Two Blades, One Dagger

The Dark Plain

Loki, Strange, and Wanda were back at the TVA.

Welp, Loki couldn't really call it the TVA, now that there were hundreds of thousands of different TVA's for the different branches of time. This TVA still had giant statues of the three timekeepers looking over the countless floors of desks and filing cabinets. However, unlike any of the TVA's Loki had previously visited, this one was desolated. Walls were smashed in, the lights were shattered, and bodies were strewn across the floor. It looked like an army had rampaged through the place, destroying and killing everything in its path. Loki thought of Mobius, and he shuddered. He couldn't bear that thought of his friend being dead in any timeline. 

The trio carefully navigated the decimated TVA, searching for any signs of Kang. The place was entirely lifeless. Their footsteps echoed through the empty, otherwise silent halls, and it gave Loki a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. The TVA felt eerie, like a ghost town. It was too quiet. While he knew there was no one left there for him to disturb, he was inclined to speak in a whisper.

"What's the plan?" he hissed. "Where's Kang?"

Strange's brow was furrowed in deep concentration as he observed his surroundings. He slowly shook his head, his mouth half open. "This-" he started, "this is not right. Kang is supposed to be here." 

Loki suddenly welled up with anger. "This isn't right? No shit, Sherlock!" he roared. He was taken aback by the rage in his voice. It echoed through the empty TVA, bouncing off the walls and back at him. However, Loki didn't care at the moment. All he knew was that he had been dragged along on this stupid quest to kill the Kang variants, who were deadset on throwing the universe into chaos. More importantly, Sylvie's life was in danger. He refused the believe that she could be dead because he knew that he couldn't bear to live with that reality, but every wasted second was making it ever more likely. She was not going to die because Strange didn't know what the hell he was doing! 

Loki lunged forward, grabbing Strange by the collar of his cape and thrusting him against the wall. Strange was caught off guard. He tried to defend himself with magic, but Loki had already tapped into his mind, immobilizing him. Loki didn't really have a plan after that. All he wanted was for Strange to know how he felt. He wanted Strange to feel the weight of the constant anxiety that gnawed away at his insides. Every second felt like a drop of acid dripping onto his head, gradually eating away at him. Suddenly, the TVA disappeared, and he and Strange were standing in an empty black void now, staring at each other. Loki had no idea how they had gotten there, but he didn't care. Strange was bound by glowing green tendrils, but Loki was free. He realized that he was holding the magic green chains, and he gave them a sharp tug. Strange winced. 

"Loki," he uttered, gawking at the void around him. "How did you do this?"

The question just fueled Loki's anger, and he seized the rope. It pressed into Strange's skin and burned dark red marks around his wrists and neck. Strange gasped in pain, gritting his teeth. "Loki," he growled, "you need to get yourself together."

"And why should I?" Loki spat. "All you've done is drag me around, treating me like some sort of pet you can simply command to fight all your battles. You're on a noble quest to save the universe and what not, but guess what? I don't give two shits about the fate of this universe!"

Loki pulled the magic tendrils even tighter, and Strange began to gasp. Seeing him in pain sent a wave of sick pleasure through Loki. All of the pent of frustration from when he had first been taken by the TVA was coming out now, in the form of some terrible, bloodthirsty monster. Loki gripped the chains even tighter, and Strange began to choke. He dropped to his knees, pulling at the magic, but he couldn't free himself. 

"Loki," he sputtered, "you - are ------ in the - neurocentral ---  dimension!"

Loki dropped the magic tendrils and gawked at Strange, who gasped for breath. Neurocentral dimension. Loki had heard about that, but he knew it better as the Dark plain. It was a legendary place- well, not really a place. Loki had read stories on Asgard about the Dark plain. It was said to be a black dimension that couldn't be reached by any form of physical transportation. Rather, there was a small piece of it in the mind of every sentient being in the universe that could only be accessed by a magician of extraordinary power. Time and space did not exist there. Once someone had reached the Dark plain, they could subdue the minds of anyone or anything in their grasp. Nobody had been able to access the Dark plain for millennium, not even Odin. According to old legend, only a god could reach it...

Loki took a step back, his feet somehow stable even though he was standing within an endless void. Strange was back on his feet, glaring at Loki. The green magic chains had disappeared, but the burns etched into his wrists and neck still remained. 

"I'll repeat myself," he said flatly. "How. Did. You. Do. This?"

In all honesty, Loki had no clue. He had been filled with so much rage- it felt like fire burning through his veins. He seized Strange physically, and he had every intention of entering his mind, but how he was able to drag his consciousness to the Dark plain was a mystery to him. He couldn't let Strange know how clueless he really was, though. 

"I've always been able to do this, you second-rate sorcerer," he snarled, "and I'm afraid I don't have the time or the patience to give you a lesson on how." From there, he unclenched his balled fists, and he and Strange were lurched back into reality. He still had Strange pinned to the wall of the TVA, and Wanda had barely moved to pulled the two apart. Time hadn't progressed at all. Loki backed away from Strange, and Strange looked down at his wrists, which were still burned. Rather than explain what had just happened between the two of them to Wanda, he locked eyes with Loki, raised his eyebrows threateningly, and stormed off through the TVA. Loki and Wanda followed in silence. After a couple minutes of fruitless searching for any signs of Kang, Loki noticed Wanda had stopped walking, and he turned around to check on her. He and Strange turned around to look at her. She stood still, staring down one of the many endless halls. Wanda raised her hand and slowly pointed towards to end of the hall. Loki looked in the direction she was gesturing towards. At the end of the hallway there was a solitary time door, shimmering a translucent silver against the beige surroundings of the TVA. Loki, Wanda, and Strange all made eye contact, and they came to a silent agreement. This was their best shot at finding Kang. The trio stepped through the time door, Loki entering last. The TVA disappeared around him, and he was greeted by an ear-splitting roar-

Alioth