with his hair gelled back and a suit.

"Absolutely. Is there anything else I can do for you, sir?"

He begins to dig through his jacket pockets, "I suppose we'll find out, won't we?" He hands a note to the flight attendant, who chuckles and smiles, clearly flattered at the thought that the handsome stranger is flirting with her. With a wink, Loki leans onto his arm rest, propping his head up, but he stops the woman as she places the note on her tray and begins to move away, "uh, Miss?"

"Yes, Mr. Cooper?" She turns back around to him.

"You might want to take a look at that note." The woman looks down to him confused. He smirks and causally whispers, "I have a bomb," he smirks and patts the suitcase next to him. We watch as the plane lands, the passengers are taken off and another suitcase is brought on board, before the plane takes off again.

The Loki in custody sighs, "I fail to see how this has any relevance or bearing on..."

"Sh...." Mobius looks over to him, "this is the good part."

The Flight Attendant holds up the suitcase to the B.D. Cooper Loki, who is putting on a parachute before he turns around and looks into the case with a smile. Zipping it up before winking at the woman, "see you again someday." He grunts as he takes the case and turns around, "Brother, Heimdall, you better be ready." He jumps from the plane and before he gets more than a hundred feet from the plane the bifrost opens up and he disappears.

I chuckle and look over to Loki, "you were B.D. Cooper?"

Loki crosses his arms again, "I was young, and I'd lost a bet to Thor. Where was the TVA when I was meddling with these affairs of men?"

"We were right there with you. The issue was, you were meant to be there and to be all those people."

"Yep," Mobius nods, "just surfing the Sacred Timeline."

Loki nods, "so that had the Time-Keepers seal of approval, did it?"

"Well, I wouldn't think of it in terms of approval and disapproval. That's sort of uh..."

I interrupt Mobius, "yes."

"Let's get back to escapes... and a little psychobabble. What is it that you think that you're really running from?"

Loki stomps his foot, "enough."

He gets up and Mobius rests him back to his seat, "back to your cage. See I can play with the heavy keys too."

"I was just standing up to make a point."

Mobuis chuckles, "I'm sorry, go ahead."

"It won't be as meaningful now," Loki pouts.

"Okay, well, stay seated."

"I'll do what I want to do."

"Sure," I nod.

Loki kicks the chair a bit as he stands up again and he walks around. "What exactly is it that you want?"

I shrug, "we just want you to be honest about why it is you do what you do."

"Lair."

"Oh, look who's talking." I shake my head. "But I'm serious. All I seek is a deeper understanding of the fearsome God of Mischief." Loki scoffs and looks up at the sky light in the room, "what is it that makes Loki tick?"

"I know what this place is."

"What is it?"

"It's an illusion."

I chuckle, "a what?"

"It's a cruel, elaborate trick conjured by the weak to inspire fear. A desperate attempt at control. Now, you all parade about as if you're the divine arbiters of power in the universe."

"We are," Mobius shrugs.

"You're not. My choices are my own."

"Your choice is your own," I nod. "Good, let's go with that."

Mobius raises a finger, "I think this one's gonna fire you up."

The video that comes up now is Loki talking to a group of people, "the bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power..."

"Precisely," current Loki agrees with past Loki. "I was... I am on the verge of acquiring everything I am owed, and when I do, it'll be because I did it. Not because it was supposed to happen. Or because you or the Time Variance Authority, or whatever it is you call yourselves, allowed me to. Honestly, you're pathetic. You're an irrelevance. A detour. A footnote to my ascent."

"Finished?" I cross my arms.