Hell is Living Without You ~ Loki

Chapter Twenty Three

"Eons ago, before the TVA, a variant of myself lived on Earth in theh 31st century. He was a scientist and he discovered that there were universes stacked on top of his own. At the same time, other versions of us were learning the same thing. Naturally they made contact. And for a while, there was peace. Narcissistic, self congratulatory peace. 'I love your shoes.' 'I love your hair.' 'Oh man, nice nose.' 'Thanks man.' Et Cetera. They shared technology and knowledge. Using the best of their universes to improve the others. Howvever, not every version of me was so...pure of heart. To some of us, new worlds meant only one thing. New lands to be conquered. The peace between realities erupted into an all-out-war, each variant fighting to preserve their universe and annihilate the others. This was almost the end, ladies and gentlemen, of everything and everyone." He said. "And then the Timekeepers came along and saved us all." Sylvie said sarcastically. "No. No. Nope, this is where we diverge from the dogma. That first variant encountered a creature created from all the tears in reality, capable of consuming time and spave itself. A creature you all know."
"Alioth." We said together. "Bingo! I harnessed the beasts power and began experimenting on it. I weaponized Alioth and I ended...I ended the Multiversal war. Once I isolated our timeline, all I had to do was manage the flow of time and prevent any further branches. Hence the TVA. Hence the Timekeepers and highly efficient bureaucracy. Hence ages...and ages of cosmic harmony. Hence you're welcome. You came to kill the devil right? Well, guess what? I keep you safe. And if you think I'm eveil, well, just wait until you meet my variants. And that's the  gambit. Stifling order or cataclysimic chaos. You may hate the dictator, but something far worse is gonna fill that void if you dispose of him. I've lived a million lifetimes. I've gone through every scenario. This is the only way. The TVA it works."
"Or you're a liar."
"Or I'm a liar."
"So you just continue to prune innocent timelines?" Loki spat. He hummed in agreement. "You three would. There's two options. One - You kill me and destroy all this, so you don't just have one devil, you have infinite amounts. Or Two - You three run the thing." He said simply. "You're lying." Loki said. "Why would you give up being in control?" Loki asked. "Buddy, I'm tired. And I'm older. I'm older than I look. This game is for the young, the hungry. I've gone through a lot of scenarios trying to find the right person to take this spot. It turns out that person came in two and a plus one. But it's definitley you two. So no more lies. You kill me and the Sacred Timeline is completely exposed. Multiversal War. Or you take over and return to the TVA as it's benevolent rulers. Tell the workforce who they are and why they do what they do."
"You treated real people's lives as some kind of game." Sylvie retorted. "It's not personal. It's practical." He said. "It was personal to me." Sylvie spat. "Grow Up! Grow Up Sylvie. Murderer, Hypocrite! We're all villians here. We've all done horrible, terrible, horrific things. But now, we, you have a chance to do them for a good reason." He said. The sound of thunder could be heard in the distance. He stayed silent. "We just crossed the threshold." He said with a chuckle. "So I fibbed. I fibbed earlier when I said I know how everything's going to go. I...I know...I knew...everything to a certain point, and that point was about seven, eight, nine, ten seconds ago. But now I have no idea. No idea how the rest of this is going to go. I'm being candid." He laughed nervously. "So that's it?" I asked. "That's it? This is what happens aat the end of time? And now you're just going to sit there with all that freedom and let us decide your fate?" I said. "Yes. Yes! Yes! What's the worst that could happen? You either take over and my life's work continues, or you plunge a blade in my chest and an infinite amount of me start another Multiversal War. And I just...end up right back here anyways. Reincarnation baby."
"No, it's just another lie. Another manipulation." Sylvie said. "Oh. No lie. No manipulation. Wow. I love this. I love all this honesty. Feels like a fresh start." He said just sitting there.

There was a moments silence, before Sylvie got up and went to kill him again. I grabbed hold of her arm. "What are you doing?" She asked, holding her blade to my neck. "Let's just talk about it." I reasoned. "Well, how about we finished what we started and kill him." She said angrily, shoving me off her. We fought for a bit, before Loki grabbed her. "What if he's telling the truth?" Loki asked. "So what?" Sylvie said. "I believe him." He told her. "Believe what? That a bazillion boogeymen will turn up just because we give people free will? He's a liar Loki." She said. "So am I." Loki said. "And I don't think he was lying. Not about that. Insane? Yes. But maybe he was telling the truth." He reasoned. "So what are you suggesting?" Sylvie asked. "That we think about it." I told her. "And what precisely is there to think about?" she asked. "Weren't you listening to what he was saying? That's the gambit. Remove the dictator and what fills the void?" Loki said. "Ah. You want the throne?" Sylvie accused. "No, that's not it no."
"I don't believe you." She said. "Sylvie, the universe is in the balance, everything we know to be true. Everything. I know the TVA hurt us both, but what if by taking him out, we risk unleashing something worse? All we're suggesting is that we take a minute to think about it." I explained. "Sylvie, I promise you from the bottom of my heart this isn't about a throne." Loki said. "What was I thinking trusting you? Both of you? Has this whole thing been a con?" Sylvie questioned. "Really? That's what you think of us after all this time? Sure, why not? Evil Loki's masterplan comes together and Freyja rules next to him. Well, you never trusted us did you? What was the point? Can't you see? This is bigger than our experience." Loki told her. "Why aren't we seeing this the same way?" Sylvie asked. "Because you can't trust...and I can't be trusted." Loki said. "Then I guess we're in a pickle."
I jumped infront of Loki and faced Sylvie. "Sylvie wait. Wait." I said, as she dove forward. We fought for a while until Loki got knocked into some books. "Sylvie. Sylvie!" I cried. "Maybe he's lying! Maybe he's not! The cost of getting this wrong is too great." I warned her. "Fine. Do it. Kill me. Take your throne." She told me, "No." I whimpered, with tears in my eyes, and we fought again. Loki was up now so he joined in. Sylvie used her magic to push me away. I got up, and she was about to kill Loki. I ran and stepped infront of him. "Sylvie stop. Stop." I said, with tears in my eyes. "I've been where you are, I've felt what you feel. Don't ask me how I know. All I know is I don't want to hurt you. You're my friend. I just want you to be okay." I said through the tears. She dropped her weapon and embraced me in a hug. "I am okay." She said. "But I also need to do this." She said. Before I could react, she pushed me and Loki through a portal.

Atlanta, Georgia 2020****************************

"Where are we?" Loki asked, looking around. "And cut! Great job everybody. Especially you three. Francessca, Tom, the raw emotion in that scene, almost had me in tears my self and Sophia, just wow. I can't believe you betrayed them. Well, I can, I wrote the script." Some random guy laughed. "So, Fran, Tom, drinks tonight at mine? Will's taken the baby to his Mum's so the house is free." Sylvie said happily. "What?" I asked. "Drinks, tonight, at mine?" She repeated. "What happened to you? You pushed us through the portal. you betrayed us." I said defensively. "Damn Fran, are you feeling okay? It was just a scene." Sylvie asked. "Why do you keep calling her Fran? Her name is Freyja." Loki said confused. "Okay, I'll play along." She smiled. "Your name was Francessca Stan, but then you got married to the man behind you, Tom Hiddleston. So now your name is Francessca Hiddleston. But I am your best friend Sophia Di Martino. We are currently on the set of Tom's show Loki. Ask me another?" Sylvie/Sophia smiled.

"How did we get here?"